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Within the battle between milk and darkish chocolate, I’d select the previous each time. And but, right here I’m, knee-deep in darkish chocolate bars attempting to call the most effective darkish chocolate of all of them. Let me be clear: it’s not that I don’t like darkish chocolate, I’m simply usually not as keen on some bars’ bitterness or overly fruit-forward flavors. When a craving strikes, I choose clean, milky chocolate. However as I’ve found, all it took was a easy style take a look at of the most effective darkish chocolate manufacturers to alter my tune.
My brother is extra identified in our household for his defining attribute of snacking on cacao nibs and cocoa. (Sure, actually.) He thrives on darkish chocolate. My dad lands someplace between the 2 of us, and my mother, effectively, she might take it or go away it.
After a heated debate on the benefit of darkish chocolate, my brother and I made a decision it was time for a taste-off. Very like my earlier bake-off competitions (these pistachio cookies are nonetheless a favourite and don’t let anybody inform you pumpkin bread is just for the autumn), we approached this competitors among the many top-tier darkish chocolate manufacturers with some tips to crown the most effective tasting darkish chocolate.
Rating Guardrails
All goodies have been tasted at room temperature and served with palate cleansers in between. We caught to solely the 70% (ish) chocolate bars that have been obtainable within the HEB sweet aisle. (Sadly, whereas I’m advised the Valhrona Darkish Chocolate Bar is effectively well worth the hype, it was sadly not available.)
As a result of my brother is a darkish chocolate connoisseur, I requested him what he appeared for in rating these bars. Right here’s what he stated.
Taste
Actually, I wasn’t anticipating any of our chosen stack of chocolate bars to style in another way from one another. However by way of the method, I used to be pleasantly stunned to find distinct variations in taste. For the needs of our style take a look at, we have been in search of a bar that offered its personal distinctive taste with out leaning too candy or fruity. We needed a steadiness of flavors with the cocoa. The true take a look at: which is the bar that we return to for an additional sq.? (Let’s be clear, none of us are skilled chocolate tasters, so we simply needed chocolate that tasted good.)
Texture
All of us agreed that our favourite goodies are clean on our tongue and never chalky or chunky. A correctly tempered chocolate ought to have a pleasant snap to it.
Aroma
I solely added this one to the rating listing as a result of my brother stated it was vital, however I really feel prefer it’s self-explanatory.
On the finish of our tasting, I truly discovered myself with a couple of new additions to my rotation, a couple of that I’ll reserve for chopping into chocolate chip cookies, and some that I’ll stick to purchasing the milk chocolate counterparts. So with out additional ado, listed below are the outcomes of our quest to call the most effective darkish chocolate of all of them.
Style-Off: The Greatest Darkish Chocolate
6. Inexperienced and Black’s Natural 70% Darkish Chocolate
I’m a Inexperienced and Black’s Milk Chocolate STAN. I stay for it and replenish after they go on sale at Complete Meals, so I hoped for this one to rank larger than it did between the three of us.
The flavour was solely OK, leaning towards barely smoky and astringent, in keeping with my brother. The feel was additionally simply superb, and we have been hoping for a bit extra smoothness as we have been consuming it. Total, this one fell into final place as a result of it was precisely that—superb. I’ll proceed hyping up the milk chocolate selection although and save this bar for some imminent chocolate chip cookie baking.
5. Ghirardelli 72% Twilight Delight
I stay for the Ghirardelli milk and caramel-filled varieties. Signal me up all day every single day. However this bar sadly missed the mark. My brother famous that the flavour truly leans smoky and has an virtually licorice notice to it. My dad stated it was barely bitter with a fruity aftertaste. My brother did name out that he didn’t take pleasure in this bar’s aroma, reminding him of over-roasted espresso. (Be at liberty to DM him to debate the significance of aroma in chocolate.) Once more, this bar is nothing to put in writing residence about however will discover a good residence in some cookie dough.
4. Chocolove 70% Robust Darkish Chocolate
Taste-wise, this chocolate bar was alright. All three of us agreed that the fruitiness of this bar was simply gentle sufficient to be nice. Nevertheless, texture-wise, we had some qualms. The chocolate didn’t soften easily over our tongues as we ate it. I wouldn’t name it fairly chalky, however general we simply needed extra textural enjoyment. I’ve not tried the milk chocolate counterpart right here however can be including it to the listing to match since I appreciated the flavour of this one.
3. Lindt 70% Darkish Chocolate
We’re Lindt chocolate truffle followers in my home, so I used to be excited to do that bar. The flavour positively leans towards the milder and sweeter aspect. As a milk chocolate lover I personally didn’t thoughts it, however my brother referred to as it barely weaker in taste than a few of the different bars. The feel although was clean with a pleasant snap to the bar. We loved this bar general and got here again a couple of times for an additional sq..
2. Tony’s Chocolonely 70% Darkish Chocolate
I truly hadn’t tried any of Tony’s chocolate earlier than this, although I’ve noticed it within the aisles of Dealer Joe’s. This chocolate had the boldest and fruitiest taste of all of the bars we tried. It was vibrant in taste, which my brother actually loved. Personally, as a milk chocolate individual, I’d have appreciated it to be a bit milder. However general, I believed the flavour was good for darkish chocolate and loved the graceful texture. We do want the bar was barely thinner, as the big chunks do make it onerous to interrupt off a bit. And naturally, this bar was a transparent winner when it got here to aesthetics.
1. Perugina 70% Bittersweet Chocolate
Actually, this bar was the underdog of our group, so all three of us have been shocked that we loved it probably the most. It was the one bar we ate in its entirety throughout our tasting. What set it aside was the flavour. It has nutty, coconut-infused tasting notes whereas the feel is tremendous wealthy and creamy. This bar wasn’t bitter in any respect, gentle sufficient to transform any darkish chocolate hater, and the proper bar to achieve for when the chocolate craving strikes. I used to be shocked to discover a darkish chocolate bar that I’d truly purchase once more and that my brother appreciated it as effectively. Lesson realized, by no means depend out the underdog.
Closing Ideas
Total, on the subject of discovering the most effective darkish chocolate, there’s one thing on the market for everybody. And I’ll even give my brother his I-told-you-so second. Now that I’ve tried a couple of completely different sorts of darkish chocolate, I’m in a position to level to issues I appreciated and disliked about every one that retains me open to attempting new ones to have readily available.
Whereas these are simply the choice from the grocery retailer, I do have some extra gourmand and smaller bean-to-bar selections that I like:
Past Good Darkish Chocolate Bar
Spring & Mulberry Darkish Chocolate Bar
Hu Kitchen Darkish Chocolate Bar
And in case you’re in search of that excellent bar with the prettiest wrapping, seek the advice of our listing of the most effective “status chocolate bars.” As a result of when the parents you’re keen on are craving one thing candy, why not give them the most effective—and most aesthetic—choice?
This put up was final up to date on June 6, 2025 to incorporate new insights.
