Classic Chocolate (Dark Chocolate review)

What do you mean, It's not classical music? It's classic chocolate; same thing. Besides, a person has to have something to nibble on while listening to good music.

Last updated: April 2019.

Understand, I am not a chocolatier (I neither make nor sell chocolate) nor a chocolate authority (I do not profess to be an expert on the subject of chocolate or chocolate making) any more than I am a professional musician or musical authority. I am simply a person of a mature age who has spent a lifetime eating chocolate and listening to classical music. What you get here is exactly what you get with my music reviews: the opinions of one who loves the subject and has been lucky enough and lived long enough to experience a good deal of it.

Understand, too, that the following brief comments pertain to dark chocolate only, not milk chocolate or fruit-covered chocolate or nut-filled chocolate or any filled chocolate. A guy's got to have standards, after all, and mine apply to straightforward dark chocolate only, in commercially available products, mostly chocolate bars. (Since my youth, I always considered milk chocolate "sissy chocolate." Like it or not, the rather juvenile appellation has always stuck with me, and I still don't care much for it.)

Now, a word about how to eat fine, dark chocolate. OK, I know that sounds pretentious, telling someone how to eat, but let me at least explain how I've learned to eat my chocolate. The first thing is not to eat too much at a time. Like anything really good, a little moderation is in order. I eat only a segment of a bar a day, meaning that a single chocolate bar might last me four or five days. Second, biting off only a small bit at a time helps, savoring the aroma and letting the candy melt on the tongue for maximum release of flavors. In other words, I do not advise gulping down an entire gourmet chocolate bar in a single sitting.

Anyway, my list is nowhere near complete (there are only so many candy bars available to a person, even in a lifetime of eating), nor do I mean it to be anything like comprehensive. It is simply a starting place for considering the taste, texture, and fragrance of good chocolate. I've numbered my ratings from 1-10, the higher numbers indicating the more I liked the chocolate, with 5's and 6's being average and slightly above average. And I've rank ordered my list with the products I like most at the beginning.  So, let's start.

Chocolat Bonnat El Rosario: Here you'll find an ultrasmooth chocolate, not too intense yet crisp and deep, with a soft bouquet. Yes, I know that sounds a little like a snobby wine connoisseur describing a fine wine, but it's much the same thing. Chocolat Bonnat is a company that does, indeed, make fine, connoisseur chocolate. Just don't expect to find it in your local grocery store or corner market (I could only find it on-line). It's not only good, it's expensive. Remember when you were a kid and bought a Hershey bar for a dime? A Chocolat Bonnat bar will cost you approximately 80 to 200+ times that. Still, spending eight or fifteen or twenty-odd dollars on a single candy bar might be worth it for that special occasion. I mean, it might be fun to say you've done it just once; then you can rant and rave about how overpriced and overrated the chocolate is. 10/10

Amedei 9: The number "9" bar from Amedei tastes intensely of chocolate while being smooth, crisp, and creamy, almost as delicious as the Bonnat El Rosario. It's also remarkably pricey but maybe worth it for the taste, if, again, only once. 9/10

Chocolat Bonnat Madagascar: I confess a predilection for beans from Madagascar.  One thing you learn fast from tasting different chocolate bars is that cacao beans from different areas of the world do produce different-tasting cocoa and chocolate. The "Madagascar" from Chocolat Bonnat is just as smooth, creamy, and intense as the preceding two bars but adds a fruitier flavor as well. Expect to pay the price. 9/10

Amedei Blanco de Criollo: Chocolate doesn't get much better than this, a limited edition from Italy's finest chocolatier, Amedei. Like other Amedei chocolates, you know this one is coming well before it reaches your mouth; it has a succulent aroma. It also has a sharp, robust, flavorful taste, if perhaps not as distinctive as their brilliant No. 9. That said, at about $18 for a 1.75 oz. bar, it's among the most-expensive chocolates you can buy. That's close to $10 an ounce, so unless you're really well-heeled, it's probably an every-so-once-in-a-while prospect. 9/10

Amedei Porcelana: Again, very expensive, about $16.00 a bar at the time of this writing. However, it's just as profound, just as smooth, just as crisp, and just as creamy as the preceding bars, and many people will prefer it to any chocolate. Note, also, that most of the companies in this survey make a variety of dark-chocolate products, and I have covered only a representative sample from each outfit. 9/10

L'Amourette Criollo Single Origin Grenada Fine Estate 75%: L'Amourette is a small, San Francisco-based company that makes some very fine chocolate. This bar, made with 75% Criollo cocoa beans from Grenada, is among their best. It's a part of their "Gold Limited Edition," and, with its distinctive, fruity chocolate flavor and creamy smooth texture, it is well worth the price. 8/10

Chuao: Made in France by Patisserie Chocolaterie Pralus, this gourmet dark chocolate is made from prized beans harvested near the tiny village of Chuao, Venezuela. The product is flavorful, chocolatey, slightly smoky but well-balanced, pleasantly aromatic, delicious, and fairly expensive. Its packaging is very small to begin with, and inside we find a tiny square of chocolate tucked within an inner box and foil. For deep pockets, however, it may be worth it. 8/10

Recchiuti Fève: "Fève" is French for cocoa nibs, which Recchiuti adds abundantly to this rich, bittersweet bar. The combination of roasted cocoa nibs, dark chocolate, sugar, and natural vanilla extract produces an elegant, slightly crunchy, always hearty and delicious confection. 8/10

Dick Taylor Madagascar Sambirano: I've always liked the flavor of beans from Madagascar, so this 72% chocolate bar was right up my alley. It's as tasty as anything I've sampled from the small gourmet chocolate maker in Eureka, California. Dick Taylor uses exactly two ingredients in their product: organic cacao from Akesson Plantation, Madagascar, and organic cane sugar. Chocolate and sugar. Whoda' thunk? The packaging says we should taste the flavors of molasses, orange, raisin, and toast. That goes beyond the limits of my palate; for me it simply tastes great, very rich and flavorful, with a sharp bite and mild aroma. 8/10

Dick Taylor Belize: Another 72% cacao bar from Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate, this time made with organic beans from Belize and a little organic sugar. It has much the same taste as the bar above, only the label says flavors of dried plum, tart cherry, and jasmine. I'll take their word for it because to me it simply tasted like good, flavorful chocolate with a distinctly sharp bite. Beautiful. 8/10

Michel Cluizel Noir au Grué de Cacao: A dark chocolate with cocoa bean pieces, this bar has a lighter flavor and aroma than most Michel Cluizel chocolates, but the cocoa pieces make up for it. The more I taste it, the more I like it. 8/10

Michel Cluizel Mangaro: With the Michel Cluizel label we get down to a more-affordable price level, although at about $6.00+ a bar it's still well above the average of a grocery-store product. Their Mangaro dark chocolate, with a 65% cocoa content, has a light coffee taste well balanced with a sweet, fruity flavor that's pretty hard to resist. 8/10

L'Amourette Chocolat Noir Carenero Superior 75%: The chocolate is ultrasmooth, slightly sweet, flavorful, with only a light chocolate scent but a deep chocolatey taste. It's easy to like and has quickly become one of my favorite bars. This San Francisco-based company makes a number of fine chocolates, which also includes a delicious 75% Cacao Rio Caribe Superior. Highly recommended. 8/10

Recchiuti Bittersweet and Semisweet: In addition to the Fève bar above, Recchiuti makes several other dark, intense, bittersweet and semisweet chocolate bars. Almost incredibly, given their cocoa content, they are not bitter or sour or tart but mellow and acute. I wouldn't recommend a Recchiuti bar as a starting place for beginners, but for anyone who already loves dark chocolate and hasn't already discovered it, it's great. 8/10

Vanini Dark Chocolate 74% with Cocoa Nibs: Like their 86% bar, this dark chocolate is made from Bagua cocoa of the Amazon rain forest. It's quite good, with a mild, delicate flavor tasting not only of chocolate but lightly of berries as well. Its minor drawbacks are that the chocolate has little aroma and for some users may taste a little too sweet. Fortunately, the cocoa nibs to some degree mitigate the sweetness. 8/10

Cailler L'Ecorce Dark Chocolate: Cailler is one of the oldest (est. 1819) and best-known chocolate makers in Europe (made in Switzerland), and thanks to distribution by the Nestle company they are getting better exposure in America. The product I sampled was their 70% cocoa bar, and it is very fine, indeed. The flavor doesn't come immediately but blossoms a moment or so after it hits the tongue. Then it tastes rich, hearty, and robust, an outgoing chocolatey experience, with a reasonably smooth texture, a mild chocolatey aroma, and no tangy or chalky aftereffects. 8/10

Vanini Dark Chocolate 86% Cocoa: For so strong a cocoa content the taste is surprisingly smooth and light yet still very chocolaty. It's a super-dark chocolate for people who don't usually like super-dark chocolate. Oddly, though, there is not much aroma to the bar. 8/10

John Kelly Dark Chocolate Espresso: This 73% bar is pretty serious chocolate. It has a deep, slightly spicy, slightly bittersweet taste and a mild chocolatey aroma, with just enough smooth texture (not too creamy nor too crumbly) to make it a pleasant tasting experience. 8/10

Cocoa Parlor Night Train 75% with Cacao Nibs: This California chocolate bar turned out to be a pleasant surprise, turning up unexpectedly at my local supermarket. The wrapper says it's USDA organic, fairly traded, gluten free, vegan, with no soy. The ingredients list premium cacao, organic cane sugar, and organic cacao nibs; nothing else. The taste is pleasant, not too sweet and not too bitter; the texture is soft and smooth and not crumbly; but the aroma is minimal. Still, it's a savory bar at a reasonable price. 8/10

Valdivian Ecuador Los Rios: Yes, most high-end chocolate companies import their cocoa, but how many actually make their bars at the source? The people at Valdivian make this 74% cocoa bar in Quito, Ecuador from three ingredients: Organic cocoa liquor, organic cocoa butter, and organic sugar. The result is very deep and satisfying, not too sweet but rich and intense, with mild hints of fruits and berries. 8/10

Michel Cluizel Plantation Mokaya: Slightly milder, slightly smoother, slightly sweeter and fruitier than other Michel Cluizel products, the Plantation Mokaya 66% chocolate bar can hardly fail to please a wide audience. 8/10

Original Beans Piura Porcelana 75%: This is a Swiss chocolate maker using a rare white cacao from Peru's Piura Valley to create a fine, dark bar. Not quite as sweet as their Malingas chocolate below, the Porcelana is well balanced, with a delicate texture, a deep chocolatey taste, and hints of fruit and nuts. Delicious. 8/10

Original Beans Piura Malingas 75%: Using Peruvian beans from the Piura Valley, raw cane sugar, and cacao butter, this Swiss chocolate has a smooth texture, a mild and pleasing aroma, and a slight taste of berries. Although it may perhaps be a tad sweet for some palates, it's certainly pleasant. 7/10

Amedei Toscano Black 66 and 70: For those folks like me who can't afford the outrageously high prices of top-of-the-line Amedei bars, the company makes a relatively more-affordable alternative. These 66% and 70% cacao bars are intense, crisp, and distinctive. The only drawback is that while they are less expensive than their high-priced brethren, they are also rather meager in size, being only 1.75 oz. per bar. 7/10

The Xocolate Bar: It's been a while since Berkeley produced a good chocolate bar (Sharffen Berger used to before Hershey bought them and they moved away), but the Xocolate Bar helps in part to make up for the loss. It's 70% cacao, and being as it's Berkeley, it uses all organic ingredients. It doesn't have as distinctive a bean taste as other gourmet chocolates, but it is tasty and deep, with a faint but pleasant aroma and a reasonably smooth texture. Let's just say, you'll know you're eating chocolate. 7/10

Sacred Chocolate Twilight Dark: How can you not like an organic chocolate that bills itself "Sacred Chocolate"? This 69% cacao bar comes to us from Novato, California, using beans from Central and South America, with a high concentration of cacao nibs, maple sugar, cacao butter, and vanilla beans. In both aroma and taste, it's the vanilla that stands out prominently, the maple sugar contributing to its sweetness. Quite attractive all the way around, but not exactly cheap considering the tiny 1.33 oz. size of the bar. 7/10

Amano Madagascar: Amano makes small, delicately balanced, gourmet chocolate bars, the Madagascar has a tad less bite than their Cuyagua, Ocumare, or Dos Rios (see below) bars, with a strong but pleasantly chocolatey taste and a sweet bouquet. 7/10

B.T. McElrath Dark Chocolate Bar: You find a slick, ultrasmooth texture here, with a taste sweeter than it is intense. It's a flavorful bar, though with little-to-no aroma. Call it a dark chocolate bar for people who say they don't like dark chocolate. 7/10

Amedei Blanco de Criollo: No doubt a fine chocolate, as are all Amedei products. It's very chocolatey despite its being only 70% cocoa, with a mild but flavorful aroma and a slightly grainy texture. The two drawbacks are that its taste is not entirely distinctive when compared to its very high price (about $16 a bar, the equal of the Amedei No. 9 bar above, which to me is clearly the better tasting). The tiny size of the bar doesn't help its value, either. 7/10

Amedei Cru Ecuador: Yes, of course, it's good; it's Amedei, the Italian chocolate maker of renown. This one is 70% and has a good chocolatey taste, slightly bittersweet and smoky, with hints of fruit. The problem, though, is the price, which is still much too high for me to recommend with any enthusiasm. If you're new to the Amedei line and you're willing to spend a chunk of change, I'd suggest an Amedei 9 as the place to start. 7/10

Frans 72% Dark Chocolate Thins: This Seattle chocolate is not exactly cheap, but you do get sixteen thin wafers for your money. The chocolate is made from beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and vanilla, and on first bite has a very slightly minty flavor but almost no aroma. The taste is light, smooth, and delicate. 7/10

Fortissima 80%: From the same French company, Patisserie Chocolaterie Pralus, that makes the delicious Chuao (see above) comes a stronger if less subtle product at a slightly lower price (although still weighing in at a hefty ten bucks or so a bar). Its taste is robust, faintly acidic, still smooth, lightly aromatic, but not particularly distinctive. 7/10

Michael Dunn Dark Chocolate 74%: From Rachel Dunn Chocolates in Concord, California comes this 74% chocolate, with beans from the Dominican Republic. When I talked with Master Chocolate Maker Michael Dunn recently, he told me he decided to fashion his own chocolate bars when he no longer liked what the major companies were making. He describes his chocolate as tasting like "home made bread and butter with elderberry jam evolving into red wine." That may be, but I did taste a slightly sweet fruit flavor intertwined with the rich, smooth chocolate. For more information, visit 7/10

K'UL 70% Dark Chocolate: This single origin farm-to-bar chocolate is from the Maranon River region, Peru, and advertises itself as the world's rarest cacao: white bean. It's certainly tasty, soft and slightly sweet, with hints of fruity flavors (the packaging says "floral, orange, butterscotch," but I could not detect the butterscotch). The aroma is distinct, too, although not overwhelming. Drawback: Like the Frans above, the size of the bar is tiny, about 1.23 oz. 7/10

Cultura 70% Haiti: This bean-to-bar chocolate contains only organic cacao and organic sugar. It has a delicious aroma and a good, sharp bite. Quite yummy, actually. 7/10

Chocolate and Love 71% Cocoa: A delightful surprise as I had never even heard of Chocolate and Love before this tasting. A product of Switzerland using cocoa from Peru and the Dominican Republic and all certified organic ingredients, the taste is delicately smooth yet sweetly flavorful, with just a hint of fruitiness. I would have appreciated a tad more bouquet and maybe a little more chocolatey flavor, but my qualms are minor. 7/10

Cachet Uganda 80%: Like the 71% above, this dark chocolate has a silky smooth texture and a pleasant, though more intense, chocolaty taste, with an equally pleasant chocolatey aroma. It took me a while to get to like it, but once I did, I have readily come back for more. 7/10

Cachet Costa Rica 71%: This Belgian dark chocolate has a smooth texture and a slightly sweet chocolaty taste, with an equally pleasant, light coffee flavor and aroma. It's really easy to like, I would imagine for non-chocolate lovers and chocolate lovers alike. 7/10

Alter Eco Dark Blackout: If you like an intensely dark taste, this 85% organic, bittersweet bar is a great buy. It's not only deeply chocolatey, it has a slightly fruity flavor and an ultrasmooth texture. 7/10

Amatller 70% Cacao Ghana or Ecuador: These Amatller dark chocolates have a bolder, tangier taste than their Extra Fine, with a hint of coffee in a slightly coarser texture. 7/10

Green & Black's Pure Dark Chocolate, 70%: Less creamy and less sweet than other Green & Black chocolates, this new bar may find a new audience for the company. The packaging is new, too, and the actual shape of the bar, the result tasting more "gourmet" than their other chocolate bars of equivalent cacao percentages. Its mild taste and faint but pleasant aroma complete the new product. 7/10

Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate, 85%: For an intense flavor while still tasting creamy smooth and slightly sweet, Green & Black's make an 85% cacao bar that's simply yummy. 7/10

Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate, 70%: Considering that this bittersweet chocolate contains no more than 70% Trinitario cacao beans, it tastes much darker. Perhaps it's because the folks at Green & Black's use less sugar (organic raw cane sugar) than most brands, I don't know. Anyway, it tastes very deep and very chocolatey, with a pleasantly mild chocolate aroma. 7/10

Amano Cuyagua Village: You don't expect to find an Artisan chocolate maker in Orem, Utah, but that's the case with Amano Chocolate. This particular bar uses a bean from the Venezuelan village of Cuyagua, and it produces a distinctive flavor, one that is perhaps an acquired taste but never bitter. 7/10

Amano Ocumare: The Ocumare is polished and aromatic, with a fairly heightened taste as well. Although it may appeal more to seriously serious chocolate lovers than to beginners, it's a definite contender. 7/10

Michel Cluizel Maralumi: There's a faint, tangy, bitter taste about Michel Cluizel's Maralumi chocolate, yet its fruity flavor overcomes any thought of a sour sensation. 7/10

Lake Champlain Dark Chocolate 85%: Their 70% bar tastes OK, but their 85% is even better, not only more intensely chocolatey but smoother and richer, too. 7/10

Madecasse 70% Madagascar: These bars have an excellent symmetry, with a refined, semisweet chocolatey taste and a light, nutty aroma. They're priced fairly, too. (They also make a 75%, which is a little coarser and more bitter to my taste.) 7/10

Philip Marks Dark Chocolate 68% Bolivia: This is a fine, handcrafted chocolate bar with a perfect texture (not too hard, soft, chalky, crumbly, or chewy), a mildly pleasant aroma, and a healthy if somewhat conservative chocolate taste. My only concerns: While they say they "use only natural ingredients and superior chocolate originating from the source," they don't actually list their ingredients. Instead, they tell you to visit their Web site for more information; only I could not get the information from their Web site because it wouldn't work (scrolling was nonfunctional) on either of two computers I tried. And the bar is fairly expensive. 7/10

Guittard Epique, Blend No. 49: A 70% cacao bar from the venerable Northern California chocolate maker. This time they've added a touch of dried red fruit and anise end notes to the mix, and it's quite good--deep, dark, slightly bittersweet, aromatic, and well worth a taste. 7/10

Villars Dark Chocolate 72%: This Swiss chocolate boasts of its all-natural ingredients, with no additives or artificial flavors, and they seem to be on to something. It is fairly good, with an inoffensive chocolate taste, a smooth texture, and a mild aroma. 7/10

Michael Dunn Dark Chocolate 70%: Like their 74% dark chocolate, this bar from the Rachel Dunn Chocolate factory in Concord, CA is rich and smooth, if a tad less robust than their 74% product and a bit sweeter, too. It's supposed to have a note of licorice and fruit, but only the sweet, fruity flavor stood out for me. 7/10

Rausch Plantation Tobago Premium Dark Chocolate: With 75% cocoa from their Tobago plantation, this dark chocolate has a distinctive taste and aroma. I'm not sure if the word "Tobago" subconsciously made me think of tobacco, but, indeed, the chocolate seemed to have a mild tobacco flavor and smell. Although I do not smoke, I found the qualities pleasant enough, with an aftertaste that stayed with me for a good hour after I'd eaten it. 7/10

Galler Intense 85%: A good, intense flavor highlights this Belgian bittersweet chocolate. It's slightly chalky but light, too, with a most-pleasant aroma. 7/10

Peet's Sweets Fine Artisan Dark Chocolate: Not bad; the bar does almost everything right without being really distinctive enough to reach the highest levels. Its 72% cacao and its very mild chocolate aroma make it a pleasing proposition. However, I didn't find it quite sweet enough or smooth enough for my taste compared to other, higher-rated bars. 7/10

Michel Cluizel Noir de Cacao 72%: This chocolate has a light, smooth, creamy flavor, not as intense, though, as the company's Mangaro, which I prefer. 7/10

Michel Cluizel Vila Gracinda: A pleasantly light aroma characterizes this chocolate, complementing a lightly bittersweet taste. 7/10

Bissinger's 75% Dark: This very old and well-established brand has a good chocolatey taste and a luscious texture, and even if it's somewhat lacking in associated flavors and aromas, it's still quite appealing. 7/10

Raphio Chocolate 72% Tanzania: You might not expect a gourmet chocolatier in Fresno, California, but, in fact, Raphio makes a full line of artisan chocolates. This one says it contains "notes of maple, toffee, and grapefruit." I found it fruitier than the company's much spicier-tasting bar made from Peru beans. This Tanzania bar is milder and tastes more chocolatey, with less of the spicy distraction of the Peru. 7/10

Raphio Chocolate 72% Peru: Here's another chocolate bar from a place you might not expect to find a gourmet chocolate maker: Fresno, CA. Raphio makes it with cacao beans from Peru, cane sugar, and cacao butter. The aroma is faint but agreeable, the texture smooth, and the taste markedly spicy and slightly sweet. It's a pleasant bar for someone wanting something a little different. 7/10

MilkBoy 60% Cocoa with Essential Pine Tree Oil: Usually, I avoid additives to dark chocolate, but I couldn't resist trying this Swiss bar with a hint of "essential pine tree oil." Although the cocoa is only 60%, the pine oil gives it a lift, making the bar, well, taste piney. It's also supersmooth and pleasantly light. 7/10

Perugina 70% Bittersweet Chocolate: This is an odd one with a taste all its own. You'll either love it or hate, but it's hard to be indifferent about it. Personally, I don't find it tasting enough of chocolate but rather of flavorings, a sort of husky, smoky taste. I dunno. Still, it's good. 6/10

Moser Roth Dark 70% Cocoa: This German chocolate has the distinction of having each package contain five individually wrapped bars. Apart from that, the chocolate has the taste and texture I associate with its main ingredients: cocoa liquor and cocoa butter. Add a little sugar, soy lecithin, and vanilla extract, and you get a mildly bittersweet flavor, with a smooth essence and only the faintest aroma. 6/10

Chocxo Camino Verde Ecuador: This 72% cacao bar is quite pleasant to the taste, with a fine, delicate texture. However, it doesn't seem in any way exceptional. Described on the box as "smooth and balanced," with a fruity cocoa flavor, I found it only mildly chocolatey with little in the way of fruity strains. Still, there's hardly anything here to complain about, either. 6/10

Fearless Midnight Deep & Dark: The ingredients list 75% organic Brazilian cacao and organic rapadura (unrefined whole cane sugar). The candy's texture is finely coarse and melts freely on the tongue, and its aroma is pleasantly fragrant of chocolate. However, for me its taste was too strong, too sharp, too bitter. Perhaps a touch more of that rapadura would have made all the difference. 6/10

Neuhaus Extra Dark 74% Strong: Another Belgian bar, this one bragging of being a "warrant holder of the Court of Belgium." With a very mild aroma; a creamy, smooth texture; and a dark, chocolatey taste, it's fine if slightly nondescript. It does almost everything right, just not quite "right" enough. 6/10

Amatller 70% Extra Fine: This one may be a controversial choice. I like Amatller's Extra Fine dark chocolate more for its texture, which is luxuriously smooth, than its chocolate taste, which is sort of on the plain side except for a very faint nutty flavor. I also like the size and shape of the bar itself and its beautiful art nouveau packaging. 6/10

Republica del Cacao Manabi: All of the Republica del Cacao chocolate bars I've sampled have a very heavy scent of spices, a bouquet you can practically smell from a room away. They are also quite light on the tongue, melting nicely as their aroma spreads. The Manabi is a bit sweeter than most of the other products in their line, with a faintly pungent taste. 6/10

Burie Dark Chocolate: It's hard to beat Belgian chocolate, and the Burie company of Antwerp has been producing it forever. The texture is creamy smooth, the aroma light, the chocolaty taste quite fine. 6/10

MilkBoy Extra Dark 85% Cacao: Lovers of extra-dark chocolate may enjoy this product of Switzerland. While it's dark and intense enough to satisfy the demanding palate of the chocolate extremist, it is mild enough, smooth enough, sweet enough to please the casual fan. Its only minor shortcoming is that the taste isn't particularly distinctive. 6/10

Moonstruck Fortunato No. 4: A Peruvian single-origin dark chocolate, 68% cacao, this Moonstruck chocolate has an ultrasmooth texture that takes a moment on the tongue to melt and reveal its flavor. It has a dark chocolatey taste all right, yet mildly sweet, with just touch of floral bouquet (although, for that matter, not much aroma, floral or not).  It's worth a sampling, even if it's not cheap. 6/10

Raley's Purely Made 72% Cocoa Dark Chocolate: If you have a Raley's store near you, you might try this bar. Its texture is the tiniest bit chalky rather than too smooth, and its aroma is so mild as to be almost nonexistent. But it is dark chocolatey and pleasantly sweet. For a store chocolate, not bad. 6/10

JCOCO Noble Dark 72%: The best thing about this chocolate is the aroma, which is gentle and sweet, very alluring. The fairly smooth, chocolatey taste helps, too. 6/10

Michel Cluizel Los Ancones: This seemed lighter and chewier to me than the other Michel Cluizel bars I've sampled, yet it still possesses a distinctive flavor of fruits and flowers. 6/10

Amano Dos Rios: Despite its reputation (and cost), I didn't appreciate this bar as much as I had hoped I would. Its slightly bitter, excessively strong flavor sort of turned me away. 6/10

Lindt Excellence 70% Smooth Dark: Lindt & Sprüngli is one of the world's biggest and oldest chocolate companies, and their Excellence series of dark chocolates are all good values. This one is just what the name suggests: smooth, dark, semisweet, with a touch of fruit flavor. The bars also feel, unaccountably, cooler than most to the touch, perhaps because of their thin size. This and the Ghirardelli Twilight Delight below are the safest dark chocolates you can recommend to friends because they're good, they're easily available, and they're not too intense. 6/10

Ghirardelli Twilight Delight 72%: Ghirardelli is a long-established San Francisco chocolate maker, and this is one of their better creations: light, crisp, dark, fine, if a bit short on actual character. 6/10

E. Guittard Quetzalcoatl 72% Cacao: The E. Guittard company, another long-standing San Francisco Bay Area chocolate maker, produces a variety of dark-chocolate bars, among the better ones being the Quetzalcoatl. It is not entirely a "gourmet" chocolate in the exact sense, but it does have a distinctive chocolate flavor in a slightly coarse texture. 6/10

Vintage Plantations Dark Chocolate with Cacao Nibs: This artisan-crafted, small-batch chocolate is about as PC as it can get. They use organic cocoa beans, organic cocoa butter, cane sugar, and roasted and shelled cocoa nibs. However, it wasn't all to be liking. The texture is, as we might expect, somewhat crystalline and sugary, the taste and aroma not quite chocolatey enough. 6/10

Nirvana Organic 72% Belgian Dark Chocolate: Every gourmet dark-chocolate bar derives its flavor from the unique cocoa beans it uses, these Trinitario beans coming from the Dominican Republic. While the texture is ultrasmooth, the aroma is nil, and the taste is one you have to get used to. It's not exactly a traditional chocolate flavor, not coffee-like or spicy, either, but a tangy, smoky taste. Interesting to say the least. 6/10

Chocolate Santander 70% Colombian: A mild coffee flavor and scent highlight this moderately smooth chocolate. It has a distinct taste, to me a combination of vanilla and orange. It's pleasant if not entirely chocolatey. 6/10

Galler Intense 70%: Here's another 70% Belgian chocolate that is pleasingly bland. I know that sounds like damning with faint praise, but it's true; it's neither good nor bad. Like most Belgian chocolate, the Galler bar is ultrasmooth but with virtually no aroma. While its wafer thinness makes it extra-light on the tongue, it has little actual flavor, instead merely being pleasantly sweet in a very mild, chocolatey way. 6/10

Hachez Cacao D'Arriba: Like several other brands, this one I enjoyed as much for its smooth feel as for its taste, which is a bit on the bland side. 6/10

Theo Organic Fair Trade Ultimate Dark: Made in Seattle, Washington, with 85% cacao, this one is for lovers of really dark, extra-intense chocolate. It has a deep chocolate taste without being too bitter, a pleasantly mild aroma, a smooth texture, and slightly roasted overall character. If I happened to like extra-dark chocolate (above 75%), I'd give it an even higher score. 6/10

Venchi Extra Dark Chocolate 75%: Venchi is one of Italy's oldest gourmet chocolate makers, taking pride in their all-natural ingredients. Here we find a product that is very rich, very dark, and very smooth, with a fruity, tangy taste but almost no bouquet. The problem I had with it, though, is that it doesn't seem to taste all that much of chocolate. 6/10

Equal Exchange Organic Panama Extra Dark: Produced in Switzerland from Panamanian beans, this extra-dark, 80% cacao bar isn't bad. Unlike many bittersweet chocolates, this one is really quite mild, with a sweet, chocolatey flavor and smell. 6/10

Chocolate Santander 70% Colombian Coffee: A distinct coffee flavor and scent highlight this moderately smooth chocolate. If you like coffee, you'll probably like this "dark chocolate with expresso coffee" bar, and you can kick the rating up a notch or so. I don't care much for coffee and thus my personal rating: 6/10

Divine 70% Dark Chocolate: From Ghana beans we get a delicate chocolatey taste, starting sweet but ending as it melts a tad bitter. A modest bouquet complements the flavor. 6/10

Lake Champlain Dark Chocolate 70%: Here we find a fine, smooth texture, a very light aroma, and a slightly fruity dark-chocolate taste. 6/10

Humboldt Dark Chocolate: Here's another "hand-crafted" artisan chocolate from Northern California, in this case from Eureka, Humboldt County, CA in the heart of the redwoods. It uses unsweetened dark chocolate (although the packaging does not say how much), sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, and vanilla extract. It's not bad; nor does it taste especially distinctive, with very little aroma and a slightly gritty texture. 6/10

Lake Champlain Cacao Nibs & Dark Chocolate: Somewhere between Lake Champlain's 70% and 85% bars comes this 80% bar with cacao nibs. Its taste is intense enough, and the nibs tend to mitigate any bitterness in the high cacao content. 6/10

Cocoa Parlor Royal Dark 88: Using 88% Peruvian single-origin organic dark chocolate, this vegan bar from Cocoa Parlor is obviously deep and slightly bitter and a little chalky, but it's never biting, harsh, or sour. The texture is smooth enough, yet despite its high cocoa content, it has, oddly, little aroma. 6/10

Equal Exchange Very Dark: Produced in Switzerland for Equal Exchange, this bar lists its ingredients as "organic chocolate liquor, organic raw cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic unrefined cane sugar, and organic ground vanilla beans." From this we can infer that the product is organic and sweet. Emphasis on the sweet. It's quite smooth, like a solid liquor from which it's made, and quite sweet. A bit too sweet for my taste and not really chocolatey enough. 6/10

Tony's Chocolonely 70%: This is one big, hefty bar at 6 oz., so you get a lot of chocolate for your money. What's more, the manufacturers make the claim that their chocolate is obtained slave-free, which is certainly commendable and something I'd never considered before, but apparently such practices continue to exist in some places in West Africa. Anyway, the taste is smooth, fruity, nutty, and very sweet, with little chocolate aroma. 6/10

Signature Select 78% Cacao Dark Chocolate: This appears to be Safeway's newest house chocolate; at least, the one they now distribute. Indeed, it may even be the same chocolate as their Safeway Select I reviewed several years earlier. It's made in Switzerland and it contains 78% cacao like their old product, but this time out I found it had less of the bitter taste of their previous bar. Its medium-smooth texture and mild aroma make it a good, safe buy. 6/10

Pacari 70% Cacao: From Ecuador, "Premium organic chocolate from tree to bar" is their claim, using pure Ecuadorian Arriba Nacional cacao. According to their list of ingredients, the 70% consists of 64.38% cacao beans and 5.25% cacao butter, along with 30% cane sugar and .37% sunflower lecithin. The bar has a mildly pleasant chocolate aroma and a fairly pure though not particularly memorable chocolate taste. It's a rather innocuous, almost nondescript flavor, actually, and my only hesitation about giving it a higher score is that the bar is rather small (1.76 oz.) for the premium price it demands. 5/10

Ghirardelli Intense Dark, with Cocoa Nibs: The good: velvety texture, light and smooth, with cocoa nibs adding a flavorful note. The bad: despite the "intense dark" description, it's not very intense, almost milk chocolatey in taste, and there is almost no aroma involved. 5/10

Lindt Excellence 90% Supreme Dark: Obviously, this bar with its high cocoa content is for lovers of intense dark chocolate only. My only quibble with it is that it tastes fairly dry; I would have enjoyed a little moister, creamier texture. 5/10

Spokandy 70% Dark Chocolate: As the name implies, this is a candy bar made in Spokane, Washington, and in 2013 the company celebrated their one-hundredth birthday. So, they've been around. Their 70% dark chocolate bar has a slight but pleasant aroma and a light, sweet, smooth, pleasant chocolate flavor. Beyond that, however, it's somewhat nondescript. It's kind of a middle-of-the-roader here. 5/10

Dagoba Organic Dark: This chocolate wins lots of awards, but I could never find it quite chocolatey enough. It's still pretty good, just not very exciting and a little too bitter for my taste. 5/10

Republica del Cacao Los Rios: If you like rich, spicy, aromatic, faintly cinnamon-tasting chocolate, this is your ticket. For me, I prefer primarily a chocolate taste. 5/10

Republica del Cacao Esmeraldes: Here again we find a crisp, spicy, aromatic chocolate, possibly the ultimate for many chocolate lovers but a bit too acute for my taste. 5/10

Republica del Cacao El Ora: Over the years I've kept going back to various Republica del Cacao products even though I don't favor their overly robust taste. This one was definitely too spicy and crisp for me, but it's certainly an individual choice. 5/10

Zazubean Nakid: With 73% cacao from Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, cocoa nibs, and vanilla, this chocolate bar is made in Switzerland for a Canadian company. So it's got a little bit of everything going for it. I enjoyed the nibs and the hint of vanilla, but I found it overall too sweet and not chocolatey enough. 5/10

Chocolino La Dolce Vita: Despite the Italian-sounding name, Chocolino chocolates are "artfully crafted" for the company, which is located in Fresno, California. Using cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, soy lecithin, and vanilla extract, the bar is very sweet and very chewy. It's also not particularly chocolatey, because even though it's billed as "double dark chocolate," it contains only 55% cacao. 5/10

Neuhaus Dark Chocolate: Another in the line of Belgian dark chocolates, this bar's ingredients are cocoa mass (52%), sugar, butter oil, emulsifier, soy lecithin, and flavors. It's a little syrupy, quite sweet, and not particularly chocolatey or aromatic. If you like sweet candy and don't mind the somewhat bland taste, it might be for you. 5/10

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Lover's Chocolate Bar: This is definitely dark chocolate, 85% cacao dark. So expect a deep, robust taste of chocolate. But the sugar content appears fairly high, mitigating much of the chocolate's bitterness. What's more, the aroma and taste more than hint at vanilla, which is one of its ingredients. Finally, the bar has a decidedly cool feeling on the tongue. Interesting, but not entirely gourmet. 5/10

Newman's Own Organic Super Dark Chocolate: I really wanted to like this chocolate more than I did. It's USDA organic, it's 70% cocoa, it's Rainforest Alliance certified, and all that. Unfortunately, I didn't like the taste of it, which is slightly but unaccountably bitter. Its mild aroma is pleasant, though. 5/10

Endangered Species Natural Dark Chocolate with Cacao Nibs: Nothing much to complain about here except any distinctive flavor or aroma of its own. The cacao nibs are very small but give the chocolate a little more texture and "bite." 5/10

Alce Nero Extra Dark Chocolate: This one seems to do everything right. It's organic; it uses 71% cocoa from Costa Rica; it uses cane sugar; it uses nothing artificial; and it's all put together in Switzerland "by an ancient chocolate master." Yet its taste is rather bland and its aroma nonexistent. Go figure. 5/10

Cote D'Or 70% Noir Intense: The packaging proclaims this being "Belgium's #1 chocolate brand." I'm not entirely sure why except to suggest it's for the same reason Hershey's is America's #1 brand: It's smooth, inoffensive, very mild, and only slightly aromatic. I could neither like nor dislike it, but I found little about it to draw me back. 5/10

Endangered Species Natural Dark Chocolate: I found myself somewhat indifferent to this 72% cocoa bar. There's nothing really wrong with it except that it hasn't much individual flavor and almost no aroma. The texture is smooth but slightly hard. 5/10

Ghirardelli Intense Dark Cabernet Matinee: Ghirardelli added "a hint of natural blackberry and cabernet flavor" to their dark chocolate. Although a lot of folks who like flavored chocolate may love the result, I found it too sweet, rather like eating chocolate-covered cherries. 5/10

Chocolove Extra Strong 77% Cocoa: It has a wonderfully smooth texture and a very low melting point, meaning it dissolves on the tongue quickly. The taste, however, is only moderately deep, given the cocoa content, and there is little or no aroma involved. 5/10

Sharffen Berger Extra Dark: It seems like every time I've tried a Sharfen Berger dark chocolate bar over the years, they have had a slightly different taste. This one didn't taste as overly sweet to me as some of their dark chocolates. It also had a mildly pleasant chocolate aroma and a fairly smooth texture. 5/10

Hershey's Extra Dark 60%: The folks at Hershey have been experimenting for the past decade with various gourmet chocolate bars, this current one as good as any they've produced. It has an ultralight, whipped, and creamy essence, if not particularly strong on chocolate flavor. 5/10

TCHO Dark Chocolate "Chocolatey" 70%: There's a decent chocolate taste here, to be sure, but it's not particularly pronounced, nor are the bar's texture or aroma. In all, it's good but somewhat bland. 5/10

Dove Silky Smooth 71% Cacao Dark Chocolate: Neither here nor there. It's dark chocolate, not much more, with little texture, bite, aroma, or associated flavors. 5/10

Godiva Dark Chocolate 72% Cacao: Sporting a new graphic design on their packaging, this product from the Belgium-based Godiva chocolatier is expectedly smooth but somewhat bland, guaranteed not to offend non-chocolate lovers with anything too chocolatey. No discernable aroma, either, yet mildly pleasant. 5/10

Lilly's Original Dark Chocolate: This chocolate bar and the Coco Polo Dark Chocolate below use a sugar substitute, stevia, a zero-calorie sweetener derived from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant. There have been some health concerns over the years about stevia, but they seem to have been largely resolved. That doesn't mean I like it, though. I dislike all sugar substitutes simply because none of them, including stevia, taste like real sugar to me. Although the product claims to be all natural and GMO-free, I didn't really care for the taste, which doesn't seem chocolatey enough to me. What's more, it's the only bar I've ever tasted that feels chewy, which seems slightly disconcerting. Still, if you're looking for non-sugared chocolate, Lilly's and Coco Polo are not entirely bad choices. 5/10

Coco Polo 70% Dark Chocolate Cocoa Nibs: This chocolate bar also uses the sugar substitute stevia. It has some good-tasting cocoa nibs in it, but they don't negate the fact that the chocolate itself still tastes artificial to me, leaving a slightly metallic aftertaste in my mouth. 5/10

Antiu Xixona Dark 72% Cocoa Intense: On the plus side, this bar from Spain is a fairly large bar for the money, and there is no denying its chocolatey taste. However, it is also rather coarse and hard in texture, with a slightly bitter, alkaline taste. I did not care much for it. 5/10

Sharffen Berger "Nibby" Dark Chocolate: The overly sweet and overly fruity taste of Sharffen Berger's dark chocolate is somewhat mitigated by the roasted cacao nibs mixed in. 5/10

Good & Delish MidKnight Premium Dark: Walgreens distributes this 70% German chocolate bar, which has a cool, velvety smooth texture but not a lot of chocolate taste or aroma. 4/10

Jelina Chocolatier Noir Dark: 72% cacao helps, but the first bar I bought was so hard, I had trouble just biting into it. Thinking it might have been on the shelf too long, I tried another of their bars, this one with cocoa nibs, that turned out a bit easier to nibble. Aside from the coarse texture, though, the bar actually tastes at least respectable. 4/10

Sharffen Berger 70% Bittersweet Dark: Since being sold and moving out of the San Francisco Bay Area, Sharffen Berger chocolate has never tasted the same to me. It now seems too sweet and too fruity, drowning out the original chocolate taste. 4/10

Charlotte's Dark Belgian Chocolate: You know that California's Napa Valley produces some of the world's finest wines. Did you know that Napa also produces Charlotte's Confections? The flavor of this dark Belgian chocolate is rather too sweet for my taste, however, and not chocolatey enough. It's also a tad too grainy in texture, a little too much like homemade chocolate fudge. 4/10

Valrhona Guanaja 70%: This one has a good, balanced texture but a rather bland flavor. 4/10

Valrhana Caraibe Noisette: I probably should have checked the label more closely before buying this bar. I don't care for nuts in my chocolate, and this one tasted strongly of the hazelnuts they used in it. Otherwise, it's smooth, somewhat chewy, and obviously nutty. 4/10

Droste Superior: We now get into the fairly odd categories, like this Droste bar that I found both rich and chocolatey on the one hand and rather banal on the other. Kind of a Jekyll and Hyde bar. 4/10

Heidi Grand'Or: Despite its Swiss-sounding name, the Heidi 75% "Intense" bar is a product of Romania. I would take that "intense" business with a grain of salt. It's actually a very mild chocolate, velvety smooth, a little chewy, thinly presented, with almost no aroma. Its taste will not offend, but it has little individual distinction. 4/10

Pascha Organic Dark Chocolate: This vegan, organic bar, 70% cacao, a product of Peru made for the Canadian Pascha Chocolate Company, would seem a purist's delight: It contains no genetically modified ingredients, no peanuts, no nuts, no soy, no dairy components, no eggs, no wheat, no glutin--just organic cocoa mass, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, and organic vanilla. And, from what I can tell, no flavor. It has a pleasantly mild aroma but practically no distinctive chocolate taste. It's kind of like the asparagus of chocolate bars: You may not like it, but you know it's good for you. 4/10

Ghirardelli Intense Dark Cocoa Nibs: Since I rather like the taste of Ghirardelli's "Intense Dark" Midnight Delight, I figured this would be more of the same but with added cocoa nibs. Wrong. I should have been suspicious when I noticed after buying it that nowhere on the packaging did the company mention the actual cocoa content (their Twilight Delight contains 72%). Here, the bar was lighter in color than Twilight Delight, had practically no aroma, and tasted more like a slightly crunchy milk chocolate. And it's sweet. Very, very sweet. 4/10

Brix Extra Dark Chocolate Bites: A couple of years ago, I tried the Brix bar and thought it was well named: It was as hard as a brick. Figuring it might have just sat on the grocery-store shelf too long, I decided not to review it. More recently, I tried these little, individually wrapped Brix bites, and the same thing: too hard. Their advertising says the chocolate is "formulated to pair with the deepest red wines." Maybe I should have tried it with wine, I don't know. But even after it had dissolved on the tongue for a while, the 70% cacao content didn't taste or smell very chocolatey to me. 4/10

Ritter Sport Noir Extra Fine 73%: If it tastes awfully sweet, it is. Although the labeling says it's made "with fine cocoa from Ecuador," the ingredients list "chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, butterfat, and natural bourbon vanilla flavor." There is practically no aroma involved, a very chewy texture, and only a mild hint of chocolate taste. 4/10

World Market All Natural Dark Chocolate: Distributed by Cost Plus Markets, this 72% cacao bar is about as bland and inoffensive as they get. Like the Godiva and Heidi bars, there is nothing bad about it, yet there is not much to commend about it, either. It looks like dark chocolate but beyond a mild coffee flavor and aroma, it has little chocolate taste about it. 4/10

Gold Emblem Select Gourmet European Dark Chocolate: Distributed by CVS Pharmacies, this European chocolate is made in Poland and may or may not be "gourmet" depending on your taste. I found its texture relatively hard, dry, and coarse; its aroma practically nonexistent; and its taste flat and bland. Not very chocolatey, that's for sure. 4/10

Pennsylvania Dutch Candies Dark Chocolate: It's very light, frothy, creamy, but, unfortunately, not very chocolatey. With only 53% cacao, it's more like a dark milk chocolate. With little aroma and a sort of artificial flavor, it's not unpleasant; just not very much like a real dark chocolate. 4/10

Dreamhouse Yummy 72% Dark Chocolate: This seems to be Rite Aid's answer to CVS's Gold Emblem above, and neither of them is, to me, a top-shelf chocolate. The Dreamhouse chocolate bar tastes sweeter yet less chocolatey than the Gold Emblem. Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and vanilla are the ingredients in the Dreamhouse bar, with, I suspect, a heavy dose of the sugar. 4/10

Sweet Obsession Dark Chocolate: Another one made in Poland, this one advertised as "Simply the finest chocolates on earth." It tastes very smooth, very delicate, very sweet, and largely devoid of chocolate flavor or aroma. It's a big bar at over five ounces, and since I bought it a local drugstore for a buck, it seemed like a bargain. What's more, it's not unpleasant; just dull and undistinguished. And did I mention sweet? Very, very sweet. 4/10

Whittaker's Dark Block: J.H. Whittaker & Sons Limited have been making chocolates in New Zealand since 1896, and I suppose you could call them the Hershey's of the country. Unfortunately, the 50% cocoa "Dark Block" bar I sampled tastes a lot like a Hershey's dark chocolate bar, too. With only 50% cocoa and a lot of sugar and emulsifier, it doesn't have a lot of actual chocolate taste. For a "dark" bar, it tastes less "chocolatey" than many milk-chocolate bars. It even smells like a Hershey's bar, and that's not a compliment. 4/10

Cadbury Royal Dark: Cadbury is one of the oldest and most-popular chocolate makers in England, the company tracing its origins back to 1824. "Royal Dark" is their semi-sweet bar, although I found nothing "semi" about it. It's just sweet. The ingredients list sugar first, then coco butter, chocolate milk fat, and natural and artificial flavors. It not only tastes sweet, it tastes lightly whipped. It tastes, in fact, much like a dark Hershey bar, which does not come as a surprise considering that the Hershey Company distributes it. 4/10

TAZA Stoneground 70%: Its taste is ultra-sweet yet slightly bitter, too, with a coarse, crumbly texture that kind of lies flat on the tongue. It may remind some people of homemade fudge, which is not entirely a bad thing. 4/10

Helsinki Heaven Goodio Arriba: This bar from Finland is advertised as being made from 71% Arriba cacao from Ecuador, its ingredients raw, organic, and vegan. The hunk I got was well packaged, well sealed, but stale and discolored. Therefore, you may disregard my rating as I may have gotten a bad sample. It tasted slightly of coffee. Stale coffee. 4/10

Hershey's Special Dark, Mildly Sweet Chocolate: If you like Hershey's classic milk chocolate, the kind every kid grew up with, you'll probably like their Special Dark, too; it's not much different. It's very sweet, possibly because unlike most other dark chocolate bars, the main listed ingredient in this one is sugar. And I would guess a lot of it. 4/10

Finally, as I mentioned above, don't expect to find too many of these chocolate bar brands at your local supermarket. The best place to start looking is in your own locality for specialty stores and gourmet shops (google "chocolate shops" in your area). If you have to go on-line, the problem is that high shipping costs compound the high price of many of the bars. A ten-dollar chocolate bar could have a five-dollar added shipping charge. Nevertheless, you might check on Amazon (, Chocosphere (, or some such retail site.



  1. Fantastic Entry, Please keep updating it! I have been using it as a reference when I am out shopping for quality bean to bar chocolates.
    Thank you

  2. Thank you for the update!!

  3. There is an amazing variety of dark-chocolate bars out there, and I try to sample as many of them as possible, usually a new one every week or two. Not that my taste will conform to everyone's, but I hope, at least, the article is informative.

  4. Have u tried Ecco brand dark butter bar? Its awesome!

  5. I meant Alter Eco salted brown butter. Sorry for prev incorrect name.

  6. I've tried to limit the scope of the survey mainly to dark chocolate bars. But I do like Alter Eco's dark bar.


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"Their Master's Voice" by Michael Sowa

"Their Master's Voice" by Michael Sowa