Beyond Valentine’s Day: How to Choose the Best Chocolate Anytime
I happen to be writing this article shortly before Valentine’s Day, and the day after I conducted a Chocolate Tasting Experience. I have been teaching folks, both lay-people and culinary professionals, how to taste and appreciate chocolate for 30+ years. Suffice it to say that I don’t need to wait for V-Day to enjoy some chocolate, and neither should you. But how do you choose the best chocolate? You are about to find out.
What This Article Is – and Isn’t!
This post is not about cooking or baking with chocolate; we will write that article, soon. This is about fine eating chocolate. The kind that you take the time to taste and savor. The kind that you spend a little extra money on and that is even suitable for gifts.
Learn To Read Labels
Chocolate is one of life’s simple pleasures, but not all chocolate is created equal. If you’ve ever stood in the chocolate aisle feeling overwhelmed by the sheer variety of bars, you’re not alone. Labels are covered with percentages, origin claims, certifications, and ingredient lists that can be confusing if you don’t know what to look for.
Understanding how to read a chocolate bar label can make all the difference in selecting high-quality chocolate that tastes amazing and aligns with your values, whether that means organic, ethical, or simply the best-tasting option. Let’s break it down.
Start with the Cocoa Percentage
One of the first things you’ll notice on many fine chocolate bar labels is a percentage—50%, 70%, 85%, or even 100%. This tells you how much of the bar is made from cacao solids and cacao butter versus other ingredients like sugar or milk.
Cacao beans are made up of cacao mass and cocoa butter. In fact, there is about 50% fat in the beans!
Terminology
By the way, the amount of actual cacao beans in the bar might be stated on the label as any of the following. They all mean the same thing; they are referencing the total cacao bean (cacao mass and cocoa butter):
- Cocoa mass
- Cacao mass
- Chocolate
- Chocolate liquor (has nothing to do with alcohol)
More on Percentages
Here’s what the percentages mean:
- 50–60% cocoa: Sweeter chocolate, typically with a milder cocoa flavor, often balanced between sugar and cacao.
- 70–75% cocoa: The sweet spot for many chocolate lovers, offering deep chocolate flavor with balanced sweetness.
- 80–90% cocoa: Intense and slightly bitter, with minimal sugar.
- 100% cocoa: Pure chocolate with no added sugar—an acquired taste but excellent for those who love intense flavors or want to use it for cooking. When you see a bar of “unsweetened chocolate” that is what it is! 100% cacao mass.
Is Higher Better?
A higher percentage generally means a more pronounced cocoa flavor and less sugar. However, more cocoa doesn’t always mean better—it depends on the quality of the beans and how they were processed.
For instance, you could have a variety of cacao, like Porcelana, at a high percentage, but it might taste milder due to its inherent genetic qualities than another chocolate of a similar, or even lower, percentage.
Or, one bar might be from cacao produced with a high roast, which would enhance bitterness (not necessarily a bad thing), while another of the same percentage treated with a low roast would taste more mellow.
In the end, what YOUR palate likes, is what makes it “best”.
But there are certain things to look for…
Check the Entire Ingredient List
As chocolate manufacturers, especially smaller ones, focus on the flavor potential of the raw agricultural product, ingredient lists have become shorter. Sometimes just listing cacao mass and sugar.
That said, sometimes vanilla or a small amount of lecithin, an emulsifier, will be present, even in high quality bars. Extra cocoa butter is typical as well and will be listed.
A high-quality dark chocolate bar should contain:
- Cacao (or cocoa) mass: This is the actual chocolate.
- Cocoa butter: The natural fat from cacao beans, which gives chocolate its smooth texture. No other fat should be listed. Steer clear of palm oil, cottonseed oil, etc.
- Sugar: Present in most chocolate. The higher the cacao mass percentage, the lower the sugar content.
- Vanilla: Some brands add vanilla for flavor enhancement.
- Soy or sunflower lecithin: An emulsifier that helps with texture, though not always necessary.
What To Avoid
Avoid chocolate bars that have unnecessary additives, such as artificial flavors, vegetable oils, or excessive preservatives. If the ingredient list is long and full of words you don’t recognize, put that bar back on the shelf.
Look at the Type of Sugar Used
Sugar plays a big role in the overall taste and quality of a chocolate bar. High-quality chocolate typically uses cane sugar, while lower-quality brands might use corn syrup or other refined sugars that can affect the taste and texture.
The exceptions will be specialty bars that use other high quality sweeteners, such as pure maple sugar. We do not recommend alternative non-nutritive sweeteners such as stevia, erythritol, or monk fruit.
Let’s Look at Milk Chocolate
For milk chocolate, you want to see real milk or milk powder instead of fillers and artificial dairy substitutes.
The exceptions will be non-dairy bars that might use a high quality oat milk, for instance.
Check for Origin and Sourcing Information
Great chocolate often highlights its origin. Single-origin chocolate bars are made from cacao grown in a specific region, such as Madagascar, Ecuador, or Ghana. These bars often have unique flavor notes influenced by the local soil and climate—just like wine.
If a chocolate bar doesn’t disclose its origin, it could be a mix of lower-quality beans sourced from various places without much emphasis on flavor. This is a general statement but can help guide you.
Ethical and Sustainability Certifications
Many chocolate bars come with certifications that indicate ethical sourcing and environmental responsibility. Here are some common ones:
- Fair Trade: Ensures that farmers receive fair wages and work in ethical conditions.
- Rainforest Alliance: Focuses on sustainable farming practices.
- Organic: Indicates that the cacao was grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.
- Bean-to-Bar: This means the company oversees the entire chocolate-making process, from sourcing beans to producing the final product, often ensuring higher quality and ethical standards.
Caveats
While some of the above notations and certifications “can” be helpful, they are not the whole story. For instance, there are wild cacao trees and smaller farmers who cannot afford the organic certification, but their product is organic.
Example: Problems with Fair Trade Chocolate
While Fair Trade chocolate is often seen as an ethical choice, it has several drawbacks that consumers should be aware of:
- Lower pay for farmers than expected: Despite Fair Trade’s goal of providing fair wages, many farmers still earn below a livable wage because certification fees and middlemen take a cut of the profits.
- Expensive certification process: Small-scale farmers often struggle to afford Fair Trade certification, meaning many excellent cacao producers are left out of the system.
- Quality concerns: Fair Trade prioritizes economic fairness, but it does not always focus on premium-quality beans. Some of the best chocolate in the world comes from farmers who do not participate in Fair Trade programs.
- Inefficiencies in distribution: Fair Trade models sometimes fail to address deep-seated issues in the cacao supply chain, such as poor infrastructure and exploitative labor conditions in uncertified farms.
- Lack of transparency: Some Fair Trade brands blend beans from multiple sources, making it hard to trace the true impact of the certification.
While Fair Trade can be a step in the right direction, it’s not a perfect system. Many experts recommend looking for direct-trade chocolate, where companies work directly with farmers and pay them higher wages without intermediaries.
Pay Attention to Texture and Snap
Once you’ve bought your chocolate, there’s one more test—how does it feel and sound? High-quality chocolate has a smooth texture and a crisp snap when you break it. If it bends instead of snapping, it may contain unnecessary oils or fillers or was not tempered correctly.
Chocolate bars containing dairy will not be quite as “snappy” as dark chocolate bars.
Flavor Notes: More Than Just “Chocolate”
Good chocolate is often more than “chocolatey.” High-quality dark chocolate can have tasting notes of fruit, nuts, coffee, caramel, or even floral and spicy flavors. The chocolate doesn’t have fruit or nuts in it. These are the flavor profiles that come from the cacao bean itself.
Single-origin chocolate bars often highlight these tasting notes on the label.
For example:
- Madagascar cacao might have bright, citrusy notes.
- Ecuadorian cacao could be nutty and earthy.
- Ghanaian cacao is often deep and rich with classic chocolate flavors.
Trying different origins is a great way to discover your personal preference.
Understanding Chocolate Types: Dark, Milk, and White
Chocolate comes in different styles, and knowing what to expect from each can help you choose wisely:
- Dark chocolate: Contains little to no milk and typically has a higher cacao percentage. Best for those who love deep, complex flavors.
- Milk chocolate: Sweeter and creamier due to added milk solids. Look for high cacao content (40% or more) for a richer flavor, but the FDA says it can contain as little a 10% cacao.
- White chocolate: Doesn’t contain cacao solids, only cocoa butter, sugar, and milk. High-quality white chocolate should list cocoa butter as one of the first ingredients, not just sugar and dairy. We do not recommend white chocolates that have any alternative fat; they must have cocoa butter.
The Truth About “Dutched” vs. Natural Cocoa
Some chocolate bars use cocoa that has been “Dutch-processed” (alkalized) to reduce acidity and create a smoother flavor. While this can make the chocolate taste milder, it also reduces some of the natural antioxidants found in cocoa. If you want more of the original chocolate complexity, look for bars made with natural (non-alkalized) cocoa.
The label might not state one way or another, but typically if it is alkalized, it will say so.
Price and Brand Reputation
Price isn’t always an indicator of quality, but extremely cheap chocolate is usually mass-produced with lower-quality beans, excess sugar, and additives. Brands that focus on bean-to-bar production or high-quality ingredients tend to be pricier but worth it.
Brands We Love
Every November I anxiously await the results of the International Chocolate Awards to see which chocolates of that year have been chosen by experts who I trust and admire. It is a way to learn about new-to-me brands, and I always try to get ahold of some of the top winners for my chocolate tastings.
For instance, I recently included Vigdis Rosenkilde Quellouno 70%, the World’s Best Dark Chocolate for 2024, and it was a stellar experience. (I got mine from HelloChocolate).
We also source a lot of our favorite chocolates from Caputos and Cocoa Runners.
Some great brands include:
Final Thoughts: Choose What You Love
Reading a chocolate label doesn’t have to be intimidating. The key takeaways? Look for a short ingredient list, high cacao percentage (if you like dark chocolate), and specific origin details. And most importantly—taste different chocolates and find what you love.
The best chocolate is the one that makes you happy. Whether that’s a rich, dark 85% bar or a smooth, creamy milk chocolate, now you know exactly how to choose the best one. Happy chocolate hunting!
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Last update on 2025-03-22 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
