Ranking: best Mexico single origin chocolate

Here are my personal ranking results from two rounds of tasting four single origin bars made from Mexico cacao. You can see all of our current ranking results on the Chocolate Rankings page.

All four of these chocolates were very good. Note that the qualities of each chocolate differ, and you may prefer the flavor, aroma, or texture of a lower ranked chocolate to that of one ranked higher. Click on a name to see a detailed review of that chocolate bar.

Cacao Sampaka La Joya Michel Cluizel Mokaya Cacao Sampaka Xoconusco Bar au Chocolat Chiapas, Mexico

Ranking: best Bolivia single origin chocolate

Here are my personal ranking results from three rounds of tasting four single origin bars made from Bolivia cacao. You can see all of our current ranking results on the Chocolate Rankings page.

El Ceibo Heritage and Rogue Silvestre were both excellent chocolates, and I found it difficult to decide between them. Ultimately, I felt Heritage slightly edged out Silvestre with a greater variety of flavors. Note that the qualities of each chocolate differ, and you might prefer the flavor, aroma, or texture of a lower ranked chocolate to that of one ranked higher. Click on a name to see a detailed review of that chocolate bar.

El Ceibo Heritage Rogue Silvestre Dick Taylor Bolivia Taza Stone Ground 87%

Ranking: best Costa Rica single origin chocolate

Here are my personal ranking results from two rounds of blind tasting of the Costa Rica single origin chocolate bars we have reviewed. You can see all of our current ranking results on the Chocolate Rankings page.

Dandelion was the clear winner for me. I thought the next three were quite good as well. Note that the qualities of each chocolate differ, and you might prefer the flavor, aroma, or texture of a lower ranked chocolate to that of one ranked higher. Click on a name to see a detailed review of that chocolate bar.

Dandelion Upala, Costa Rica Escazú Guapiles, Costa Rica Potomac Upala 70% Ritual Costa Rica Theo Costa Rica Potomac Upala 82%

Ranking: best Venezuela single origin chocolate

Here are my personal ranking results from four rounds of tasting most of the Venezuela single origin chocolate bars we have reviewed. We did not include Venezuelan Chuao or Porcelana chocolate in this ranking. They were ranked separately, as can be seen on our Chocolate Rankings page (which contains all of our rankings with current information).

I liked all of these chocolates, so being near the middle or bottom of this list does not mean the chocolate wasn't good, only that I thought the ones above it were better. Note also that the qualities of each chocolate differ, and you might prefer the flavor, aroma, or texture of a lower ranked chocolate to that of one ranked higher. Click on a name to see a detailed review of that chocolate bar.

Patric Rio Caribe Superior Amano Montanya Amano Ocumare Amedei Cru Venezuela L'Amourette Carenero Superior Rogue Rio Caribe Michel Cluizel Concepcion Amano Cuyaga Bonnat Puerto Cabello Valrhona Palmira L'Amourette Chocolat Noir Bonnat Hacienda El Rosario Escazú Carenero Venezuela Dandelion Venezuela E. Guittard Sur del Lago Moonstruck Venezuela Chapon Venezuela

Ranking: best raw chocolate

Here are the ranking results from three rounds of tasting the raw chocolate bars we have reviewed.

Pacari Raw 70% Stirs the Soul Honey Dark Chocolate Conspiracy Dark Bar (note: grainy bits) Fearless Dark as Midnight Pacari Raw 85% Stirs the Soul ORIGINS Madagascar Stirs the Soul ORIGINS Ecuador Stirs the Soul Dark Stirs the Soul Blissful Dark Gnosis Dazzling Dark Fine & Raw 78% Gnosis Simplicity

Notes
Clicking on a name above will take you to the detailed review of that chocolate bar.
To see updated information and other rankings, go to our Chocolate Rankings page.

Ranking: best Dominican Republic single origin chocolate

Here are the ranking results from three rounds of tasting the Dominican Republic single origin chocolate bars we have reviewed.

Amano Dos Rios Rogue Hispaniola Taza Stone Ground 70% Fresco 213 Mast Brothers Dominican Republic Valrhona Grand Cru Taїnori Taza Stone Ground 60% Moonstruck Dominican Republic Taza Cacao Puro 70% Indahphoria Dominican Republic Taza Stone Ground 80% Godiva 85% Extra Dark Santo Domingo

Notes
Clicking on a name above will take you to the detailed review of that chocolate bar.
To see updated information and other rankings, go to our Chocolate Rankings page.

Ranking: best Ecuador single-origin chocolate

In order to do a direct comparison and ranking, I retasted the 11 single origin chocolate bars made from Ecuador cacao we had reviewed for which the best before dates had not yet passed. After 3 iterations over the past two days, here are the results:

Askinosie San Jose Del Tambo Kallari 75% Cacao Amano Guayas Kallari 70% Cacao E. Guittard Quevedo Mindo 77% TCHO Nutty 2.0 Mindo 67% Republica del Cacao Manabi Kallari 85% Cacao Republica del Cacao Los Rios

Notes
Clicking on a name above will take you to the detailed review of that chocolate bar.
To see updated information and other rankings, go to our Chocolate Rankings page.

Ranking: best Peru single-origin chocolate

In a head to head comparison, I retasted the three single origin chocolate bars made from Peru cacao that we reviewed during this past year that made it onto our Best Chocolates Overall list. All three received equivalent 8.0 average ratings in our detailed reviews this past year, so I expected ranking these great chocolates to be particularly interesting.

These were excellent chocolates, and ranking them was more difficult than I anticipated. Each was nicely tempered. For aroma, I think Original Beans Piura Porcelana edged out the others. All three had good complex flavors, but the sweetness of TCHO Fruity 2.0 was a bit too strong for me. The melt of Fruity 2.0 was smooth, but not as nice as the other two. Piura Porcelana had a short length, in contrast with the flavor lasting far into medium length for the other two. The final aftertaste of Piura Porcelana was slightly bitter; the other two had slightly tannin aftertastes. I'd rank them:

• Moonstruck Fortunato No. 4
• Original Beans Piura Porcelana
• TCHO Fruity 2.0

Although I did come up with the above order, you might rank them in a different order, depending on your chocolate preferences (which is probably why they ended up with similar overall ratings). Adding the other two Peru single origin bars we've reviewed, I'd rank Peru bars as follows (though the first four are all great):

1. Rogue Piura
2. Moonstruck Fortunato No. 4
3. Original Beans Piura Porcelana
4. TCHO Fruity 2.0
5. Bonnat Cacao Cusco

Notes
Clicking on a name above will take you to the detailed review of that chocolate bar.
To see updated information and other rankings, go to our Chocolate Rankings page.

Ranking: best Colombia single origin chocolate

In a head to head comparison, I retasted the five single origin chocolate bars made from Colombia cacao that were on our Best Chocolates Overall list (i.e., those with average ratings of 7.0 or higher).

Although I personally preferred the flavor of Santander Colombian 70% to that of Santander Colombian 65%, I felt the latter had a slightly more interesting taste and less tannin in the finish, so I ranked it higher. Similarly, Guittard Chucuri was too sweet for me and I personally would buy Pralus Colombie before it, but I found Chucuri's aroma and flavor to be a bit more complex than that of Colombie. In any case, my final ranking was:

Domori Teyuna Santander Colombian 65% Santander Colombian 70% E. Guittard Chucuri Francois Pralus Colombie

Notes
Clicking on a name above will take you to the detailed review of that chocolate bar.
To see updated information and other rankings, go to our Chocolate Rankings page.

Chocolate Rankings page added

In the past, we've done a few head-to-head comparison tastings of different chocolate categories and labeled them with ranking label.

To make these more accessible, we've put a summary of the ones so far on a permanent Chocolate Rankings page. As we do additional comparative tastings (e.g., other single origins), we'll add them to the permanent page, as well as post to the blog.

Ranking: best chocolate with 100% cocoa solids

In a head to head tasting, Lindy, I, and my friend Michael ranked six chocolates made from 100% cocoa solids.

Lindy's ranking:

1. Valrhona Manjari Pure Pate
2. Bonnat 100% Cacao
3. Pralus Le 100%
4. Valrhona Araguani Pure Pate
5. Valrhona Cacao Pâte Extra
6. Coppeneur Hacienda Iara 100%

Richard's ranking:

1. Valrhona Manjari Pure Pate
2. Pralus Le 100%
3. Bonnat 100% Cacao
4. Valrhona Araguani Pure Pate
5. Valrhona Cacao Pâte Extra
6. Coppeneur Hacienda Iara 100%

Michael's ranking:

1. Pralus Le 100%
2. Bonnat 100% Cacao
3. Valrhona Cacao Pâte Extra
4. Valrhona Araguani Pure Pate
5. Coppeneur Hacienda Iara 100%
6. Valrhona Manjari Pure Pate

Lindy mentioned that she found it difficult ordering Pralus Le 100% and Bonnat 100% Cacao (switching the order would have made our rankings identical). Michael's was different primarily because he disliked the sour and tart flavors of Manjari.

Notes
You can click on the name of the chocolate bar in any of the lists above to see the associated detailed review.
To view updated information and other rankings, go to our Chocolate Rankings page.

Best Chocolates Ranked By Overall Rating

Today, I added a permanent Best Chocolates Overall page that contains a list of chocolates we've rated most highly (with an average overall rating of 7.0 or higher). The name of each chocolate links to our most recent detailed review.

Best Chocolate Values page updated

Our Best Chocolate Values page has been updated with the new overall rating scale. On this page, all reviewed chocolates are listed with our overall ratings independent of price, but we list them in order of price per mass. Whenever available, the chocolate maker's listed retail price is used for this calculation (otherwise, we use a reference price for purchasing online).

I'll begin posting reviews from our backlog starting tomorrow.

Ranking: best Madagascar single origin chocolate

In a head to head tasting, Lindy and I ranked eleven single origin chocolate bars made from Madagascar cacao. Our rankings were nearly identical (differing only in 3rd and 4th place), so we decided that 3rd would be a tie and merged the rankings together into a single list. As for the difference, I ranked Pralus Madagascar above Fresco 214 and Lindy had them in the opposite order.

Note that we liked all of these chocolates (all rated 7.0 or higher; *** or higher with our previous star rating system). We ranked them for two purposes: to determine our favorite Madagascar chocolate and to test our previous individual ratings for consistency.

The results were as follows:

Rogue Sambirano Patric Madagascar 75% TIE! Pralus Madagascar and Fresco 214 Michel Cluizel Mangaro 65% Valrhona Ampamakia Theo Organic 74% Madagascar Mast Brothers Madagascar Bonnat Madagascar Coppeneur Menavava Madécasse 80%

Notes
Clicking on a name above will take you to the detailed review of that chocolate bar.
To see updated information and other rankings, go to our Chocolate Rankings page.

Thoughts on Chocolate Labeling

As with other food products, chocolate is often labeled with descriptions that may be more or less accurate, but increase the perceived value and thus the price of the product. General terms such as "organic", "fair trade", and "sustainable" come to mind. Chocolate-specific terms include "single-origin", "plantation", higher quality bean names ("Criollo", "Trinitario", or "Arriba"), and chocolate names suggestive of desirable specific provenance, such as "Chuao", "Venezuela", or "Sambirano".

For a few of these terms, there are government and third-party certifications. The downside of certifications is that they cost money, and some chocolate makers achieving the same goals may choose not to acquire certification due to the added cost.

What provoked me write about this was my recent review of Pralus Caracas, during which I discovered that the chocolate was made from a blend of both Trinitario cacao beans from Venezuela and (lower quality and lower priced) Forastero beans from Ghana. This clearly conflicted with the wrapper that indicated a single origin in Venezuela, not only with the name of the city of Caracas, but also with its latitude and longitude. The wrapper only listed Trinitario cacao beans. Pralus had more complete information on their website, and while I give them credit for providing it, it would be much more honest to disclose such information on the wrapper of the bar itself.

That experience only makes me wonder what other chocolate makers may not be telling us, whether through intentional deception or not.

Ultimately, what matters most to me is the resulting chocolate, regardless of where and how the cacao was grown, what type of beans were used, etc. However, the other information is relevant, and for some consumers even more important than the sensual properties of the chocolate. I wish we could rely on every chocolate maker to straightforwardly present full and accurate information about their chocolates, but savvy consumers should remain skeptical and place more faith in government and uninvolved third-party certifications.

Here are some of the certifications you may see, along with links to the certifying organization for additional information.

	EU organic
	U.S. Department of Agriculture organic
	French Agriculture Biologique organic
	Fairtrade International fair trade
	TransFair USA fair trade
	Fair For Life fair trade and socially responsible
	Rainforest Alliance sustainable

Ranking: Chuao Comparison

Chuao is a region of Venezuela renown for its extremely high quality cacao beans. The cacao trees in the plantations in Chuao are primarily pure Criollo, although there are some hybrid Trinitario as well. In any case, this is supposed to be the source of perhaps the best chocolate anywhere.

For several years, Amedei had an arrangement to purchase all of the cacao beans from several of the plantations there. This exclusive deal kept many others from producing Chuao bars. However, some have managed to do so, and the following is a comparison of the four Chuaos I've been able to get my hands on.

Apparently Pralus recently released a Chuao bar that I hope to buy soon. Based on one image on Pralus's website, it may be made of Trinitario cacao. In any case, I'll post an updated Chuao comparison once we try Pralus's bar.

Notes:

• None of these bars use an emulsifier.
• The color of all the Chuaos were close to the PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken, though two were medium browns and two were darker.
• There isn't a list price for the Amedei or Bonnat, so I used pricing from Chocolopolis for them instead.

chocolate maker	Amano	Amedei	Bonnat	Coppeneur
Lindy's rating	***	****	****	***
Richard's rating	***	****	***	***
cocoa solids	70%	70%	75%	70%
added fat	cocoa butter	cocoa butter	cocoa butter	(none)
sweetener	cane sugar	cane sugar	sugar	cane sugar
flavoring	vanilla	vanilla	(none)	(none)
color	medium-dark brown	medium brown	medium-dark brown	medium brown
aroma	coffee, earthy(musty), hint of coconut	raspberry	earthy(musty, soil), roast, hints of molasses and allspice	plum, sweet, berry
taste	strong blackberry, plum, hint of earthy	initial honey, strong cherry	roast (smoky), blueberry, strawberry	plum, tart, hint of ginger
melt	less smooth	creamy	less smooth	creamy
length	short	medium	short	short
finish	slightly dry	mildly acidic	faintly fruity	tart
size	56g ~ 2.0oz	50g ~ 1.8oz	100g ~ 3.5oz	50g ~ 1.8oz
price per bar	$9.95	$13.00	$9.99	$7.95
price per ounce	$4.98	$7.37	$2.83	$4.51

Overall, Lindy and I would both rank these excellent chocolates (in order from best to very good):

1. Amedei
2. Bonnat
3. Coppeneur
4. Amano

Blind Chocolate Tasting Results

Yesterday evening's blind chocolate tasting was a success. The group was made up of six first-time chocolate tasters and Lindy and me. Unfortunately, one person had an upset stomach and did not participate, so only seven of us tasted.

We reviewed seven bars from different regions around the world, with no one other than me having any information beyond that of the chocolate maker of some of the bars due to imprints.

The seven bars we tasted (in order of overal average rating):

Chocolate Bar	Region	Cocoa Solids	average rating
Michel Cluizel Maralumi	Papua New Guinea	64%	3.4
Valrhona Ampamakia	Madagascar	64%	2.9
Valrhona Gran Couva	Trinidad	64%	2.8
Valrhona Palmira	Venezuela	64%	2.6
Republica del Cacao Los Rios	Ecuador	75%	2.3
Theo Costa Rica	Costa Rica	91%	2.1
Francois Pralus Ghana	Ghana	75%	1.9

The Republica del Cacao Los Rios bar was particularly notable, generating strong reactions to its intense fig flavor. A few people thought it must be a flavored chocolate, even though it is not. Two people gave it the top rating of **** and two gave it the lowest rating of *.

The winner of the tasting, though, was clearly the Michel Cluizel Maralumi 64%. It was liked consistently by everyone. Every rating was either *** or ****, and everyone ranked it first or second among the bars we tasted.

I will add links in the above table to individual reviews as I post them over the next several days.

All in all, everyone seemed to have a good time and enjoy themselves. One person was amused that he wasn't noticing most of the specific aromas and flavors that others were, and instead focused on comparing differences in intensity of sweetness, bitterness, and richness. Many thanks to Phillip and Chris for organizing and hosting this event!

However, two improvements for any future tastings will be to review fewer chocolates, perhaps 4, and to start earlier. We started around 6:30 p.m., and because no one had eaten since lunch (to have a clean palate for the tasting), by the time we reached the 6th chocolate bar about 2 hours later, most people were ready to eat dinner. The bits of bread and water between chocolates were not substantial enough after so much time since a meal.

Chocolate Value

As you've probably noticed, we do not consider price as a criterion in evaluating chocolate on this site. Our ratings and rankings are independent of price. However, we recognize that price is relevant and have always posted a list price for any chocolates that have them. For those that don't, we include a reference price for purchasing them online in the text of the review.

I thought it might be interesting to separately look at the relative prices of some of the chocolates we've reviewed. To that end, I added a best chocolate values page to this site that we will maintain as we continue to review chocolate bars.

Trader Joe's chocolates are, by far, the best deal, with the Pound Plus bars coming in at a mere 28 cents ($0.28) per ounce and the others well under $1 per ounce. At the other extreme is Domori's Porcelana bar, priced at almost $8 per ounce.

You can find the best chocolate values page by clicking the Chocolate Value link in the Pages section on the top right of the home page.

Criteria

What should I include in a review of chocolate?

I assumed that chocolate tasting would be rather straightforward, and I'd want to evaluate the appearance, aroma, and taste of the chocolate. However, after doing research on the web, I found that chocolate tasting is as complex as wine tasting. Some reviews include seemingly unusual criteria, such as the sound of the snap as you break off a piece or the feel of the surface of the chocolate. Reviews often break down taste into factors such as the flavor of the chocolate, how it melts in your mouth, the length of time that the flavor lasts, and the final aftertaste (called finish).

At this point, I'm not all that interested in the appearance or snap of the chocolate. I'll still try to observe those things, but please have patience that my appreciation and reviews will improve with practice and experience.

Here's the best guide I've found on how to review chocolate, on SeventyPercent.com.

First review coming soon...