How to choose a good dark chocolate bar, from the wrapper to the snap

A good dark chocolate bar is easy to spot once you know where to look, and most of the clues are printed on the wrapper. The Fine Chocolate Industry Association, the trade body for craft makers, defines fine chocolate by its flavor, texture and appearance, made with ethically sourced, high-quality beans and minimal processing. Those are the same things you can check in a shop.

Six checks for a good dark bar. Four happen before you open it.

Check	What to look for	Why it matters
Origin	A country at least, ideally a region, farm or fermentary	Traceable beans usually mean a maker who knows its grower
Ingredients	Cacao and sugar, perhaps cocoa butter	Fewer additions let the bean's own flavor lead
Who made it	A maker who works from the bean and says how	Bean-to-bar makers control roast and refining
Percentage	Whatever you enjoy, often 65 to 80 percent	It is a measure of weight, never a grade
Look and snap	Even gloss, a clean break	Signs of good tempering and fresh storage
Melt and finish	Smooth melt, a flavor that lingers	The clearest sign of good beans and careful work

Read the origin first

Craft makers name where their cacao comes from because it shapes the flavor. A bar marked only "dark chocolate" tells you nothing. A bar marked with a country, a valley and a fermentary tells you a lot. The International Cocoa Organization keeps a list of countries that export fine or flavor cocoa, among them Ecuador, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Madagascar. That list is a hint about origin, and the farm and the fermentation still matter more. For a feel of how detailed a good label can get, read our pieces on Markham & Fitz and Öko-Caribe or Askinosie's farmer partners.

Then read the ingredients

The shortest lists in chocolate have two ingredients. Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco says it uses only cocoa beans and organic cane sugar. Many excellent makers add a little cocoa butter for a softer melt, and that is a recipe choice and no sign of corner-cutting. Vanilla and lecithin are common in larger brands and rarer in craft bars. A long list with vegetable fats, flavorings or milk solids in a "dark" bar is the one to put back. In the United States, the federal standard for sweet chocolate sets what may be called chocolate at all.

The percentage is a matter of taste

The number on the front is the share of the bar's weight that came from cacao, solids and cocoa butter together. It tells you roughly how sweet the bar will be and nothing about how good it is. A careful 68 percent can beat a careless 85. Our explainer on what the percentage tells you goes further.

How to taste a square

Ecole Chocolat, the professional chocolate school, teaches a simple order. Look at the surface for an even shine. Break off a piece and listen for a distinct snap. Rub a little between your fingers and smell it, looking for fruit, flowers, nuts or caramel, never anything metallic. Then let a small piece melt on your tongue without chewing, and move it around your mouth. After you swallow there should be no waxy film, and a good bar's flavor keeps going for a while. Taste two or three bars side by side, from lower percentage to higher, and the differences jump out.

Awards worth knowing

Three competitions come up again and again on craft wrappers. The Good Food Awards judge by tasting and also vet each entry's sourcing, and the 2026 winners were announced in June. The International Chocolate Awards run national and world rounds. The Academy of Chocolate Awards are the long-running British competition. A medal is a good sign, and plenty of fine small makers never enter at all.

Questions