The dark bars we reach for most are two-ingredient single origins around 70 to 78 percent, single estate bars that name a farm or fermentary, bright fruity origins from Madagascar and Tanzania, heirloom cacao, a high-percentage bar for the brave, and a dark bar with nibs or salt that still tastes of chocolate.
Every one below is made from the bean by its maker and sold on the maker's own site.
7:20Ask a chocolate maker for their favorite bar and they will answer with a question back: for what? A square after dinner, a bar to convert a skeptic and a bar to taste slowly with friends are different jobs. So here are the six kinds of dark bar we reach for most, with one real bar for each, all made from the bean by the people who sell them.
| Type | Start with | The maker's notes |
|---|---|---|
| Two-ingredient single origin | Dandelion Zorzal Comunitario 70% | Chocolate cake, yogurt, tamarind |
| Single estate | Goodnow Farms Asochivite 77% | Green banana, mango |
| Bright, fruity origin | Dandelion Kokoa Kamili 70% | Guava, Turkish yogurt, fudge |
| Heirloom cacao | Ritual Madagascar 75% | Citrus, raspberry, roasted peanut |
| High percentage | Raaka 100% Cacao | Creamy, bright, a tingling fruity bite |
| Nibs, with restraint | Castronovo Jaguar Cacao Nibs 68% | Hazelnut, macadamia |
Two ingredients, one place
Dandelion's Zorzal Comunitario 70% is the bar we hand to anyone trying craft chocolate for the first time. It is cacao and sugar from farms around Reserva Zorzal, a bird sanctuary and cacao farm in the Dominican Republic. It tastes gentle and fruity, and it shows how much flavor a bean carries when sugar is the only other thing in the bar.
A bar that names the farmers
Goodnow Farms' Asochivite comes from wild cacao harvested by Q'eqchi' Maya farmers in San Juan Chivite, Guatemala, who ferment and dry it in their own village. Goodnow helped fund their fermentation and drying facility and presses its own cocoa butter from the same beans. You can taste the care: bright, clean, almost tropical.
Fruit you did not expect from a bean
Tanzania is our favorite place to send a skeptic. Dandelion's Kokoa Kamili 70% uses beans from a fermentary in the Kilombero Valley that buys fresh beans from local farmers and ferments them in tiered boxes. Dandelion roasts it gently, a 2 on its own scale of 5, so the fruit stays loud.
Heirloom cacao
The Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund designates cacao after a tasting panel, a site visit and genetic testing. Bejofo Estate in Madagascar's Sambirano Valley holds designation #15, and Ritual's Madagascar 75% is made from it. It has the classic Madagascar raspberry and citrus with a bit more weight underneath.
All cacao, no sugar
Most 100 percent bars are a dare. Raaka's 100% Cacao is a treat. It is unroasted Kokoa Kamili beans plus a little of their own cocoa butter, and it tastes creamy and bright with a fruity bite. Take a small square, let it sit on your tongue, then try a second one. The second one always tastes better.
Nibs that belong
Castronovo's Jaguar Cacao Nibs bar is a 68% made from Arhuaco cacao from Colombia, studded with nibs of macambo, a wild cousin of cacao, bought from a women's cooperative in Chazuta, Peru. The crunch is soft and nutty, and you still taste the chocolate first. That is the test for any inclusion bar.
How to use this list
Buy two from different rows and taste them side by side, lowest percentage first. You will learn more in ten minutes than from any amount of reading. Every link above goes straight to the maker, which is where we always send people to buy.
Questions
What is the best dark chocolate to start with?
A two-ingredient single origin bar around 70 percent, such as Dandelion's Zorzal Comunitario from the Dominican Republic. It is gentle, fruity and shows what origin tastes like.
What is a good 100 percent chocolate bar?
Raaka's 100% Cacao, made from unroasted Kokoa Kamili beans from Tanzania with their own cocoa butter, is fruity and creamy rather than harsh.
Which dark chocolate is the most fruity?
Bars from Madagascar's Sambirano Valley and Tanzania, like Dick Taylor's 72% Madagascar or Dandelion's Kokoa Kamili 70%, are known for red fruit and tropical notes.
Are these ranked?
No. They are bars we like and why, grouped by type. Every link goes to the maker.
