We Tried 10 Bars of Dark Chocolate — And the $4 Winner Swept Them All (It Tastes Way More Expensive!)

Milk chocolate still reigns supreme as snackers’ chocolate of choice, at least in the United States, but dark chocolate is close on its heels. It’s been “creeping up on the ever-popular” candy for years and is a favorite among many of The Kitchn editors. We eat it on its own; in combination with nuts, sea salt, and other mix-ins (hello, caramel); and add it to some of our very favorite baked goods. Our Editor-in-Chief, Lindsay, is a self-proclaimed “huge fan!” and buys at least one bar once a week.

Like many products today (jarred peanut butter, hot cocoa mixes, even canned pumpkin), there are a lot of dark chocolate bars on store shelves — some might even say too many? In an attempt to narrow down the choices, we set out to taste test as many classic dark chocolate bars as possible on your behalf. (So kind of us, right?)

We kept it simple and focused on dark chocolate bars with around 70% cacao or cocoa (the difference between the two lies in how the cocoa beans are processed). For us, 70% hit the (bitter)sweet spot. 

We sourced mostly name-brand bars and from select store brands that are widely available throughout the country. All of the bars had minimal ingredients (as in, you can count them on one hand); some also list vanilla or vanilla extract. Each one was slightly less than $2 to $5 per bar at the time we purchased them (we also noticed several bars were discounted further when bought in pairs). To round out the list of contenders, we asked editors for input, and looked at recent sales data and new launches.

After 10 members of The Kitchn team spent a chocolate-fueled afternoon tasting and tallying, one bar set a new … bar. The winner had the creamiest, dreamiest flavor and tasted way more expensive than its $4 price tag. 

The race was a real photo finish. In the end, Tony’s Chocolonely ekes out the win, earning the highest marks across all criteria and receiving more #1 rankings than any other bar in the mix. Patty, our Staff Writer (and resident Costco correspondent), swoons over its “deep chocolate color” and the gemstone cut of the bar, adding “it would be good as chunks in a cookie.” The Belgium-made bar also stands out for its “less shiny, more matte” finish, and “delicious smell.”

Many others agree, noting its creamy — and fudgy! — texture and luxe-like quality, although a few find it on the slightly-too-bitter side. The “smooth” and “fruit-forward” dark chocolate is our Senior Food Editor, Kristina’s, favorite. (She also says it “tastes high-quality.”) Midway through the taste test, Kelli, our Culinary Producer, even called it out by name after. 

As we mentioned, the best dark chocolate bar competition was fierce. In fact, our first runner-up — Ghirardelli — substantively tied with Tony’s, but falls just a little short in the style department. (Three tasters ranked this as their second favorite.) Many find the bitter notes to be spot-on, compared to other bars in the taste test. 

Kristina is also living for the “nice mix of fruit and chocolate,” calling the iconic brand’s dark chocolate bar “super balanced” and “highly snackable.” While Lindsay adds, it’s “a good beginning dark chocolate!”

Shiny! Smooth! Creamy! — Lindsay pretty much sums up what tasters loved about this Chocolove dark chocolate bar in three exclamatory words. Finishing just behind Ghirardelli (we’re talking one point) and actually earning two #1 rankings from tasters, we couldn’t not include this bar in the awards ceremony. Fair warning: It’s on the fruitier side of the spectrum of the bars we tasted, which some people are all about (“I love this — a great snack!,” says Rachel, our culinary producer); others find it too overpowering or (gasp!) both too bitter and not bitter enough. Go figure. 

Don’t discount this budget buy either. Aldi’s store-brand, Moser Roth, more than holds its own against even the most expensive bars in this taste test. (We shouldn’t be surprised; we’ve been raving about Aldi’s chocolate selection for years.)

The bar is noticeably thinner — for better or worse, as several tasters point out — and “very smooth and shiny,” with a “nice, chocolaty scent,” says Christine, our senior recipe editor. Once again the tasters are split on the level of bitterness and sweetness in the bar. Still, its “deep chocolate flavor,” according to Kelli and Kristina, and “such incredible texture,” says Lindsay, won over nearly every taster in the group — including the two who ranked it as their #1 pick.

We held a blind taste test of 10 different dark chocolate bars and recruited 10 dark-chocolate fans who work at The Kitchn, including several culinary school graduates and a former pastry chef (so you know they’re qualified), to participate in an afternoon of tasting.

Each bar was chopped into bite-size pieces by Maya, our studio assistant, and placed in small piles on two parchment-lined baking sheets (we also had extra on standby for additional rounds of “tasting,” which, unsurprisingly we needed). Each bar was a letter to conceal the brands’ identities. Tasters were instructed to sample the bars in random order, to avoid giving any one bar preferential placement over the others. We also had water, seltzer, and other drinks on hand for palate cleansing.

Tasters rated each of the dark chocolate bars on a scale of one to five (1 = No, thanks; 2 = Meh; 3 = Pretty good; 4 = Really like; 5 = Yes, Please!) across four criteria — look, smell, texture, and flavor — and included any specific observations, tasting notes, and general opinions worth mentioning. They were also asked to answer, arguably, the most important question of all: Would you buy this dark chocolate bar?

This was a blind taste test, which means tasters had no knowledge of the brands being evaluated ahead of or at the time of the tasting. It was held over one day and tasters were instructed to sample the dark chocolate bars in random order (to stave off palate fatigue and not give any one bar an unfair advantage). The group of tasters included a mix of food professionals and some next-level dark-chocolate-lovers who work at The Kitchn. All participated in the taste test voluntarily, and we thank them for being so generous with their time and feedback. 

Speaking of, each taster filled out a score sheet (without discussion or influence) ranking the dark chocolate bars across several criteria (listed above). The results were also tabulated without any visibility into the brands. Only after the numbers were finalized did we reveal which brands corresponded to the winners.

Did your favorite dark chocolate bar make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below.