Where To Buy High Quality Chocolate

To find the best chocolates, I researched countless high-quality brands with stellar reputations in the chocolate industry. Based on consumer reviews and professional writings, I narrowed the list of brands to test to 13 different producers. I sampled more than 30 chocolate products from the 13 top contenders, testing for appearance, flavor, and texture of the chocolate. Learn more about how Insider Reviews tests and researches products.

where to buy high quality chocolate

We've all been there: in a pinch for the perfect gift but can't find something quite right. Chocolate is always the answer but the ideal gift needs to offer a variety to account for different preferences. The packaging also needs to feel ultra-special. Opening presents is half the fun and this holds true when it comes to chocolates. When considering options for this category, I looked not only at the quality of chocolates, but for assortments that cater to different occasions, relationships, and personality types.

San Francisco-based Dandelion Chocolate Factory approaches its processing like a wine maker approaches the production of fine wine. It crafts single-origin chocolate bars, which are made from cacao beans of one variety from one location. Just as soil and climate impact grapes for winemaking, regional terroirs influence the flavors of cacao beans. Dandelion Chocolate's bars highlight the different beans' distinctive characteristics.

Each and every chocolate bar from Dandelion Chocolate feels deluxe, wrapped in gold-accented paper with tasting notes. As for the chocolates themselves, Dandelion Chocolate's bars are superb. When seeking chocolate to savor on its own, I look for a rich and complex taste with a pleasant bitterness and melt-in-your mouth smoothness, lacking any waxy residue. So many chocolate producers that make high-cacao dark chocolate that is too harsh. However, even at 70% cacao and beyond, Dandelion Chocolate's bars are balanced and approachable.

Freshness: To avoid sacrificing taste, presentation, and overall quality, it is best to consume chocolates within a few days of purchase. If that is not possible, you can store your chocolates in the refrigerator for up to a month. When storing your chocolates make sure to place them in an airtight container.

My focus is on bean to bar, craft chocolate makers, known for focusing on the quality & ethics of the cacao beans they use to make their artisanal bars, as well as the unique flavors therein. So back when I first discovered that there was craft chocolate on Amazon, I spent hours sorting through the varied options.

Not only is there now a vast selection of craft chocolate to buy online, but many of these bars are being sold directly from the makers. Amazon certainly still takes their cut, but with the convenience of shopping for everything in one place, many more people are now exposed to quality chocolate.

The Brooklyn-based company has been making raw vegan chocolate for the last several years, and has finally broken into the Amazon market, where you can buy chocolates online from a variety of sellers.

Yeah, I don't think shipping chocolate across the islands is an easy thing to do. It's one thing if you're the producer and someone buys a lot of stuff from you, because you can work in the cost of shipping to your pricing. But for chocolate makers to all ship their products to one central location, a retailer to pay for those products, and then the retailer to still make money after marketing their offerings + shipping that chocolate elsewhere in the Philippines? That's just too high-priced an endeavor to undertake in most countries, much less one as year-round hot as the Philippines. That's the same reason there isn't anyone listed from Nigeria or Indonesia; there just isn't enough demand, yet. But hopefully there will be one day!

Next on our list is family-crafted and New Zealand-based Whittaker's Chocolate. Whittaker's sources its beans from Ghana, which once harvested, take some 80 days to journey from West Africa to Porirua; there, the chocolate maker batch-roasts the beans itself. Whittaker's main focus is making palm oil-free chocolate, and we appreciate knowing the chocolate we are consuming has quality ingredients and was crafted responsibly. Making chocolate is neither a simple task nor one that should be rushed. Whittaker's takes every precaution to ensure a high-quality and delicious chocolate result every time.

The popularity of Nestlé's chocolates can be attributed to their good quality and moderate prices. The Swiss multi-industry company was founded in 1866 by Henri Nestlé and has since become some of the most popular chocolates in the world. In the United States, Nestlé's most popular chocolate bars are Butterfinger and Toll House Cookie Dough. While Butterfinger's flaky crunch sets it apart from other chocolate bars, its incredible sweetness and artificial flavorings contributed to our lower score. These bars and other Nestlé products are delicious but not made with the world's finest chocolates.

Scharffen Berger sells baking chocolate and chocolate bars, which differs from many of the other brands on our list. For baking purposes, the brand sells unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder, various baking chunks, and bars. Its high-quality baking chocolate was a game-changer for the bakers of America. Additionally, we tested the regular chocolate bars and indulged in their rich, creamy flavors. We learned and appreciated that Scharffen Berger bars have a higher cacao content than other brands.

Aside from the famous seashells, Guylian also produces truffles and chocolates with no sugar added, in flavors like Coffee Cardamom or Caramel Pineapple. We appreciate the diversity of these chocolates, the unique shells, and the flavors that Guylian crafts. Known as being Belgium's favorite chocolates, we can agree that these chocolates are of a high quality and delightfully delicious. The creamy nature and the sprinkle topping of the truffles made them truly irresistible.

Jacques Genin is known as one of the best chocolate melters in the world and works out of his workshop in Paris. While Jacques Genin crafts some of Paris' most delicious chocolates, he also is widely known for crafting delicious caramels and pâtes de fruits. If you are looking for the ultimate French sweets, Jacques Genin sets a high bar. Jacques Genin stocks the top French hotels and restaurants with his sinfully creamy delicacies.

The Swiss know how to make high-quality chocolate, and Toblerone is no exception. Toblerone got its name from the founder's family name of Tobler and the Italian word for nougat, "torrone." A flavor combination of honey and almond nougat mixed with chocolate set Toblerone apart from other chocolate brands, helping it to grow in popularity across Europe.

Godiva offers premium chocolates for a fairly reasonable price, considering the quality. Although affordable, its gold-wrapped, ribbon-tied packages radiate luxury, and each box contains great quality chocolate. The Belgian brand started in 1926, and today the global team of Chefs and Chocolatiers keeps the tradition alive; Godiva is now available in over 80 countries.

La Maison du Chocolat is one of the fancier brands we ranked in our chocolate brands list. If you are ever looking for a more sophisticated gift, look no further than a box of chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat. No matter the flavor combination, whether it be fruit-infused or nutty, the complexity and flavor of the chocolate itself still shines through. While it is more luxurious and comes with a higher price tag, the company does offer small boxes, so you can still feel like royalty while enjoying your La Maison du Chocolat.

The chocolates from Lindt taste incredibly high-quality, creamy, and delicious, so it's no secret the brand snagged our No. 1 spot. We love the taste, no doubt, and feel like you can never go wrong with grabbing a bag of Lindt Lindor truffles or a Lindt Excellence Chocolate bar. Lindt has given excellence to all our senses.

Many industry professionals also prefer single-origin chocolate sourced from a specific country, plantation, or small family-owned farm as opposed to blended chocolates when it comes to shopping for quality. Single-origin bars (also known as bean-to-bar) strive to reveal the pure character of the cacao. "They can express a wide range of natural flavors that exist in cacao," says Elitzak. "People can look for what they like; fruity or nutty notes, as well as the base flavor we think of as chocolate."

Time for the taste test. When sampling chocolate for quality, be sure to take your time. "Letting a piece of chocolate slowly melt in your mouth and linger for a while is the way I have found to be most effective at evaluating chocolate for my own personal tastes," says Whitmore.

This gives the chocolate enough time to release the different notes and flavors. Generally speaking, quality milk chocolate should be creamy and sweet, while quality dark chocolate should taste like fermented cocoa beans.

Chocoholics, take note: These shops and online brands stock everything you need to satisfy your cravings. All of these Colorado-based businesses produce their own confections, generally using high-quality bulk chocolate that they melt down rather than relying on the intensive bean-to-bar model described above.

This chocolate is high-quality and preferred by many bakers and chocolatiers across the world. It would likely require ordering it to be delivered in advance, as it is a bit more difficult to find in stores (and it's a little pricier). This is a true, velvety dark chocolate that is less bitter than many others.

One of my favorite any-time snacking chocolates and it melts like a dream too! This is true of both the milk chocolate and dark chocolate bars. Dove is a great high quality chocolate that can be found almost everywhere at moderate prices for chocolate.

These two chocolate brands are hugely popular and the most readily available chocolate to buy for melting the morsels to make fabulous desserts. They're not the highest quality chocolates, but still easy to find with good quality at a great price. 041b061a72