No, I did not eat them all in one sitting.

In recent years, people have become more interested in dark chocolate and educating themselves about its production and possible health benefits. One is no longer limited to the idea of chocolate being a generic, pure sugar, grocery store candy. Even I, who am not a huge fan of chocolate, have realized that if you take the time to enjoy, and notice the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle variations of dark chocolate, you may find a new appreciation for it. There are significant differences between dark chocolates that are dependent on the percentage of cacao used, the roasting method, added ingredients, and of course, quality.

This isn’t a taste test for the best chocolate, but I happened to have a few unusual chocolate bars and thought it would be interesting to see how well they held up to each other. I understand that these are not your average chocolate bars, and you can’t exactly pick them up at the local supermarket, but most of them are worth the extra effort. I imagine you could have a great time turning this project into some sort of coma-inducing party. Of course, I have had Scharffen Berger, Vhalrona, and Callebaut - the high end basics. These choices are, however, possibly a little more distinguished and deserve to be enjoyed heedfully. Even if you can’t get your hands on the specific varieties, sampling dark chocolate is a fun experiment, and eventually you might never turn back to plain old milk chocolate again.

If you are inclined to try these chocolates, some are available online, and others require a trip to France (that is my kind of chocolate). The prices I have listed are close to retail, though online the prices may vary.

Ladurée - Chocolate noir fortissima grue 80% ($8)
Ladurée - Chocolate noir nature 66% ($8)
Hediard - Chocolat noir amer 61% ($6)
New Tree - Pleasure Dark Chocolate 73% ($6)
Chocolat Bonnat Voiron - Ceylan 75% ($8)
Meiji - 72% ($2)
Meiji - 99% ($2)

I’ll start with Ladurée, the luxury French sweet house, famous for their unbelievably good macarons. I had two bars for tasting, both of which I recently received as a gift from Paris. The bars are perfectly wrapped in candy foil and boxed, the simple, refined packaging is a trademark of Ladurée . Chocolat noir nature 66% was a classically flavored dark chocolate, rich, but very smooth, with quality evident in the bite. The other Ladurée bar (chocolate noir fortissima grué 80%) was by far one of the best pieces of chocolate I have ever tasted. In addition to the rich and slightly bitter chocolate, the bar was studded with cacao nibs that add a great level of texture - this is the kind of bar you feel guilty eating because you want to save it forever. Sticking with French chocolate, the next choice was Hediard’s chocolat noir amer (61% cacao). Hediard is a luxury boutique style grocery in Paris, with locations across France. I have to admit that I had higher expectations for this bar. Though the flavor was good, there was very little snap to the chocolate and the texture was almost too smooth for my taste, with a light wine-like aroma. Also French, Chocolate Bonnat of Voiron’s Ceylan dark chocolate (75% cacao). Bonnat classifies this bar into their “les grands crus du cacao” family. The actual cacao is a product of Venezuela, famous for this outstanding export. The chocolate was rich and heavy in taste, but warm with light Asian notes and lingering sweetness, very delicious, with equally handsome packaging. Now, for a not so typical chocolate direction, that produced in Japan. These bars by the major Japanese food company Meiji are much less expensive than the others in this article, and that is all too evident in the taste. The 72% is actually decent, well flavored, with slight bitterness, I don‘t know if I would much prefer this bar over a typical grocery store bar (which I would not prefer at all). The other which is 99% cacao, excites me for the simple idea that 99% cacao bars exist (I plan on trying Bonnat‘s 99% version soon). It was waxy in consistency, but if you love the flavor of pure cacao or would like to incorporate this into a recipe for pure chocolate flavor, without sweetness, this is for you. Otherwise, you will probably choke. The final chocolate was American brand, New Tree’s Pleasure Bar of 73% cacao Belgian dark chocolate. The New Tree bar is pure and rich tasting chocolate, with a texture that manages to not get gummy in the mouth, and a smooth finish. Also, New Tree’s packaging manages to convince you it’s some sort of health food! Excellent.

If you are interested in properly tasting chocolate, here is a step-by-step instructional website:

http://www.wikihow.com/Taste-Dark-Chocolate