Dark Chocolate

Test Date: June 2009 (original) July 2011 (revised)

Testers: Michele and husband Marc

All products for this test were purchased at Fred Meyer, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods.

MICHELE'S OPINION: This test has taught me that chocolate is like wine, with completely different flavor profiles even though the ingredients are the same. So for this test if you need 70% cocoa chocolate for baking or just eating, choose based on what additional flavor undertones you prefer and if you like smooth or a little bit gritty. We were looking for the most 'pure' chocolate, or that with the least other flavors. Read on for the details......

Price Comparison for 3.5oz of chocolate (store first, then brand)
$5.82 Whole Foods Scharffen Berger
$4.64 Whole Foods 365
$4.07 Whole Foods Theo
$3.99 Whole Foods Green & Black
$3.09 Whole Foods Newman's Own
$2.99 Fred Meyer Godiva
$2.99 Trader Joe's Valrhona
$2.69 Fred Meyer Ghirardelli
$2.49 Fred Meyer Lindt
$2.05 Fred Meyer Hersheys
$1.99 Trader Joe's Organic
$1.99 Trader Joe's Swiss
$1.35 Fred Meyer Dove
$1.19 Trader Joe's Dark Mini Bars

1. Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate 70% (Purchased at Whole Foods and available on Amazon Fresh; per Green & Black's website, this product is also available at QFC, Target, and Walgreens): This product is not sweet at all, but is still smooth and not gritty. It has a rich chocolate taste with no other flavors and a very slight hint of tang/bitterness.

2. Newman's Own Organics Dark Chocolate 54% (Purchased at Whole Foods; per Newman's Own Organics their products can be found widely at natural food stores): This is a creamy and buttery product, sweeter than the 70% cocoa products of course, but not too sweet.

3. Theo Organic Fair Trade Rich Dark Chocolate 70% (Purchased at Whole Foods and available on Amazon Fresh; per Theo website their products can be found widely in the Seattle area): This product is relatively grainy and not sweet. There is a hint of dried fruit such as dried cherries which gives it a bit of a tang.

4. 365 Organic Swiss Dark Chocolate 52% (Only available at Whole Foods): This is a very smooth, rich chocolate product with a light honey flavor (but not as much as the Trader Joe's mini bars below).

5. Scharffen Berger Semisweet Fine Artisan Dark Chocolate 62% (Purchased at Whole Foods and available on Amazon Fresh; per the Scharffen Berger website their products can also be found at Albertson's stores nationwide, as well as other local grocery locations): This is a relatively smooth product in terms of consistency and has a tang of dried fruits similar to Theo but not as strong.

6. Godiva Dark Chocolate 72% (purchased at Fred Meyer; per the Godiva website, their products are also available at their own boutiques, Barnes & Noble, and Macy's): This is really smooth chocolate and has a nutty flavor like pistachios. It is not very bitter for such a strong chocolate percentage and has a rich chocolate taste.

7. Ghirardelli Intense Dark Twilight Delight 72% (Purchased at Fred Meyer; Ghirardelli website does not list other locations for purchase aside from their own boutiques located in California, Nevada, Illinois, Florida, Wisconsin, and Alabama): This product is relatively gritty with an unfortunate and strange taste like petroleum or plastic.

8. Hershey's Special Dark 45% (Purchased at Fred Meyer and available on Amazon Fresh; available widely): Even compared to the other products around 50% cocoa, this product is very sugary and sweet. It is relatively grainy as well.

9. Lindt Excellence Smooth Dark 70% (Purchased at Fred Meyer; per Lindt website, their products are also available at Safeway and Walgreens): This product is really smooth with coffee undertones in the flavor profile.

10. Trader Joe's Organic Super Dark Chocolate 73% (Only available at Trader Joe's): This product tastes like burnt chocolate and is very bitter. Marc says that it tastes like plastic.

11. Trader Joe's Swiss Dark Chocolate 72% (Only available at Trader Joe's): This product is relatively grainy and has a smoky, almost burnt flavor.

12. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Mini Bars 54% (Only available at Trader Joe's): This product is pretty sweet and has a honey flavor as an aftertaste. It is very smooth chocolate.

13. Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71% (Purchased at Trader Joe's; per Valrhona US website, their products are also available at select locations in San Francisco, San Mateo, Chicago, and New York): This product is relatively grainy with sour chocolate and strong dried cherry flavors.

14. Dove Dark Chocolate (Purchased at Fred Meyer and available on Amazon Fresh; per Dove website, this product is also available at Rite-Aid, Safeway, Target, QFC, and Albertsons): This chocolate is very smooth and not too sweet compared to the other 50% cocoa products. Along with the rich chocolate flavor is a light caramel undertone.

NUTRITIONAL NOTES: (serving size: approximately 40grams) All of these products contain between 180 and 250 calories per serving, with Hershey's at the low end and Lindt at the high end. All but one product contains between 15 and 19 grams of fat (Hershey's claims only 12 grams in its bar). Hershey's and Lindt are the only two products in this test that contain any salt (15g and 10g respectively).

As for ingredients, all of these products contain some combination of cocoa, sugar, soy lecithin, vanilla, and cocoa butter. Three of them however, include other ingredients as well. Newman's Own also contains cane juice and chocolate liquor; Green & Black's uses raw cane sugar and whole milk powder; and Hershey's includes milk fat, lactose, PGPR (emulsifier), artificial flavor, and milk in their products.

TASTE WINNER: (original 2009 test, with four brands) Dove (revised 2011 test, as detailed above) For the 50% range chocolates, Dove is still the best with 365 a close second. For the 70% range brands, it really depends on what flavors you like in your chocolate, be it fruit, coffee, or nuts. We enjoyed the Godiva and Green & Blacks products.