Chocolate Expert Lauren Adler’s Top 3 Criteria for Choosing Chocolate Bars
Chocolate bars photo credit Semiha Deniz
Do you ever find yourself standing in the chocolate aisle, paralyzed by confusion from the myriad data points and stories on the labels? You’re not alone. Chocolate bar wrappers have become small novels, cramming facts, stories and data onto a package the size of an envelope. How do you decide which information is important for making that first purchase?
As a chocolate retailer, taster and judge I have a short list of three criteria that help me decide whether a chocolate is worth my investment.
Ingredients
Argencove ingredients
The first thing I do when I encounter a new bar of chocolate is read the ingredients. If the ingredients don’t meet my criteria, I won’t purchase the chocolate. The ingredient list should be short and begin with cacao, which goes by a few different, but related, names. You may see any of the following, “cacao”, “cocoa/cacao beans”, “chocolate liquor” or “cocoa mass”. All of these terms indicate that the chocolate was refined from the cacao bean. How can chocolate be made from anything other than cacao? Some mass-produced chocolate is made by adding fat back to cocoa powder. I consider that reconstituted chocolate. It may still look and taste like chocolate, but it is unlikely to have the deep, rich and complex flavors that come from chocolate refined from whole beans or nibs.
All other ingredients are optional. If you’re purchasing 100%, unsweetened chocolate, there shouldn’t be anything else listed. Sweetened chocolate will have at least one other ingredient, sugar. Beyond that there are a handful of acceptable ingredients. Remember, ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance by weight.
Argencove inclusions
Sugar
In most cases “sugar” is listed next on the ingredient panel unless you are shopping for unsweetened chocolate (a.k.a., 100%).
Cocoa or Cacao Butter
If “cocoa butter” or “cacao butter” is listed on the ingredient panel it means the chocolate maker chose to add cocoa butter to the recipe. There are a number of reasons for adding cocoa butter, including improvements to the texture or flavor of a particular origin or harvest. Many companies engage in verbal chest thumping, calling out the company’s devotion to only making “two ingredient” chocolate that does not include added cocoa butter. While two ingredient chocolate may be a noble goal, I am more interested in tasting world-class chocolate. For specific origins or vintages, adding extra cocoa butter can transform the flavor and texture of the chocolate. I encourage you to keep an open mind on this topic.
Milk powder
If you’re evaluating a bar of milk chocolate expect to see milk powder on the ingredient panel. Pay attention! Many mass market chocolate bars labeled “dark chocolate” are formulated with milk and other dairy ingredients. This is considered a no-no among craft chocolate aficionados.
Soy or sunflower lecithin
Chocolate may contain a small amount of an emulsifier, such as soy or sunflower lecithin. Most small-batch, craft chocolate makers do not use emulsifiers, but some larger artisans do. While it is preferable to make chocolate without emulsifiers, I don’t eliminate bars that include lecithin because that would prevent me from tasting some great chocolate.
Vanilla
Very few craft chocolate makers add vanilla to their plain origin bars, preferring to let the unique flavors of the cacao’s terroir shine through. But there are some very talented chocolate makers who have chosen to use vanilla to create an even better taste experience.
Inclusions
What would chocolate be without some fun? Inclusions are ingredients added to make chocolate even more interesting. The possibilities are endless, but dried fruits, cookies, nuts, spices, pretzels, and brown butter are some popular inclusions.
2. Cacao Origin
Cacao Origin
Next on my list is “cacao origin” which denotes the geographic home of the cacao. Cacao grows in the tropical belt 20˚ north and south of the equator. Some of my favorite origins are Madagascar, Peru and Mexico, but like any agricultural product, my preferences depend upon the micro-region within these countries and the particular harvest. When I’m trying to decide which bars to purchase from the same producer, I choose a combination of my favorite origins plus any origins that are less common. Keep in mind that while chocolate may be made in Belgium, Switzerland or France, cacao does not grow in these countries, so they cannot be named as the “origin”.
3. Cacao %
The final criterion on my list is “% cacao.” % cacao is not a measure of quality. It provides information about the approximate sweetness level of the bar, representing the percentage of ingredients that come from the cacao bean. The higher the percent, the more cacao is in the bar. In a craft chocolate bar made with 75% cacao, the remaining 25% represents non-cacao ingredients.
For example, if a chocolate includes two ingredients, cacao beans and sugar, and it is 75% cacao, then sugar is 25% of the bar’s ingredients. If a chocolate is made with three ingredients, cacao beans, cocoa butter and sugar and the percent is 75%, then the cacao beans + the cocoa butter are included in the 75%. There’s still 25% sugar in this bar, but the added cocoa butter will dilute the flavors and the intensity of the cacao beans, usually resulting in a sweeter- tasting bar.
I prefer dark chocolate that ranges from 64% to 100%, depending on the cacao origin and the specific chocolate maker. Anything lower is usually too sweet for me. Percentage is a personal preference so it may be that your range is different. Many people find anything below 70% to be too sweet, but that eliminates some really great bars that are between 64% and 70%. I like to keep an open mind and taste a chocolate before I decide whether it’s too sweet for me because I have been surprised by some great bars that are on the sweeter side.
Milk chocolate label
Expect milk chocolate bars to be a lower % cacao because of the addition of milk powder as an ingredient. For example, if the listed ingredients of a milk chocolate bar are cacao beans, sugar and milk powder and the bar has a 65% cacao content, then the sugar + milk represent the remaining 35% of the bar’s ingredients.
The rest of the information on the label is interesting, but not critical to deciding. If your number one interest in purchasing a bar of chocolate is to improve the livelihoods of cacao farmers, then you may decide to add sourcing practices to your own prioritized list of criteria. The good news is that many craft chocolate makers pay more than the commodity rate for cacao and purchase more directly from smallholder cacao farmers, so you’ll have a lot to choose from.
Give my system a try, but feel free to personalize it to fit your preferences. No matter what criteria are at the top of your list, tasting the chocolate is the only reliable way to know whether it was worth the investment.