Beginner Friendly Dark Chocolate

As my tastings wrap up, I often hear by one participant that goes something like this: “I never liked dark chocolate before, but after this tasting I found some dark chocolate that I can really enjoy!”. Something like that is music to the ears of any chocolate sommelier.

The truth is, many people who don’t like dark chocolate do not realize they actually do. The problem is they never tasted high quality dark chocolate! People assume dark chocolate should be bitter, but that can’t be further from the truth. True bitterness is often a sign of poor quality cacao.

Here is a selection of some dark chocolate bars that tend to be quite enjoyable to newbie fine dark chocolate eaters. These bars tend to be not bitter, more favorable notes enjoyed by most people. Some of the flavour notes tend to be more fruity, floral, spice, nutty etc. Keep in mind these are just plain dark chocolate with 2 or 3 ingredients (cacao beans, sugar, cocoa butter). The flavours come from the cacao bean itself and how it was cured and processed into a beautiful chocolate bar. They are all 100% plant-based.

If you’re new to fine chocolate, or not a fan of dark chocolate but want to try some good dark chocolate, these bars may be something you enjoy. Of course, subjective preference comes into play, so I can’t guarantee you will enjoy them, but you likely will! If you want to learn more about the bars, or see the suggested flavour notes, click on the bar and read the back of the bars.

If you have any questions, please let me know!