We have encountered two types of chocoholics in the realm of 100% dark chocolate bars. There are those who adore it and can't fathom life without it, and then there are those who become apprehensive at the mere sight of a 70% dark chocolate bar. If you fall into either of these categories, then we have an exclusive list of 100% dark chocolate bars that you simply must try, regardless of your stance on dark chocolate.
Akesson's Madagascar Criollo 100%- $7.99
Akesson's Organic Chocolate is the first "Tree to Bar" chocolate maker. The Akesson family started with a single plantation in Madagascar. Today, Bertil Akesson has expanded the company's cacao network with plantations in Madagascar, Brazil, and Indonesia. If you tried craft chocolate or world-famous chocolatier chocolate, it is likely that it came from one of Akesson's cacao plantations. Akesson's Organic Chocolate bars have won a multitude of awards and is regarded as one of the best craft chocolate bars on the market.
Expressive with naturally sweet, citrusy, red fruit notes. The Criollo beans for this bar are harvested in limited batches among other bountiful world-renowned cacao. Akesson's nearly 5,000 acres is located in the Sambirano Valley of Madagascar. Broken up into many smaller plantations, it produces cacao used by chefs and chocolate makers around the world. On the Ambolikapiky plantation, only 2 tons of Criollo beans are grown each year while the rest of the plantation produces 300 tons of Trinitario per year. Certified organic.
Tasting notes: Citrusy, Aromatic, Sweet and Tart Red Fruits
Weight: 60g
Available at our online store.
Marou Chocolate 100%- $10.49
Many craft chocolate chocoholics are familiar with craft chocolate maker Marou. They were one of the first bean to bar makers in Asia.
When Vincent Mourou left his advertising career in San Francisco, he moved to Vietnam to find himself. This is when Vincent met Samuel Maruta a banker from France living in Saigon with his wife and two kids. One day during a camping trip the two googled "cacao plantation" and headed towards a farm in Ba Ria Province with no address. On the way back to Saigon, the two decided to start Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat.
The two had nothing but a blender, an oven, cake tins, and Sam's kitchen. Samuel and Vincent continue to work with a tight network of small farmers who they buy the best quality beans form. The cacao in Marou chocolate is roasted slow and low so you can truly taste their work and terroir of each provincial origin. Marou has become a leading brand for pure dark chocolate, entirely made from Vietnamese cacao.
This bar is made from a blend of cacao beans coming from a variety of provinces in Southern Vietnam. Most of Marou's bars are single estate making this bar a unique treasure. This 100% Marou Chocolate is full-bodied with spice and juicy red berries, and its high cacao butter content makes for a very creamy and mellow experience.
Taste notes: Earthy, Woody, Spice, and Fruitiness
Weight: 100g
Available at our online store.
Raaka Cacao 100%- $5.99
Raaka is devoted to making uncommonly delicious chocolate that captures the brighter, bolder, and fruitier side of cacao. They make every bar from scratch with unroasted cacao beans, sourced from growers they trust and admire. The unique flavour of their unroasted chocolate is part place, part process. They craft their bars in celebration of each cacao origin's unique character. Their chocolate making process values the community of growers, producers, and makers whose livelihoods depend on cacao and chocolate. All of their chocolate is made from scratch, bean-to-bar, in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Forget everything you think about 100% bars. This pure cacao bar is creamy and bright, not bitter, with a subtle, tingling fruity sweetness.
Tasting notes: Bright & Fruity
Weight: 50g
Available at our online store.
LetterPress Bachelors Hall Jamaica 100%- $17.99
LetterPress Chocolate is based in Los Angeles, California. LetterPress Chocolate's story starts in high school, where founders David and Corey first met. Their first experience with cacao was in 2011 when they traveled to St. Lucia on vacation and happened to stop at a cacao plantation where they got to taste the pulp from cacao pods for the first time. Two years later, the couple began a chocolate blog called Little Brown Squares reviewing bean-to-bar chocolate bars. David began purchasing small quantities of cacao beans from chocolate makers and brokers and started making his own batches. He eventually started making chocolate that tasted so good that they opened a Factory and even provide tours. LetterPress sources the best cacao in the world. They carefully roast every batch and stone grind over several days to bring out the unique flavors of each origin they source.
Back in 2014, they became obsessed with Desmond Jadusingh’s Bachelor’s Hall cacao after tasting what David considered the best chocolate he’d ever had in his life. David decided to wait until he was "good enough" to work with this extremely delicate and nuanced cacao. David finally got his wish. They air-freighted in the cacao from Desmond in Jamaica and began carefully working with it. It’s hard to overstate the incredible emotions that come along with this bar. Paying over four times the commodity price for cacao, this chocolate is the realization of a dream.
Tasting notes: Intense
Weight: 57g
Available at our online store.
Cacaosuyo Rupa Rupa 100%- $8.99
“The best-kept secret of the Incas,” made at origin in Peru. Cacaosuyo are chocolate geeks’ elite rockstars. Minimally processed chocolate bars express each Peruvian cacao strain’s genetics in crystal clear surround sound. Their unrivaled attention to detail and direct trade practices are key in improving the lives of producers and preserving rare varietals that would otherwise be lost to more industrial, “productive” strains.
The careful selection of cacao is key for this 100% chocolate. Unsweetened and delicate with subtle notes of red fruits and a long, roasty finish. Made with Trinitario beans from the Peruvian Amazon.
Tasting notes: Roasty, Unsweetened Cacao & Red Fruits
Weight: 70g
Available at our online store.
Original Beans Cusco Chuncho 100%- $6.99
Since 2008, Original Beans has ventured into remote rainforests to source the world’s rarest cacao beans and transform the cultures of chocolate, food, and luxury. Original Beans founder, Philipp Kauffmann, represents the 7th generation in a family of recognized nature explorers and conservationists who coined the term “sustainability”. Philipp gave up his job at the United Nations in New York to grow Original Beans as a leading brand for a world in which we regenerate what we consume. For each bar purchased, Original Beans plants a tree with their initiative, One Bar One Tree.
Tasting notes: Floral
Weight: 70g
Available at our online store.
Ranger 100% Large- $15.99
Based on family recipes and named for founder George Domurot’s niece, a National Park Service Forest Ranger, Ranger Chocolate Company carefully handles each cacao bean to unlock nuance, regionality, and terroir-driven flavors in their chocolate.
A sugar-free, 100% cacao bar. With Batch 8, Ranger 100 uses beans from the Polochic Valley, one of Guatemala's hottest microclimates. These high-quality premium beans produce a single ingredient bar that is bold yet approachable.
Tasting notes: Bold & Earthy
Weight: 64g
Available at our online store.
Ritual Chocolate 100% Cacao Blend- $10.45
Ritual Chocolate produces small-batch, bean-to-bar chocolate using classic European methods and premium cacao from select sources. Founded in 2010 by Robbie Stout and Anna Davies, their mission is to produce exceptional quality chocolate while celebrating the complexity of the cacao bean. At their small chocolate factory in Park City, Utah, they are involved with the entire chocolate-making process to ensure their values for the highest achievable quality are present every step of the way.
A balance of bitter, sweet, fruity, and nutty flavors in pure chocolate, this unsweetened bar is from a blend of cacao from around the world. Best in small bites, this bar is perfect for, but not limited to those who are already fans of 100% chocolate bars.
Tasting Notes: Fruity, Earthy, True Cacao Flavor, Unsweetened, Intense
Weight: 75g
Available at our online store.
Valrhona Grand Cru Araguani 100%- $8.99
Valrhona is a French chocolate company founded in 1922. The company produces a wide range of high-quality chocolates, including dark, milk, and white chocolate, as well as chocolate bars, pastries, and other confections. Valrhona's chocolate is known for its rich, intense flavor and is used by many professional pastry chefs and chocolatiers around the world. The company is based in the small town of Tain l'Hermitage in the Rhône-Alpes region of France.
To create Araguani, Valrhona, selected Venezuela’s Sur del Lago region and its famously rich terroir to give the couverture a real aromatic complexity. 100% cocoa singularly reinforces chocolate flavor, enriching it as a taste experience to give a remarkable power. From its strikingly bitter essence, Araguani offers a rich and complex aromatic profile featuring warm notes (raisins, chestnuts) and hints of licorice.
Tasting notes: Intense
Weight: 70g
Available at our online store.
Omnom Peru Gran Nativo Blanco 100% (Limited Edition)- $9.99
Omnom is a small-batch, craft chocolate maker based in Reykjavík, Iceland. The chocolate maker was founded in 2013 by childhood friends Kjartan Gíslason and Óskar Þórðarson.
Kjartan worked as a chef across Europe for two decades before discovering the amazing world of chocolate. Óskar worked in the fishing and start-up sector before launching Omnom. The company started as an experiment to see if the two friends can master how to make chocolate.
From the start, they received positive tasting feedback. After receiving positive feedback, they set up a small chocolate-making lab inside a converted gas station and launched. Omnom's mission is to make the best chocolate possible using the highest quality of ingredients.
This limited edition chocolate bar by Omnom uses rare, recently discovered Gran Nativo Blanco beans from Peru. This bar is perfect for cacao enthusiasts and pure chocolate lovers.
Tasting notes: Papaya, Burnt Walnut, Velvety
Weight: 60g
Available at our online store.
To get started with craft chocolate, start with our Kekao Box. We search the world for the finest chocolate bars and bring them right to your doorstep monthly. From rich dark Peruvian chocolate bars to new start-up chocolate bars on the come-up, you never know what you'll get inside the box! Each month we will curate 4 premium specialty crafted chocolate bars.
If you want to just try a couple of bars, check out our online chocolate store.
If you have any questions regarding this blog, our Kekao Box, or premium specialty crafted chocolate bars, feel free to contact us! Keep up with us by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on Twitter, and Instagram.
