Chocolate Bars Makers are Snacking on

by Dino H January 04, 2022

The amount of amazing craft chocolate bars coming into the market is wild, every year there is an abundance of new makers being recognized for their delicious chocolate.

Have you ever thought, what are the makers munching on? We have!

This is why we reached out to a couple of makers to see, here is what they said.

Bertil Akesson- Akesson's Organic Chocolate

The new bar Friis Holm made with my beans… and Morin’s last batch of Madagascar… He has been using my beans for many years and this is the best batch he has made… showing both the grower and the maker can get better.

Morin Madagascar

Juan Aldana- Taita Chocolates

Right now I have bars from different chocolatiers from Colombia and other countries, such as Tibito, Disidente, Manoa.

Tibito

Emily de Urías- Belu Cacao

I’ve been nibbling on the 62% Kahkow, really good. I love it because it’s tasty, fruity and it totally reminds me of the Dominican Republic.

Geordan Spicer- Kin+Pod Chocolate

The last bar that I purchased and loved was the brown butter bar by Patric chocolate, I thought it was interesting and balanced and sweet but not too sweet.

However, the bars that made me want to become a maker were, of course, Omnom’s bars. You can tell that they were chefs first and trained in culinary arts before becoming chocolate makers. Their bars are done with the customer in mind and appeal to a broader crowd.

Gustavo Pradilla-Tibito Chocolate

Goodnow Farms, Ecuador Esmeraldas 70% Chocolate.

Goodnow Farms, Ecuador Esmeraldas 70% Chocolate

Anna Davies- Ritual Chocolate

There are so many wonderful craft makers out there now. It’s so inspiring and I love how everyone has developed their own style and focus. For instance, I love how Pump St started as a bakery first and then incorporated that into their chocolate. I love their rye and sourdough bars. I love everything from Dick Taylor and I had an amazing Omnom the other day that had liquorice. I hate to admit that I don’t get out and try other makers bars enough, but I’m always so inspired when I do.

Pump Street Rye

Luisa Abram- Luisa Abram Chocolate

Hum… oh gosh, Hogarth, Forte Chocolates, Metiisto, Fruition, Sirene, Mission Chocolate, Soma, Mirzam, Naïve. Sorry for the long list!

Hogarth Chocolate

Duffy Sheardown- Duffy's Chocolate

I don’t get to meet other makers very often but do always like to try new makers and, if I see them, new origins and flavours that look intriguing. I do like the bars that Amano and Askinosie make as well, of course as a lot of the Friss-Holm bars

Amano

David Menkes- LetterPress Chocolate

For single origin, you really can’t beat SoMa. Those guys are insanely talented, and they’re super super nice! I will always have great things to say about them. For flavored bars, I really love Patric - he made a raspberry balsamic pear bar a while back that almost made me cry, it was so good.

Soma Chocolate

DeAnn Wallin- Solstice Chocolate

Right now my personal stash includes Fruition's Hispanola bar, Good Farms Putnam Rye Whiskey bar, Harper Macaw Bordeaux Barrel Aged bar and Manoa Hawaii Island bar.

Fruition's Hispanola bar

George Domurot- Ranger Chocolate

I have a sweet spot for Dandelion Chocolate. Their company culture has been inclusive and supporting of new makers. It has been great to see and taste how their chocolate has evolved over the years. I have been enjoying two of their bars recently: Tumaco, Columbia (malty), and Maya Mountain, Belize (fruity).

For a milk bar, I like Dick Taylor’s milk chocolate bar, in the 50% cacao range. While it has a lower percentage of cacao than Ranger’s Dark Milk, their partnership with a milk producer in their region really shines through on this bar. If you like milk chocolate and see this bar, snatch it up!

Dustin Taylor- Dick Taylor Chocolate

We're new to milk chocolate and we look so we spend a lot of time eating other phenomenal milk chocolate from OmNom and Fruition (Brian Graham is the king of milk!). We still snack on a large tub of OmNom milk chocolate samples that we scored at the Northwest Chocolate Festival!

OmNom

Philipp Kauffmann- Original Beans

Since we share our Sourced As Original Beans cacaos with colleague craft makers, we get to taste more and more chocolates from beans we know intimately. I find that super exciting and very inspiring: what Standout Chocolates of Sweden have made from our Chuncho beans, or Hasnaa in their Dark Milk from our Arhuaco cacao, or Casa de Cacao in Girona from the Piura is amazing. It really shows how far craft chocolate is coming.

Standout Chocolates

Corinne Joachim- Les Chocolateries Askanya

Me: Raaka’s Coconut Milk Bar

My Husband: Pacari’s Passion Fruit Bar

Raaka’s Coconut Milk Bar

Tim McCollum- Beyond Good Chocolate

Solstice. 70%. Uganda.They do a great job with this origin.

Solstice 70% Uganda

AJ Wentworth- The Chocolate Conspiracy

I love French chocolate. It is exactly opposite of what I am doing. Rich dark roasts, high cocoa butter content. I have been slowly eating my way through Chapon's bar selection.

Chapon Chocolate Bar

Juliana Aquino- Baiani Chocolate

The 70% Mililani O’ahu Bar from our friend Dylan at Manoa Chocolate is the latest favorite. Also the Solstice 70% Uganda bar, excellent and bringing that origin unique flavors. There's Dandelion Chocolate’s version of our cacao in their single origin 70% Vale Potumuju bar, very unique and delicious. And any bar made by Soma, our favorite chocolate maker!

70% MILILANI, O'AHU ISLAND BAR

Any surprises? It's cool to see what the makers are eating. We will keep updating this list so come back another time to find out what your favorite makers are indulging in.

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 to 5 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 Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.