The Best Craft Chocolate In The USA
You no longer have to travel to France or Belgium to try exceptionally delicious chocolate - today, you can find amazing chocolate all over the U.S. Whether you enjoy single origin chocolate bars or inclusion bars with coconut milk, there are chocolate makers crafting it in the U.S.
Here are the best craft chocolate makers in the USA you should try.
Manoa Chocolate Hawaii- Kailua, HI
Manoa is a Hawaiin based chocolate maker. Hawaii is the only state in the USA to grow cacao. The story of this maker began in the labs at the University of Hawaii in 2010 studying cacao as a crop for the state. Manoa started as college students with no money and bootstrapped their business with ingenuity and determination.
Chocolate bar to try?
Our recommendation is their Mai'a Banana & Nibs 70%.
This inclusion bar is a new creation by Manoa. This bar features vibrant artwork by local artist Shar Tuiasoa of Punky Aloha and delicate molding inspired by Polynesian tattoo patterns. Together with historical tidbits about each inclusion ingredient, the complete package of flavor, art, and culture create three bars that do more than taste good: this is chocolate with a sense of place. A fruit brought by Polynesian settlers on their long voyage to Hawaii, banana is known as one of the canoe plants - crops essential for island living. Mai'a (banana), was used as sustenance, offerings to ali'i (ruling chiefs), and as medicine.
Tasting notes: Banana, Passion Fruit & Coconut
Weight: 60g
Featured: In our September 2020 Kekao Box
Currently sold on our online chocolate store
Raaka Chocolate- Brooklyn, NY
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.
Chocolate bar to try?
Our recommendation is their Raaka Pink Sea Salt 71%.
A fruity, complex salted dark chocolate to end all salted dark chocolates. Made with single-origin cacao from Zorzal Cacao, a farm and fermentary within a bird sanctuary in the Dominican Republic, and sprinkled with Peruvian pink salt sourced from Salt of The Earth Co. We think New York Magazine said it best: this bar has a “deep, dark, mysterious flavor with hints of cherry; and a finish as long as a David Foster Wallace footnote.”
Tasting notes: Earthy & Cherry
Weight: 50g
Currently sold on our online chocolate store
Amano Artisan Chocolate- Orem, UT
Amano Artisan Chocolate is a small-batch craft chocolate maker based in Orem, Utah. Amano is an award-winning maker, and they make all their chocolate on vintage equipment. Their small batch process allows Amano to control and observe flavor development, making each batch of chocolate not only delicious but unique.
Chocolate bar to try?
Our recommendation is their Amano Macoris 70%.
Tasting notes: Apricot, Caramel, Brown Sugar & Cream
Weight: 85g
Currently sold on our online chocolate store
Ranger Chocolate Company- Portland, OR
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 flavours in their chocolate.
Chocolate bar to try?
Our recommendation is their Maple 66%.
Maple sugar is made by evaporating the water from maple sap, leaving behind pure maple sugar crystals. Maple sugar tends to have a sweeter taste. Paired with a bold fruit forward Trinitario cacao, the resulting chocolate bar has a unique flavor profile that we think you're going to love.
Tasting notes: Strawberry & Maple
Weight: 35g
Featured: In our October 2020 Kekao Box
Currently sold on our online chocolate store
Dick Taylor Chocolate- Eureka, CA
Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor have always loved crafting. With a background in woodworking and boat building, they have always worked with their hands. Craft is a guiding principle in their lives. After hearing about the craft chocolate movement in the late '00s, they saw similarities in woodworking and craft chocolate making. They became fascinated with the idea of the chocolate experience and in 2010 bought their first chocolate-making equipment. Their chocolate captures and highlights the subtle flavour nuances in the cacao they source from around the world, with the goal to make an enjoyable chocolate experience for us.
Chocolate bar to try?
Our recommendation is their Jamaica, Bachelor's Hall 75% Limited Edition.
Limited Release Single Origin from Bachelor's Hall Estate in South-Eastern Jamaica. With rich notes of apricot, graham cracker, and dates, this bar is unique and delicious! The perfect, unique gift for the chocolate connoisseur or dark chocolate lover.
Tasting notes: Apricot, Graham Cracker & Dates
Weight: 57g
Currently sold on our online chocolate 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 to 5 premium specialty crafted chocolate bars.
Have someone who you appreciate? It also makes as a great gift!
If you want to just try a couple of bars, check out our online chocolate shop. It's a selection of what we have curated in our past boxes.
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.
