Who doesn't enjoy a delicious piece of chocolate? Chocolate is one of those foods that are universal. Enjoy it alone or pair it with a food or drink. It is always a good time.

Chocolate makes for an amazing gift for virtually any occasion. Don't believe me? Gift chocolate and see the smile it puts on the receiver. 

Chocolate comes in many forms and shapes. You can use chocolate to make cake, ice cream, cookies, or drink it as hot chocolate etc. Today we will specifically write about the top chocolate brands with a focus on chocolate bar makers. Not to say that these makers only make chocolate bars.

Top Chocolate Brands In The World

Amano Artisan Chocolate

Amano Artisan Chocolate is a small-batch craft chocolate maker based in Orem, Utah. Amano is an award-winning maker and makes 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.

Our favorite chocolate bar at the moment? Amano Macoris 70%

If you are looking to make some chocolate confections yourself, on their website you can find chocolate chips to be used in your next cooking experiment. 

Amano Macoris 70%

Marou, Faiseurs de Chocolat

Marou was 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. 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 from.

Our favorite chocolate bar at the moment? Marou Lam Dong 74%

If you are looking to cooking something up with the taste of Marou, they sell provisions, including cacao spread, cacao powder and cacao nibs.

Marou Lam Dong 74%

Ranger Chocolate Company

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.

Our favorite chocolate bar at the moment? Ranger Japan Sea Salt 78% Large

Ranger creates much more than just chocolate bars. Their portfolio includes bark, chocolate sauces, granola, truffles and vanilla syrups. View their entire catalog on their website.

Ranger Japan Sea Salt 78% Large

Raaka Chocolate

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.

Our favorite chocolate bar at the moment? Raaka Maple & Nibs 75%

Raaka offers cacao nibs, baking chocolate and hot chocolate, if you want to re-create some of their bars at home or even use as ingredients in your latest culinary experiment.

Raaka Chocolate

Omnom Chocolate Reykjavík

Omnom is a small-batch, craft chocolate maker based in Reykjavík, Iceland. The company started as an experiment to see if the two friends could 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.

Our favorite chocolate bar at the moment? OmNom Black n' Burnt Barley 38%

Not in the mood for a chocolate bar? Not to worry, try OmNom's Krunch a collection of deliciously covered chocolate malt balls.

OmNom Black n' Burnt Barley 38%

Valrhona Chocolate

Valrhona has been producing the world’s finest chocolate in the small village of Tain L’Hermitage, France, since 1922. From the beginning, company founder and pastry chef Albéric Guironnet was dedicated to the creation of unique, artisan quality chocolate with complex, balanced and consistent flavors. This mission of excellence continues as the gastronomic traditions of the renowned Rhone Valley find expression in every mouthwatering taste of Valrhona’s superb chocolate.

For almost a century, Valrhona has created a range of unique and recognizable aromatic profiles by perfecting techniques for enhancing the flavor of rare cocoa beans, grown on land masterfully selected for its terroir. Today, leading pastry chefs and discerning gourmets rely on Valrhona’s expertise to experience the best that chocolate can be.

Our favorite chocolate bar at the moment? Guanaja 70%

Valrhona also sells norohy vanilla, baking goods, chocolate pearls, hot chocolate mixes and other provisions for baking chocolate.

 

 

Guanaja 70%

Taza Chocolate

Taza Chocolate makes stone ground chocolate. Cacao is so complex in flavour that they want to let it shout loud and proud. That is why they do less to bring us more. They stone grind organic cacao beans into perfectly unrefined, minimally processed chocolate with bold flavour and texture, unlike anything you have ever tasted.

Our favorite chocolate bar at the moment? Sea Salt Disc 70%

Taza chocolate offers both standard chocolate bars and traditional Mexican disc chocolate bars. Over the years they have expanded to snacks as well, including chocolate bark, chocolate covered espresso beans and chocolate covered almonds.

Sea Salt Disc 70%

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 FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

January 08, 2022