The 10 best in Milk

Original Beans – Esmeraldas Milk

Consistently one of our most popular bars, you can’t go wrong with this creamy milk chocolate from celebrated chocolate maker Original Beans. With notes of caramel and hazelnut, and a touch of sea salt added to complement the silky sweetness.

We use this bar for almost all of our virtual and in-person tastings – it’s one of the most classic milk craft chocolates on the market!

Menakao – Milk Chocolate 45%

Another one of our well-established milk chocolate bars, which we’ve been selling since 2013!

Prepare to be amazed… as it melts, the rich, chocolatey flavour comes alive with a burst of red fruit and citrus notes. That fruity edge is typical of cocoa from the island of Madagascar, but it’s unusual to find it in a milk chocolate. Meanwhile, vanilla and butter notes evoke a sweetness of caramel. This is truly an original milk bar.

Standout – Sambirano Valley, Madagascar, Dark Milk 60%

This 60% dark milk chocolate is a Gold Academy of Chocolate award winner, and is thick in texture, with a fruity complex flavour. It’s an incredibly interesting milk chocolate bar, with little bitterness and lots of creaminess. Fredrik has coaxed out the awesome fruity and citrus notes of the Madagascan cacao.

Chocolarder - Wild Gorse Flower, Milk 50%

This milk bar has a profile full of nutty caramel and malted hints. An unusual inclusion gives mutedly heathery floral notes, and unmistakable aroma of coconut.  The not quite smooth chocolate has an almost fudge-like texture, melting quickly on the tongue. This creation is a rich but palatable summery bar that is difficult to resist.

Table - PISA, Haiti, Milk 61%

This wonderful 61% milk bar is one of the creamiest milk bars the Cocoa Runners team has tasted – and we taste a lot of chocolate. Between the notes of fudge and whole milk, and the silky texture of the chocolate, this bar is certainly one worth trying.

Fjak - Bejofo Estate, Madagascar, Dark Milk 60%

Fjak’s 60% Madagascan dark milk is especially creamy. It offers the typical Madagascan fruitiness from the Bejofo Estate cacao, as well as a mineral-richness which I think elevates the complexity of the cocoa beautifully.

Latitude – Semuliki, Uganda, Dark Milk 49%

A Swiss-style milk bar with strong chocolate brownie notes and a smooth, rich, milky texture. With a local focus at the heart of everything they do, it’s no surprise that Latitude works very closely with local growers in sourcing cocoa beans. They’ve contracted over 1000 small-holder organic-certified farmers, about half of whom are women.  They set up bi-weekly collection points, at walking distance from the farms, so on the same day of harvest beans are weighed and farmers are paid in cash. So not only do farmers receive a premium price, but their costs of transport, labour, materials, and processing are reduced, as are the risks of theft and spoilage.

Heinde & Verre - Piura, Peru, Dark Milk 61%

Smooth and silky, the tasting notes of caramel, nuts, and dried fruit stood out to me when I first tried this limited-edition 61% dark milk bar. A firm favourite of the team, and one we always reach for when we have it in our office.

Annalisa Barbieri, celebrated columnist and Chocolate Correspondent for The Guardian, stated that Heinde & Verre’s bars are “the sort of chocolate that starts, and perhaps ends, conversations… Their strapline is ‘natural rich chocolate’ and rich is the right word: every bar packs a really flavoursome punch”.

Pump Street Chocolate - Rye Crumb & Sea Salt Milk 60%

I’ve included this because Rye Crumb gives the chocolate a sharp crunch and distinctive toasted taste that works incredibly well with the salt, which in turn cuts beautifully through the rich milk chocolate. This Rye Crumb bar proved a stern rival for our affections to Pump Street’s Sourdough & Sea Salt bar.

Oialla – Beniano, Bolivia Milk 46%

A creamy milk chocolate, that manages to be sweetly indulgent while still revealing complex flavours. The bar mixes hints of chocolate brownie with vanilla and honey. The texture is buttery without overwhelming.

Choco Del Sol - Kokoa Kamili, Tanzania, Trail Mix Dark Milk 50%

This 50% dark milk chocolate, made from Tanzanian cocoa, has sweet dried fruit, almonds, salty nuts and crunchy nibs included. The team and I think of this bar as the craft chocolate version of Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut – with so much more complexity. Endlessly enjoyable!