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The World’s Best Inclusion Chocolate Bars: Top Ten
Want to tingle your taste buds? We have selected the world’s top ten flavoured chocolate bars using the trusted Academy of Chocolate Awards (AOC), International Chocolate Awards (ICA) and Great Taste Award winners from recent years. We talk a lot at Cocoa Runners about how craft chocolate is all about using minimal ingredients, and creating bars that showcase the flavour of the cocoa beans themselves. However, these expert makers have discovered a whole host of intriguing additions to complement, rather than outshine their chosen cocoa varietal.
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- Fjak - Dominican Republic, Milk 45% with Nibs and Oak Smoked Sea Salt (ACA Silver Winner 2022)
- Fruition - Brown Butter Milk, 43% Milk (AOC Gold Winner)
- Feitoria Do Cacao - Nicaragua, Milk 57% with Nibs
- Åkesson’s - Madagascar, Dark 75% with Black Pepper (AOC Silver and Gold Winner)
- Friis Holm - O'Payo, Nicaragua, Milk 50% with Liquorice (ICA Silver Winner 2023)
- Pump Street - Rye Crumb & Sea Salt, Milk 60%
- Duffy's - Corazon Del Ecuador Milk 43% with Nibs and Oak Smoked Sea Salt (AOC Bronze Winner 2017)
- Friis-Holm - O’Payo, Nicaragua 50% Milk with Hazelnut (ICA Winner 2019)
- Karuna - Cashew Nougat and Hazelnut, Mexico 62% (AOC Silver 2021)
- Fu Wan - Taiwan #2, Dark 70% with Sea Salt
Want to tingle your taste buds? We have selected the world’s top ten flavoured chocolate bars using the trusted Academy of Chocolate Awards (AOC), International Chocolate Awards (ICA) and Great Taste Award winners from recent years. We talk a lot at Cocoa Runners about how craft chocolate is all about using minimal ingredients, and creating bars that showcase the flavour of the cocoa beans themselves. However, these expert makers have discovered a whole host of intriguing additions to complement, rather than outshine their chosen cocoa varietal.
Print / PDFFjak - Dominican Republic, Milk 45% with Nibs and Oak Smoked Sea Salt (ACA Silver Winner 2022)
A smooth, rich dark milk chocolate which gifts notes of nuts and caramel, finished with Fjak’s classic creamy mouthfeel. Fjak’s Dark Milk 50% is made from beans grown, fermented, dried and modelled into the bar on site in the Semuliki forest, Uganda.
Fruition - Brown Butter Milk, 43% Milk (AOC Gold Winner)
This creamy, milky and incredibly comforting bar is guaranteed to satisfy any sweet tooth. Fruition have used non-fat milk powder from California, and made up the fat content using brown butter from Ronnybrook farm, just across the Hudson River. The brown butter gives an intense caramel flavour to the point that it almost resembles fudge, but this is prevented by the hint of citrus that emerges.
Feitoria Do Cacao - Nicaragua, Milk 57% with Nibs
This Nicaraguan cocoa is sweet and dense with notes of raisins and peanuts. Its deep bitterness is harmonised perfectly by the rich and soft flavour of the milk, melting like butter and filling the mouth with a velvety texture. Nibs add a crisp, aromatic touch.
Åkesson’s - Madagascar, Dark 75% with Black Pepper (AOC Silver and Gold Winner)
Refreshing hints of green fruits in the pepper combine perfectly with the red-berry tartness of the cacao in this intensely spicy dark bar. One for those who like a bit of heat in their chocolate!
Friis Holm - O'Payo, Nicaragua, Milk 50% with Liquorice (ICA Silver Winner 2023)
This milk chocolate bar has been crafted using a blend of Nicaraguan beans from a co-operative in Waslala, in the nature reserve in the mountains of northeastern Nicaragua. Added to the mix is Danish Lakrids licorice from Johan Bülow.
On the palate, expect a rich creamy chocolate with notes of honey against the herbal and distinctly liquorice flavours. The liquorice has some bite, so do expect a chew against this fudgy Friis Holm milk chocolate.
Pump Street - Rye Crumb & Sea Salt, Milk 60%
Rye Crumb is an intriguing inclusion. It 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.
Duffy's - Corazon Del Ecuador Milk 43% with Nibs and Oak Smoked Sea Salt (AOC Bronze Winner 2017)
This bar is made with a 43% Ecuadorian milk chocolate, flavoured with cocoa nibs and a touch of smoked sea salt. The nibs add a satisfying crunch to the chocolate, while the salt helps lift the flavour of this irresistible bar.
Friis-Holm - O’Payo, Nicaragua 50% Milk with Hazelnut (ICA Winner 2019)
The hazelnuts contrast the light acidity of Nicaraguan cocoa and complement the butteriness of Fries Holm chocolate.
Karuna - Cashew Nougat and Hazelnut, Mexico 62% (AOC Silver 2021)
Winning silver at the Academy of Chocolate Awards (2021), this bar is the perfect example of how to delicately balance inclusions with cocoa’s richness and complexity. The sweet nougat is undercut by the satisfying nuttiness, creating a deliciously balanced bar, that (like most hazelnut bars) isn’t overly sweet.
Fu Wan - Taiwan #2, Dark 70% with Sea Salt
This bar has a distinctive banoffee pie like quality. The aroma is subtle, but from the first bite it is a super rich bar. There is a rich, banoffee creaminess which develops into a malted finish with a kick of salt in the tail.
