For almost anyone with a sweet tooth, a chocolate craving is bound to hit at some point — probably soon. But have you walked down the candy aisle recently? The shelves are practically exploding with chocolate options. On the one hand, many chocolate companies are producing higher quality and more creative chocolates. On the other hand, the classics are hard to beat. So which one do you choose in your hour of need?
It was hard work, but we found the most popular chocolate brands, tasted them all, and ranked them here to help you choose the best way to satisfy your next chocolate craving. It should be noted that this list covers the most popular brands on the market. While there are a lot of incredible artisan and up-and-coming chocolate brands making a splash these days, we wanted to focus on brands that can be found almost anywhere, so you won't miss a single bite.
To make sure we got the whole story, we tasted several products from each brand. We attempted to cover both milk and dark chocolate options, too, all while considering overall tastes, textures, and prices where they diverged from the usual. Prepare yourself for an indulgent roundup of the most popular chocolate brands available.
1. Lindt
It's hard to play favorites with chocolate sometimes. Different moods call for different indulgences, and everyone has different preferences. In Lindt, we found a collection of beautiful high-quality chocolates, widely available and in a range of products that will surely please everyone from the truffle lover to the chocolate bar purist. Like Ghirardelli, Lindt offers their pure chocolate bars in a wide range of cocoa percentages from 70 to 100 percent cocoa, as well as pristine milk chocolate and flavored chocolate bars with additions like chili and blackberry with acai.
What we found that really set Lindt above the competitors were the beautifully rounded flavors of the chocolates. The ingredients list is as clean as it can be with nothing unusual, and with the addition of bourbon vanilla beans in their line of Excellence chocolates. Whether you're treating yourself to a creamy truffle, enjoying a pure bite of a chocolate bar, or reaching for high-quality baking chocolate, Lindt has you covered.
2. Ferrero Rocher
More so than any other brand, it was scary how quickly we could eat an entire box of Ferrero Rocher chocolate. We were only slowed down by the fact that they're individually wrapped, forcing us to take the extra second and a half to decide if we were going to exercise any self-control. It's all here, both in terms of taste and texture. The candy consists of a crunchy wafer full of a creamy hazelnut chocolate center, which is then enrobed in chocolate and nuts. It's the quintessential Italian chocolate. It's like the best parts of a KitKat, Godiva Truffle, and Reese's all rolled into one and made with high-quality ingredients.
Rocher translates to "rock", which this style of chocolate confection visually resembles. From as objective of an opinion as we can give, the chocolate made by Ferrero Rocher is sweet but nicely balanced with the nutty, savory hazelnut. There are also dark chocolate and almond coconut versions available in the larger Ferrero collection boxes for those looking for a little bit of variety. The fillings are creamy and rich, covered in a light chocolate coating that easily melts in your mouth. Depending on how much you're willing to spend and how much self-control you have, these come in packs of three or boxes of up to 48 chocolates.
3. Hershey's/Reese's
It's hard to argue with the numbers when Reese's is the number two selling chocolate candy in the US, followed by the classic Hershey bar in the number four position, according to The Daily Meal. So we took a long hard look at these chocolates to see how they stacked up. There are no surprises here. We tasted both the classic Hershey bar, as well as the Special Dark bar and the Reese's.
The Hershey's milk chocolate bar is sweet, but not as sweet as the Cadbury and M&M's bars. The Special Dark bar had a smooth texture, with more of a snap than the milk chocolate bar. The chocolate itself had a nice flavor, with dark fruit notes and a comfortably bittersweet profile. While it doesn't have a specific cocoa percentage, people who enjoy bittersweet chocolate will likely be satisfied with it. There's still no other chocolate bar that we thought would be appropriate smushed into a s'more, and that nostalgia has carried it quite far.
Then there's the Reese's. It's the perfect balance of sweet milk chocolate, stuffed with salty peanut-buttery goodness. There's nothing fancy here, which we're comfortable with. You don't need a special occasion to buy a Reese's, and you won't break the bank when buying one. On an average day, there are very few things that are going to satisfy a chocolate craving like a Reese's, and that alone puts the Hershey company in the bronze medal position in our rankings.
4. Ghirardelli
With Ghirardelli chocolates and chocolate bars, you can really dig into the nuances of different percentages of chocolates. Bars are available in milk chocolate to start, then come in increments of 60% chocolate all the way up to 92% cocoa. They also make a 100% cocoa bar which is completely unsweetened, but it's admittedly intended for baking. Unless you're into eating chocolate with absolutely no sugar in it, we can't rightfully recommend or review it here. The bars are also available with a few flavors that include popular fruits, nuts, and caramel. If you're interested in exploring different grades of chocolate by itself or in your cooking, Ghirardelli is a great place to turn.
While tasting the Ghirardelli chocolates, we noticed that the quality of the chocolate was higher than anything we had tasted up to this point. There is a solid snap when breaking the bar in half, as well as a clean and smooth chocolate texture. The bar isn't so soft that it melts in your hands and has no uncomfortable waxy mouthfeel when melting. We also appreciate that the same quality of chocolate is used for the baking and professional products Ghirardelli offers. When venturing out of the chocolate bar territory, we're also fans of Ghirardelli hot chocolate and brownie mixes that are widely available in stores and online.
5. Godiva
Godiva chocolates are often as widely available these days as some of their less expensive competitors, but they turn the luxury marketing up with gold-wrapped packages tied with ribbon. An illustration of the fair Lady Godiva adorns each package of chocolates, which originated in Belgium in 1926 and has grown into a massive international company.
Each box of chocolates or truffles includes candies enrobed in milk, dark, and white chocolate. The chocolate itself is smooth and creamy, without being overwhelmingly sweet or boring. Both the classic and creative fillings found in the chocolates and truffles really take these treat boxes to the next level. Where most of the fillings in the Russell Stover chocolates taste fake, these flavors taste authentic, rich, and artisanal. While the cost of these chocolates can get a little high depending on which box you choose, Godiva also makes smaller boxes, as well as chocolate bars and individually wrapped chocolates for those who only want to splurge a little. If you've got a little extra money to spend on occasion, these are superior boxes of chocolate.