Favorite Chocolate

tim-cain chocolate food personal fun-friday

Abstract

Problem: With over 2,000 entries on his chocolate blog, what are Tim Cain's all-time favorite chocolates and brands?

Approach: Tim ranks his favorite chocolate bar, top five brands (with a four-way tie for fifth), and shares unusual finds and his personal snacking secret.

Findings: The ultra-rare Amedei Porcelana bar made from nearly-extinct Criollo cacao beans tops everything. Lindt wins best value, followed by Fazer, Whittaker's, and Theo Chocolate among others. Single-origin bars offer surprisingly distinct flavors, and dark chocolate-covered graham crackers are the ultimate snack.

Key insight: The rarest cacao variety — Criollo — produces a depth of chocolate flavor that no Forastero or Trinitario blend can match, and great chocolate doesn't have to be expensive (Lindt proves that).

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vB9f8RL4g4

1. The Greatest Chocolate Bar Ever Made

Tim's all-time favorite is the Amedei Porcelana bar, which cost him over $100 (possibly $150). What makes it extraordinary is the cacao variety: Criollo, the rarest of the three cacao bean types. About 95% of the world's chocolate comes from Forastero beans, with some Trinitario hybrids. Criollo was thought to have gone extinct — wiped out by a fungus (similar to how the original banana variety was largely destroyed). It was rediscovered in Venezuela, where a few plantations grow it.

Amedei, an Italian company, bought the entire output of those plantations and produced only 20,000 Porcelana bars. Tim got bar number 329. He describes it as chocolate that gets "deeper and deeper and richer" with every bite — the "chocolatiest chocolate" he's ever tasted. His recommendation: if you want the best chocolate experience possible, find a 100% Criollo bar.

2. Top Five Chocolate Brands

2.1. 1. Lindt

Tim's number one brand, and the best value in chocolate. At $5–6 per bar, it's widely available in grocery stores and department stores across the US. Lindt puts cacao percentages in large numbers on the front — Tim's sweet spot is 70–85%. He specifically calls out their 78% bar as excellent.

2.2. 2. Fazer

A Finnish brand Tim discovered in the 2010s. Known for unusual flavor combinations like hazelnut-coffee. Fazer is one of the rare brands where Tim actually enjoys their milk chocolate — a high compliment from a dark chocolate devotee.

2.3. 3. Whittaker's

A New Zealand brand that buys cacao globally and offers single-origin bars. Tim discovered them in Sydney grocery stores — inexpensive, huge bars, and consistently excellent. He considers them underrated and encourages anyone who spots a Whittaker's bar to buy it immediately.

2.4. 4. Theo Chocolate (Indie)

Tim mentions two Seattle-area favorites: Indie (discovered at Pike Place Market, known for outstanding single-origin bars) and Theo (which does creative flavor combinations — his first Theo bar had breadcrumbs mixed in). Both rank highly for their adventurous approaches.

2.5. 5. Four-Way Tie

  • Ritter — German brand making reliable dark chocolate squares with good flavor combinations
  • Theo — Seattle-based, creative flavor combinations (breadcrumbs in chocolate!)
  • Valrhona — French chocolate ("Valley of Rhône"), deep, rich, and consistently excellent
  • Vosges — A Chicago brand (not French, despite what people think) known for wild combinations like the Mo's Bacon Bar. Their spin-off brand Wild Ophelia is also recommended

3. Single-Origin Chocolate

Cacao trees only grow in a narrow band around the equator (with a microclimate exception in Hawaii). Single-origin bars — made from cacao sourced from a single country, county, or even a single farm — taste dramatically different from blended chocolates. They can taste earthy, fruity, or floral, with flavors so distinct you'd swear other ingredients were mixed in. Tim had one that tasted like it contained coffee, despite being pure chocolate. The more specific the origin, the more intense these unique flavors become.

4. Honorable Mentions and Caveats

4.1. Cadbury — It's Complicated

Tim is not a general Cadbury fan. The brand manufactures differently around the world, with wildly inconsistent quality. Cadbury Freddo bars are among the worst chocolates he's ever had ("strawberry Quik powder smashed in horrible milk chocolate"). However, Cadbury Old Gold from Australia gets a strong recommendation — a huge, delicious dark chocolate bar. The takeaway: some Cadburys are great, many are terrible, and most fall in an uninspiring middle.

4.2. Royce — Japanese Nama Chocolate

Royce is a Japanese brand whose standout product is Nama chocolate — chocolate with such a high cocoa butter percentage that it literally melts in your mouth like ganache. It requires refrigeration and comes in trays with a small scoop. Originally Japan-only, Royce has expanded to New York and Southern California, and is becoming easier to find.

5. Tim's Secret Snack: Dark Chocolate-Covered Graham Crackers

When Tim wants chocolate without committing to a full bar, his go-to is dark chocolate-covered graham crackers. He finds that the graham cracker conveys chocolate flavor better than solid chocolate without being as filling. He mourns a discontinued Trader Joe's version that came in a lady's hat box — a product so obscure that TJ's employees looked at him like he was insane when he asked about it. Jacques Torres also makes a good version.

6. References