The 9 Best Gourmet Chocolates giveaway now My apologies to Forrest Gump, but the saying really should be “A box of chocolates is a lot like life — you never know what you’re going to get.” With so many different chocolate companies offering up boxes upon boxes of their wares, it can be hard to even know where to start. Your choice may be dependent on the flavors you like, the flavors the recipient likes (if you’re gifting), the occasion, and even your level of risk (there’s a lot of weird chocolate on the market now). Thankfully, my colleagues and I were willing to do the hard work of tasting loads and loads of chocolate in a conference room to make your life a little bit easier. In pursuit of the best chocolate in every category — from white to dark, fruit-flavored to caramel, and everything in between — these are the brands we’ve deemed to be the crème de la crème of cacao. Proceed with caution, because eating one single piece can quickly snowball into sampling the entire assortment.
Best Milk Chocolate Whether a chocoholic or not, anyone should be happy to receive a box of zChocolat, especially if it contains the company’s milk-chocolate pieces. The classic version uses a 40 percent West African milk chocolate, wrapped around both caramel and praline. But it also appears in bonbons featuring hazelnuts, pistachios, raspberry ganache, and more. And while the pieces themselves are delicious, the presentation sets zChocolat apart from all other brands. You can choose to have your chocolates sent in a mahogany box with the recipient’s name engraved on the front and their initials embossed in the wax seal atop the wrapping (along with a suite of other gift services). More than just some chocolates you enjoy and then forget about, zChocolat is basically a keepsake — one with the instant gratification that a box of chocolates provides.
Best Dark Chocolate Sometimes, you get a box of chocolates and you wish that the pieces were just a touch smaller — so that you can eat more of them at once. La Maison du Chocolat solves that problem, creating delicate, minimalistic chocolates that are the Goldilocks pick when it comes to size. That means the box can contain pairs of the same chocolate, great for those who want to share a particular flavor or simply double-down on it. You’ll likely opt for the latter if you’re a fan of dark chocolate, as La Maison has the best we tried. The rich, high-quality chocolate has a smooth texture, whether it’s paired with an almond and hazelnut praline or a dark chocolate ganache with passionfruit pulp. Best of all, fans can go big with an 84-piece box of just dark chocolate.
Best White Chocolate Most chocolate lovers have heard the name Jacques Torres before. In fact, the company’s website notes that Torres is affectionately known as “Mr. Chocolate.” As such, you can best believe they make a great stand-by chocolate, presented in an Hermès-esque box. In particular, we loved the company’s white-chocolate bonbons, especially the Love Bug (key-lime ganache enrobed in silky white chocolate, with a sweet little drawing on top). Unfortunately, there are only a few white chocolate pieces in each general assortment, and you can’t buy a whole box of just white chocolate. Thankfully, though, Jacques Torres sells an entire bar of the good stuff.
Best Belgian Chocolate Belgian chocolate is some of the best in the world, and none do it better than Neuhaus, which has been making its chocolate in the European country since 1857. In particular, Neuhaus is perfect for the person who likes some variety: The company’s ballotins come with a whopping 42 pieces of chocolate, spanning fresh cream, praline (which the company invented, NBD), ganache, and gianduja-filled. The flavors lean more toward the classics than any adventurous combinations, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The list of options was too long for some of our staff, but can you really have too much chocolate?
Most Adventurous Chocolates Vosges Haut-Chocolat is not for those seeking your typical milk or dark chocolate filled with ganache or caramel. Vosges is for the adventurous eaters among us. The flavors are strong and quirky: You might choose a piece featuring organic Wakaya ginger, freshly grated wasabi, 72 percent cacao dark chocolate, and ceremonial matcha (the Black Pearl). Or one with Bulgarian rose water, pistachio paste, 45 percent cacao deep milk chocolate, dried rose-bud tea, and Bronte pistachio (the Sveta Sofia). The flavors are all inspired by founder Katrina Markoff’s travels, so if you can’t splurge on an entire trip, these chocolates might be the next best thing.
How did we choose and categorize the chocolates on this list? My colleagues were more than gracious enough to take some time out of their day to taste-test copious amounts of chocolate. That ensured we had a panel of people with different palates and preferences. All of us graded each brand on a number of factors, including appearance, texture, flavor, and variety. We cut many chocolates into even smaller bite-size pieces so that more than one person could try the same flavor, or so that one person could try several flavors without making themselves sick. Along with our scorecards, we discussed the different brands as we tasted, noting factors that can’t come across in a simple number grading system. Of course, everyone’s tastes will vary, so take that into consideration when purchasing, but this is what we honestly thought of every brand presented here.
