by The Chocolate Salon Comment Closed

We are proud to present the results of the 2017 CHOCOLATE BAR AWARDS Competition.

The International Chocolate Salon Awards for the 2017 CHOCOLATE BAR AWARDS are based on the combined total number of votes received by each entrant from the Judging Panel.

The Judging Panel consists of National and Regional Magazines, Newspaper and Blog Editors, plus Topic Experts, Local Chefs and Food Gurus.

The award winners below have the honor of being able to display and use the Official Award Winner title and award logos, as well as use items (such as the Award Winner lapel pin), as well as use Custom Award Certificates, and logo award merchandise.

Best Ingredient Combinations

GOLD

  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Black Sesame: Colombian white chocolate
  • la Cascade du Chocolat Bene Benne

SILVER

  • cochu chocolatier racha peanut: sriracha & roasted peanut
  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Rose. 62% Peruvian dark chocolate infused with rose otto
  • Nuance Chocolate Chantilly Cream 55%
  • Ticket Chocolate Lemon-Lavender Chocolate Bark
  • Vivra Chocolate Curry Cashew

BRONZE

  • ChocolaTas Vancouver Chocolates Raspberry Caramel in 71% dark chocolate
  • cochu chocolatier Mendiant Bar: Montmorency cherries, 58% dark
  • Creo Chocolate RASPBERRY DARK
  • Delysia Chocolatier Herbed almond & olive oil dark chocolate bark
  • Endorfin Foods Pure Mylk - Coconut Mylk Chocolate
  • Endorfin Foods Turkish Coffee - Dark Chocolate with Coffee, Cardamom, & Coconut Mylk
  • Endorfin Foods Passion - Coconut Mylk Chocolate with Ginger & Rose
  • Nuance Chocolate Uganda 70%
  • The Chocolate Fetish Peanut Crunch Bar
  • Vivra Chocolate PB & Pretzel

Best Taste

GOLD

  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Rose. 62% Peruvian dark chocolate infused with rose otto
  • la Cascade du Chocolat Bene Benne
  • Zokoko Tranquilidad Bolivia 72%
  • Zokoko Goddess Milk Chocolate

SILVER

  • cochu chocolatier racha peanut: sriracha & roasted peanut
  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Black Sesame: Colombian white chocolate
  • Creo Chocolate THE WASHU PROJECT
  • Ticket Chocolate Lemon-Lavender Chocolate Bark
  • Zokoko Guadalcanal Solomon Islands 78%

BRONZE

  • Chocolat Madagascar ORGANIC 100% COCOA SINGLE ORIGIN
  • cochu chocolatier Mendiant Bar: Montmorency cherries, 58% dark
  • Cocoa Republic Ltd. Malted Milk Chocolate with Toffee
  • Endorfin Foods Passion - Coconut Mylk Chocolate with Ginger & Rose
  • Nuance Chocolate Uganda 70%
  • Nuance Chocolate Chantilly Cream 55%
  • Nuance Chocolate Peru 70%
  • The Chocolate Fetish Peanut Crunch Bar
  • The Chocolate Fetish Raspberry Almond Round
  • Vivra Chocolate PB & Pretzel
  • Zak's Chocolate Guatemala Lachua 85%

Best Texture

GOLD

  • Nuance Chocolate Chantilly Cream 55%

SILVER

  • Zokoko Goddess Milk Chocolate

BRONZE

  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Rose. 62% Peruvian dark chocolate infused with rose otto
  • Creo Chocolate THE WASHU PROJECT
  • Zokoko Tranquilidad Bolivia 72%

Most Unique

GOLD

  • Chuao Chocolatier Cheeky Cheeky Churro
  • cochu chocolatier racha peanut: sriracha & roasted peanut
  • la Cascade du Chocolat Bene Benne
  • Vivra Chocolate Curry Cashew

SILVER

  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Black Sesame: Colombian white chocolate
  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Alegria: Dark Milk chocolate infused with espresso
  • Delysia Chocolatier Hibiscus green tea white bark with mint & blueberries
  • Endorfin Foods Passion - Coconut Mylk Chocolate with Ginger & Rose
  • Ticket Chocolate Lemon-Lavender Chocolate Bark

BRONZE

  • Chuao Chocolatier Totally Tangy Mango
  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Rose. 62% Peruvian dark chocolate infused with rose otto
  • Delysia Chocolatier Herbed almond & olive oil dark chocolate bark
  • Delysia Chocolatier Crawfish boil dark chocolate bark
  • Serena Lissy Chocolate Texas Pecan Brittle Bar
  • Zak's Chocolate Nicaragua Matagalpa 70% w/nibs
  • Zokoko Tranquilidad Bolivia 72%

Best Chocolate Bar

GOLD

  • Endorfin Foods Turkish Coffee - Dark Chocolate with Coffee, Cardamom, & Coconut Mylk

SILVER

  • Chocolat Madagascar ORGANIC 100% COCOA SINGLE ORIGIN
  • Creo Chocolate THE WASHU PROJECT
  • la Cascade du Chocolat Bene Benne
  • Zokoko Tranquilidad Bolivia 72%

BRONZE

  • cochu chocolatier Mendiant Bar: Montmorency cherries, 58% dark
  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Rose. 62% Peruvian dark chocolate infused with rose otto
  • Creo Chocolate RASPBERRY DARK
  • Endorfin Foods Passion - Coconut Mylk Chocolate with Ginger & Rose
  • Nuance Chocolate Peru 70%
  • Zak's Chocolate Guatemala Lachua 85%
  • Zak's Chocolate Zak's House Blend
  • Zak's Chocolate Nicaragua Matagalpa 70% w/nibs
  • Zokoko Guadalcanal Solomon Islands 78%

STAR RATINGS

5 STARS

  • Creo Chocolate RASPBERRY DARK
  • Zokoko Tranquilidad Bolivia 72%

4.5 STARS

  • cochu chocolatier Mendiant Bar: Montmorency cherries, 58% dark
  • la Cascade du Chocolat Bene Benne
  • Zokoko Goddess Milk Chocolate
  • Ticket Chocolate Lemon-Lavender Chocolate Bark
  • Zokoko Guadalcanal Solomon Islands 78%
  • Creo Chocolate THE WASHU PROJECT

4 STARS

  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Rose. 62% Peruvian dark chocolate infused with rose otto
  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Black Sesame: Colombian white chocolate
  • Nuance Chocolate Chantilly Cream 55%
  • Creo Chocolate Dark milk with fleur de sels
  • Endorfin Foods Turkish Coffee - Dark Chocolate with Coffee, Cardamom, & Coconut Mylk
  • Zak's Chocolate Nicaragua Matagalpa 70% w/nibs
  • ChocolaTas Vancouver Chocolates Raspberry Caramel in 71% dark chocolate
  • CocoVaa Chocolatier Alegria: Dark Milk chocolate infused with espresso
  • The Chocolate Fetish Peanut Crunch Bar
  • Zak's Chocolate Zak's House Blend

3.5 STARS

  • Cocoa Republic Ltd. 65% Dark Chocolate with Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
  • Nuance Chocolate Peru 70%
  • Chocolat Madagascar ORGANIC 100% COCOA SINGLE ORIGIN
  • Chuao Chocolatier Totally Tangy Mango
  • cochu chocolatier racha peanut: sriracha & roasted peanut
  • Endorfin Foods Passion - Coconut Mylk Chocolate with Ginger & Rose
  • Delysia Chocolatier Herbed almond & olive oil dark chocolate bark
  • Nuance Chocolate Uganda 70%
  • Zak's Chocolate Guatemala Lachua 85%
  • Wild Sweets® By Dominique & Cindy Duby Hazelnut vanilla salted butter caramel toffee
  • The Chocolate Fetish Raspberry Almond Round
  • Ticket Chocolate Coconut-Almond Chocolate Bark
  • Cocoa Republic Ltd. Malted Milk Chocolate with Toffee
  • Endorfin Foods Pure Mylk - Coconut Mylk Chocolate
  • Vivra Chocolate PB & Pretzel

3 STARS

  • SAPORE DELLA VITA LLC Gianduotto Dark
  • Chuao Chocolatier Cheeky Cheeky Churro
  • Serena Lissy Chocolate Texas Pecan Brittle Bar
  • Vivra Chocolate Curry Cashew

JUDGES' COMMENTS

FAVORITES

  • The Washu Project. Great mouth feel, flavor texture and after taste. Delicious
  • Zokoko Tranquilidad Bolivia 72%
  • CocoVaa black sesame ! and Cochu Racha peanut is surprising
  • My personal favorites include: Zokoko Goddess Milk Chocolate; Creo Chocolate The Washu Project; and la Cascade du Chocolat Bene Benne.
  • Serena Lissy Pecan Brittle, and The Chocolate Fetish Peanut Crunch Bar.

 

COMMENTS

  • The Washu Project was on its own level above the others.
  • CocoVaa Rose: I felt like a carefree kid again, walking through a sunny rose garden while eating rock candy.
  • Zak's Chocolate: I love the paper wrappers for the House Blend and Guatemala Lachua bars. Zokoko: I love the elegant presentation of the Guadalcanal Solomon Islands box. Beautiful and classy! Chocolat Madagascar: the 100% cocoa single origin was so smooth with wonderful flavor profiles. A delight on the palate. Creo Chocolate: The Washu Project bar was absolutely amazing! My taste buds sung with joy as the flavor profiles unveiled itself. Zak's Chocolate: Zak's House Blend is an amazing blend! The flavor profile burst on to the scene and kept presenting new flavors just as the last one presented. A joyful, playful and superb adventure for the palate! Zokoko: The Goddess Milk Chocolate was amazingly creamy, buttery, caramelly, smooth, and just plain awesome. Two thumbs up to the cream! Cochu Chocolatier: the Racha Peanut bar was excellent, who would have thought? The flavor balance was excellent, great flavors with just the right amount of heat. la Cascade du Chocolat: the Bene Benne bar was absolutely beautiful to look at. The marble of milk and white chocolates showing off the black sesame seeds was a gorgeous presentation. Adding to the splendor was the amazing taste of this bar. The toasted sesame seeds and blend of chocolates perfectly complemented each other. Kudos!
  • Zak's Chocolate's new paper design packages are lovely! Nuance Chocolate has the most "user friendly" labels because the origin, percentage and date are printed right on the front. Delysia and Chuao once again are the most adventurous in their flavor combinations.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHOCOLATIERS

  • Those that had sesame were delicious and I am sure that the roasting is the key. Usually milk chocolate is not my favorite, but the Nuance with Chantilly Cream was exceptional
  • We adore Vivra chocolate but wish the packaging was more sophisticated or unique. CocoVaa was AMAZING chocolate, but could definitely benefit from more sophisticated or interesting packaging. we adore the little endorphin squares, cute, and non wasteful packaging.
  • Delysia Chocolatier: I applaud you for your adventure with unique and interesting ingredient combinations. However, the Crawfish Boil Dark Chocolate bar missed the mark on my palate.  The immediate taste on the palate was TOO MUCH SALT! Then the extreme heat hit and nothing else could be tasted after that. The crawfish boil essence could have been presented with a better balance of ingredients. It tasted like the original seasoning was mixed with the chocolate in too high a proportion. Better to add the component ingredients separately to balance out the flavors to simulate the taste of a crawfish boil for a chocolate base.

 

 

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