A Buyer’s Guide to Craft Chocolate

How to check for quality chocolate from any producer

There is a relatively new sector in the chocolate industry and it is often referred to as (i) craft chocolate, or (ii) bean-to-bar chocolate. This is a helpful guide to help you navigate around craft chocolate and what to look out for when buying it.

A Buyer’s Guide to Craft Chocolate

To understand the chocolate you’re buying, these simple checks apply to any bar — whether from the craft or commercial sector.

Cacao Percentage. See in detail: What Does Cacao Percentage Mean?
What Cacao Percentage Is Best? See in detail: Is Higher Cacao Percentage Better?

• Ingredients: Count them. The fewer the better — a quality bar runs from as few as two to rarely more than six natural ingredients. Cacao is the most expensive ingredient by volume, so where it is substituted for cheaper ingredients, the reason is economic. Cost is not an indicator of quality, but the shorter the list and the higher the sourcing quality, the more the chocolate will cost.
• Cocoa butter: The fat in a chocolate should come strictly from cocoa butter, not palm oil or any other industrial vegetable fat. Cocoa butter comes from the cocoa bean, and it is expensive, so it is the first thing replaced by makers protecting a profit margin.
• Alkalised cocoa powder: Avoid bars that use heavily processed, “Dutched” (alkalised) cocoa powder to inflate the stated cocoa solids percentage. Cocoa powder is cheap — a by-product of pressing out the cocoa butter. The number looks right. The chocolate isn’t.
• Health benefits of eating dark chocolate: Is eating dark chocolate healthy? Yes, in moderation. This is what the science says: A Science Review Of Dark Chocolate Health Benefits.
• Additives: Steer clear of chocolate using palm oil, high-fructose corn syrup, e-numbers, and artificial flavourings. Any bar using synthetic Vanillin, instead of real Vanilla, should also be avoided. These are all masking or bulking agents.
• Emulsifiers: PGPR (Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate / E476), Lecithin (E322, soya or sunflower), and Ammonium Phosphatide (AMP / E442) are used to bind chocolate and keep it flowing through industrial machines and pipework. They aren’t essential in well-made chocolate, which achieves the same result through proper conching. Some craft makers use a small amount of sunflower lecithin regardless, since it makes hand-production easier without materially affecting flavour — worth knowing so a short ingredient list containing it isn’t mistaken for a fault. Read more on Emulsifiers in Chocolate.
• The snap: When you break a piece, this is the tell. A clean snap means the cocoa butter has set correctly. A high-quality bar looks stable and glossy, snaps cleanly, and melts smoothly on the tongue.
• Mouthfeel: It should melt gradually with a clean finish. If it feels grainy or waxy, or the finish is greasy rather than clean, it is likely a lower-quality product using substitute ingredients.
• Cocoa solids: The percentage on the pack — 60% cocoa solids — is simply how much of the chocolate comes from the cocoa bean. A higher percentage means more of the bean, and usually less sugar: meaning it is darker, less sweet.
• Taste: A good bar should taste of something – while the best chocolate has a multi-faceted profile. At the commercial end, even within the expensive bars at the supermarket, poor beans, alkalised cocoa powder, and heavy over-roasting and over-conching strip out nuance and leave it flat and dull. The more expensive craft chocolate end has its own failing — under-roasting, and especially under-conching, fail to drive off the sharp, acidic compounds, leaving the chocolate harsh or sour. Quality chocolate lies between the two — this is down to the judgement and experience of the chocolate maker.
• Tannins: These are naturally occurring, bitter plant compounds (polyphenols) found abundantly in cocoa beans. Tannins provide a natural bitterness and cause a drying sensation in your mouth because they bind to the proteins in your saliva. These are the healthy phytochemicals talked about in chocolate — tannins act as antioxidants that can help protect your cells from damage. Commercially made chocolate has far fewer tannins. Un-roasted craft chocolate is full of them, sometimes overwhelmingly so, with an astringent bitter finish and an uncomfortable dry mouth feeling. The best chocolate, in this instance, is to be found in the middle ground — with many of the healthy antioxidants preserved. A well-made healthy dark chocolate has the tannins under control.
• Inclusions: The often-forgotten part of a bar. Nuts and dried fruit are only as good as their quality going in — at the lower end they can be stale and dry, with the worst loaded with chemical preservatives. The craft sector can be just as guilty here, often through lazy sourcing.
• Milk chocolate: Quality milk chocolate carries a higher proportion of cocoa solids than a standard supermarket bar — around 40% to 60% — enough to taste the cocoa rather than the sugar. Watch again for any vegetable-fat substitutes which are added as a cheap substitute. The best milk chocolate uses only cocoa butter. British chocolate (and MayHawk) tends to use a higher percentage of milk content than European chocolate brands. However, unlike many other brands we don’t remove the cacao content, but instead reduce the sugar content.
• Traceability: Ethical craft chocolate makers tell you where the beans come from — single-origin producers and growers — and are transparent about how the chocolate is made. Commercial chocolate cannot go into this level of detail. What is known is that it is bought at scale on the commodity markets, with around 70% of the world’s cacao coming from West Africa, chiefly from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, regions with documented human-rights concerns.
• For the Full Glossary, every term from ingredient to process, see our: Glossary of Chocolate and Craft Chocolate Terms.

Which cocoa percentage is best for me?

There’s no single best cocoa percentage, it depends on how much you want the taste of cacao itself to lead, rather than sweetness and creaminess.

• Dark chocolate: A good dark chocolate, made with a short ingredient list, is sold from 60% to 100%. Our advice is to start at around 70%. At that level, the cocoa’s own flavour, fruit, spice, or floral notes depending on origin, comes through clearly without being overwhelmed by sugar. Moving up to 85% or 100% intensifies that character further, giving a bolder, more direct experience of the bean, though it also means less sugar to soften any sharpness in the cacao itself. See: What Is Dark Chocolate?
• Milk to dark-milk chocolate: For a good milk chocolate, look for 37% to 60% cocoa solids. Many milk chocolates on the market sit toward the lower end of that range, but 40% and above is where the cocoa genuinely starts to lead rather than the sugar, giving a noticeably more chocolatey flavour without losing the characteristic creaminess. From around 40% up to roughly 50%, the balance sits as classic milk chocolate, creamy and sweet with the cocoa clearly present. Above 50%, it moves into dark-milk chocolate, where the cacao’s own character becomes more pronounced while the milk keeps the texture smooth. See: What Is Milk Chocolate?
• White chocolate: Look for at least 35% cocoa butter, well above the 20% legal minimum. White chocolate contains no cocoa solids at all, so it never develops the traditional cocoa flavour that dark or milk chocolate carries. Its character depends heavily on the quality of the cocoa butter, alongside the milk, sugar and how the chocolate is made. Below 35%, there is simply less cocoa butter contributing to that character, and the balance can tip further towards tasting like sweetened milk rather than chocolate. See: What Is White Chocolate?

Does a higher percentage always mean a better bar? No, and this holds regardless of which type of chocolate is preferred. Percentage measures quantity, not quality, it says how much came from the cacao bean, not how well that cacao was grown, fermented, or made into chocolate.

Cacao Percentage. See in detail: What Does Cacao Percentage Mean?
What Cacao Percentage Is Best? See in detail: Is Higher Cacao Percentage Better?

Looking after your chocolate

For more detail on this topic see: How Should I Store Chocolate?

• Store it cool, dark, and stable, 12–19°C — away from direct sunlight, heat sources, and strong smells. A steady temperature matters more than a precise one: it is fluctuation, as much as warmth, that dulls a bar and brings on bloom. A cupboard away from the oven or hob is usually enough.
• Keep it away from strong smells — cocoa butter is an efficient absorber of aromas. Stored near coffee, cheese, onions, or spice, a bar will take on their character over time. Somewhere closed and odour-free keeps its flavour its own.
• Not the fridge — refrigeration brings two problems: moisture and food odours. Condensation forms on the surface as the chocolate warms back up, and the cocoa butter draws in whatever the fridge holds. If it is genuinely the only cool option, seal the bar in an airtight container first, and let it return fully to room temperature before opening.
• Not the freezer either — freezing stresses the cocoa butter’s crystal structure, the same structure that governs snap and melt. On thawing, condensation forms and fat or sugar bloom usually follows. For storage beyond the normal shelf life, a cool, stable cupboard does more than a freezer.
• A pale film is bloom, not a fault — if a bar is exposed to temperatures above roughly 21°C, the cocoa butter can soften and migrate to the surface, dulling the finish. It can look faintly like mould. It is not. The chocolate is safe to eat, the flavour is unaffected, and a stable temperature prevents it. This is called Chocolate Bloom.
• It melts easily, and that is the point — with only cocoa butter and no bulk fats or stabilisers to slow it down, the chocolate softens near body temperature. The sensitivity and the quality are the same thing: it is exactly what gives the clean melt on the palate. It is also why correct storage matters.
• Best-before, not a hard expiry — chocolate carries a best-before date rather than a safety cut-off. Stored well, a bar holds its character within the date. Stored badly, the aroma and finer flavours fade first, and bloom becomes more likely. It will not become unsafe past the date, but the experience will have changed.

For more detail on this topic see: How Should I Store Chocolate?

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Recommended Places to Start on MayHawk

MayHawk is a modern independent British chocolate studio, established in 2007, and built on simplicity and restraint. Where to begin is a matter of what you personally like in your chocolate, or what you would like to explore. If it’s for a gift, then we recommend looking at our discovery or gift sets.

• Higher Cacao content. Smooth melting Dark Chocolate → Midnight Dark Chocolate Collection
• Lighter Cacao content. Dark & Milk. Pairings & Inclusions → Heritage Milk Chocolate Collection
• Explore truly innovative chocolate. Try something different → Studio Projects
• Discovery and Gift sets. For that special someone → Discovery & Gifts
• Guides. Find helpful information and guides → Guides

What does chocolate making mean to MayHawk: we process the raw cacao beans in-house — roasting, grinding, conching and tempering under one roof — using the fewest possible ingredients, sourced ethically and transparently. The promotion of single-origin cacao, and the rejection of food additives and emulsifiers. Made with inventive processes and methods to solve whatever problems arise in manufacturing that would make the chocolate deviate from these principles. This is chocolate made with a sense of place — with a flavour potential which needs to be uncovered, not buried.

If you’re new to MayHawk, there are no wrong questions, and we’re easy to reach: Contact Support.

Understanding the chocolate MayHawk makes

We have a clear process in making all of our chocolate. It starts with using a short ingredient list — only natural ingredients, no emulsifiers — and paying attention to the smallest details. Only what needs to be in our chocolate, goes into our chocolate — simplicity beats complexity when dealing with flavour profiles. The bean-to-bar chocolate making process begins with sourcing better cocoa beans, chosen for flavour, then prioritise an individual roasting profile for each origin and slow stone grinding rather than industrial speed. Conching and tempering are held to a calibration, not a set time.

Within MayHawk, two integrated studios run in parallel: the Chocolate Studio, where our cacao and other ingredients are studied, and the recipes worked out, and the Design Studio, where everything you see and hold, the artwork and the packaging, is decided. The combined studios make craft chocolate using both artisan and modern manufacturing processes. Nothing is outsourced. Everything is considered. The chocolate has to be made right and presented right, and neither counts without the other.

If you want more information — Chocolate Studio · Design Studio · Who We Are

The distinction: craft chocolate, often called bean-to-bar chocolate, is made on a small scale, with a focus on the origin of the cocoa beans, ethical direct sourcing, and a creative process built to preserve the bean’s natural flavours. Commercial chocolate is made on an industrial scale, mostly using blended origins, with various cocoa powders, industrial vegetable fats, and emulsifiers added, these are machined into a simplified profile that purposefully tastes the same every time.

A few practical things

Everything at MayHawk is made slowly, with care and attention — so each chocolate is made to its own profile, rather than to a schedule. The Studio Projects bars are limited editions, numbered because each batch is finite and the next will differ with the season.

The way we source our cocoa beans means the flavour profile of our chocolate can vary slightly between batches and harvests, because the natural cacao itself will slightly vary in profile.

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You can find more information: in our FAQ Page.

You can find more information: in our Guide Pages.

For the full glossary see our: Glossary of Terms.

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