Who is the best chocolate company in the world?

Question

I want to host a chocolate tasting party this summer but I live in a lower culture area so I don't have alot of information about higher end chocolate. What companies offer top of the line chocolates? I'm hoping for something VERY high end that I wouldn't be able to find or afford for anything other than a special occasion.

Answer 1

La Maison du Chocolat
What Tiffany did for jewelry, La Maison has done for chocolate. There may be no other store that makes as luxurious sweets as La Maison du Chocolate.

La Maison chocolates are exquisitely arrayed in caramel-colored leather boxes fine enough to hold your grandmother's estate jewelry. Its dark- and milk-chocolate truffles, marrons glaces, caramels, and mendiants (slices of chocolate sprinkled with dried fruits, assorted nuts or orange peel) contain no more than 65 percent cocoa, so they're more sweet than bitter. Ganache fillings are made with cocoa butter, not milk fat.

Each year, La Maison introduces a limited-edition gift to mark Easter. This year, the company is selling leather-bound, egg-shaped boxes crammed with 39 dark- and milk chocolates and a big chocolate egg. This one-pound treat costs $78; the two-pounder runs $110. (www.lamaisonduchocolat.com 800-988-5632)

Dagoba Organic Chocolate
For years, the prospect of organic chocolate usually boiled down to carob, that largely tasteless impostor that left real chocolate lovers hugely disappointed. Then along came Frederick Schilling, a former chef with a mind for experimentation.

After learning that most cocoa growers relied on pesticides to get beans growing, Schilling founded Dagoba, whose name means "temple of the gods" in Sanskrit. The company buys handpicked, organic beans and cocoa from co-ops in the Dominican Republic and Central America, paying full price for the ingredients to comply with certified "Fair Trade" practices.

Chocolate bar choices include such offerings as hazelnut, milk chocolate, roseberry (a blend of raspberry and rose hips), mint/rosemary, lime and macadamia nut, chai (a mixture of milk chocolate infused with cardamom, anise, black pepper, cinnamon and clover), and a lavender/blueberry bar. A gift box of one dozen assorted bars runs $36. (www.dagobachocolate.com; 541-664-9030)

Ganache Chocolates
After 30 years in the pastry business, Norman Love decided to walk away from it all.

The former corporate pastry chef for Ritz Carlton, Love spent 42 weeks a year traipsing around the world to oversee the hotel chain's operations. Though he gave up a stellar career – his honors include a bronze medal from the biennial Coup du Monde de la Patisserie (World Cup of Pastry) competition in Lyon – it wasn't difficult for Love to switch gears.

"Chocolate is my passion," said Love, who dreamed of making a chocolate that was as visually stunning and delicious. So Love and partner Judy Limekiller founded Ganache.

The duo has perfected a technique in which the colored designs for each candy are hand-painted or airbrushed into chocolate molds, then filled the finest chocolate important from Belgium, France and Switzerland. They contain fresh ingredients like pureed raspberries, bananas, ginger and hazelnuts.

Call the shop directly to inquire about Easter treats such as the hollow, multi-colored chocolate eggs that hold eight truffles ($25) or any one of the pastel, galvanized tin buckets that have been filled with a solid bunny, truffles and other sweets. ($45) (www.ganachechocolates.com; 239-561-7215)

Garrison Confections
Andrew Shotts was the pastry chef at La Cote Basque in New York when he started making a line of colorful, intricately designed chocolates to serve to the restaurant's patrons after their meals. He then continued to experiment and create chocolates for subsequent employers, including the Russian Tea Room in New York and Guittard Chocolate in San Francisco.

During his stint at Guittard, Shotts created the company's signature couveture, a chocolate used to make truffles and pastries like molten chocolate cake and that is sold to pastry chefs across the country. Today, Shotts uses E. Guittard couveture at his own chocolate company, Garrison Confections, which he opened in 2001 with his wife, Tina Wright.

His current Vernal collection includes chocolates flavored with fresh herbs and honey, a mint-flavored mojito and a "spring trio" bonbon that's layered with almond, hazelnut and macadamia nut praline. (A box of 24 vernal chocolates runs $30.)

Easter offerings include edible white, milk or dark-chocolate postcards adored in colorful designs and holiday messages inspired by classic French greeting cards. Each, separately wrapped card costs $8 and is shipped in temperature-controlled packaging to prevent melting. (www.garrisonconfections.com; 212-929-2545)

Richard Donnelly Fine Chocolates
In 1998, just 10 years after he opened his chocolate shop in Santa Cruz, Calif., Richard Donnelly won the Best Artisan award at the prestigious EuroChocolate Festival in Perugia, Italy.


Donnelly learned his craft in Paris and Brussels before opening his own shop, where he produces no more than 50 pounds of chocolate a day.

His selections can be roughly divided into two groups: "American" chocolates filled with familiar tastes such as caramel and marzipan, and what Donnelly calls "more interesting" exotic chocolates suffused with herbs like cardamom, Chinese five-spice and lavender.

One pound of Donnelly's assorted sweets runs $65. For that price, Donnelly is happy to custom-fill orders for finicky clients who want a box filled with nothing but their favorites. (www.donnellychocolates.com; 888-685-1871)

Answer 2

Valrhona - from France
http://www.nvogue.com/nVogueFoods/Chocolate/valrhona.htm

Leonidas - from Belgium
Godiva - from Belgium

http://www.chocolateexpert.com/Site_Map.html

What is the most expensive chocolate in the world?

Q: So how much can you charge for chocolate when you are considered the second best chocolatier in the world?

A: $2,600.00 a pound.

Chocopologie by Knipschildt, which was founded in 1999 by Fritz Knipschildt, sells the world's most expensive chocolate, a hand made chocolate with 70 percent Valrhona cocoa powder rolled over French Black truffle for a chocolaty $250.00 each or $2,600.00/pound.

The chocolates are only available by pre-order, but you can pick them up at 12 South Main Street Norwalk, Connecticut.

http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/expensive83.html

Even the most expensive chocolate is handmade with 70% Valrhona cocoa powder, so I personally would say Valrhona is the best.

I like to use 70% dark Valrhona to bake chocolate cake, I also like their milk chocolate bars.

Answer 3

Lindt chocolate is wonderful. It's Swiss. The Belgians also make very good chocolates.

Answer 4

Hershey

Answer 5

Moonstruck chocolates replaced Godiva as chocolate of choice for the Academy Awards gift baskets for celebs I believe, and it was endorsed by Oprah as one of her "favorite things" list. It's headquarters is located in Portland, Oregon, but you can buy from their website.

Answer 6

Cadbury.

Answer 7

Lindt chocolates are pretty good and affordable

Answer 8

Hershey's & Lindt's

Answer 9

cadbury chocolate is the best

Answer 10

scharfenbeger in San Francisco is really great.