Dark Chocolate Review: 70% Green & Black’s Organic, 70% Lindt Excellence, 72% Ghirardelli- Intense Dark Twilight Delight, 72% Godiva Chocolatier
I was very hesitant to switch over to 70%+ dark chocolate, but I so quickly grew to love it. So it’s now my go-to chocolate when I have a craving. This was definitely a review I was looking forward to doing ^_^.
All chocolate bars I chose are ones I consider gourmet (available at the grocery store) chocolates that have 70% cocoa or higher, which is recommended in dark chocolate for health benefits. They all come in 3.5oz (100g) bars, with 2.5 servings per bar, except the Ghirardelli that came in individually wrapped squares, so a serving was 4 pieces for 43g, so the nutritious comparison will be pretty accurately comparable among them all.
70% Green & Black’s Organic
Smoothness – silky smooth melt in your mouth texture
Smell- a cocoa smell like you would expect in most dark chocolate
Taste- like most dark chocolate it had a slight bitter taste (that’s actually pleasant) but additionally it strangely has a little tang/sourness to it as it melted in my mouth…not in a bad way though. I do like it.
Ingredients per serving (40g)- 240 calories, 18g of fat (10g saturated fat), 5mg sodium, 4g Dietary fiber, 10g sugar and 4g Protein.
Conclusion- Big plus is that all ingredients are Organic! For that alone it gets an extra point from me. It also has the least amount of Saturated fat and sugar, and tied with others having the highest fiber and protein. All in all this would be my healthiest choice of the bunch.
70% Lindt Excellence
Smoothness – Very silky smooth melt in your mouth texture that you’d find in all Lindt chocolate
Smell- Sweeter smelling that all the others…very easily identified as Lindt chocolate (which I’m very familiar with).
Taste- Delicious taste, more buttery and sweet tasting than the rest. Of all the chocolates I taste tested this one tasted the most luxurious if I could describe it in one word.
Ingredients per serving (40g)- 250 calories, 19g of fat (12g saturated fat), 10mg sodium, 3g Dietary fiber, 12g sugar and 3g Protein.
Conclusion- Definitely the tastiest choice of the bunch as far as distinct flavor and sweetness. I barely could tell I was eating a healthier dark chocolate. I love all Lindt chocolate flavors, but try to limit them due to their high fat content…but I guess that’s what makes them so delectably melt in your mouth delicious. Unfortunately it had the highest calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugar, and the lowest fiber and protein…so the least healthiest choice.
72% Ghirardelli- Intense Dark Twilight Delight
Smoothness – very silky smooth melt in your mouth texture
Smell- a very cocoa smell like you would expect in most dark chocolate
Taste- delicious in my opinion. I even prefer it now to the 60% cocoa Ghirardelli which is sweeter and one of my previous favorite chocolates. It has a slight bitter taste as most dark chocolate has, but I love the taste. Like the Green & Black Organic it also has a very slight tang to it…but milder than the Green & Black Organic.
Ingredients per serving (40g)- 220 calories, 20g of fat (12g saturated fat), 0mg sodium, 4g Dietary fiber, 11g sugar and 3g Protein.
Conclusion- This was previously the only 70%+ dark chocolate I ate often and enjoyed in the past. All in all I rate it in the middle amongst the 4 I reviewed, balancing nutrition and taste. I also love the thinness of the chocolate bar, and the fact that it had the least calories, but it tied with Lindt to have the most Saturated fat.
72% Godiva Chocolatier Dark
Smoothness – very silky smooth melt in your mouth texture
Smell- a very slightly more sweet cocoa smelling than the Ghirardelli
Taste- it had a distinct cocoa flavor that reminded me of the unsweetened hot chocolate I used to drink many years ago when I would accidentally take a sip before adding sugar…but sweeter. I would rate it as milder than Ghirardelli and Green & Black Organic because it didn’t have any sort of tang to it.
Ingredients per serving (40g)- 240 calories, 17g of fat (11g saturated fat), 0mg sodium, 4g Dietary fiber, 11g sugar and 3g Protein.
Conclusion- I liked the fact that it had no sodium. Also a very luxurious chocolate brand, I was excited to try the dark chocolate, and would rate it second in taste to Lindt. I also love that it comes in a very thin bar like Lindt and Ghirardelli.
Overall conclusion
All these chocolates were delicious in my opinion…granted I’m used to the taste of dark chocolate, and really appreciate the flavors as they melt in my mouth. They were all not too sweet, but just sweet enough to hit the spot.
They were all very velvety in texture and had the “dark chocolate” cocoa smell to them, with Lindt smelling the sweetest (rightfully so, it does contain the most sugar). I would say Lindt was the most unique tasting. It has the distinct Lindt smell and flavor that is unmistakable and reminds me very much of their milk chocolates. Unfortunately it also had the highest calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugar. As far as all the tastes go, to rate them from dark/tangy to sweetest, I would list them in order from Green & Black Organic, Ghiradelli, Godiva then Lindt…which is also how I would rate them in least favorite to most favorite tastes.
On the down side all these chocolates are very high overall in fat and saturated fats, and I don’t like the fact that they’re made with soy lecithin, dairy and sugar. But I was very happy with them all as a treat option with added health benefits. Next I would like to try some organic, vegan, naturally sweetened dark chocolate (that I will list below the nutrition winners of this bunch).
First here are the Winning nutritious aspects of each, highlighted in Green
70% Green & Black’s Organic
Ingredients per serving (40g)-
240 calories
18g of fat (10g saturated fat)
5mg sodium
4g Dietary fiber
10g sugar
4g Protein
70% Lindt Excellence
Ingredients per serving (40g)-
250 calories
19g of fat (12g saturated fat)
10mg sodium
3g Dietary fiber
12g sugar
3g Protein
72% Ghirardelli- Intense Dark Twilight Delight
Ingredients per serving (40g)-
220 calories
20g of fat (12g saturated fat)
0mg sodium
4g Dietary fiber
11g sugar
3g Protein
72% Godiva Chocolatier
Ingredients per serving (40g)-
240 calories
17g of fat (11g saturated fat)
0mg sodium
4g Dietary fiber
11g sugar
3g Protein
Other Dark chocolates I would love to try-
Healthiest Choices
-Gnosis dark Chocolate- coconut almond (and all their other flavors)- no soy, dairy, gluten, or sugar (or artificial sugar), all kosher, organic and vegan. ($9.25 per 50g (2oz bar)
-Organic Nectars 70% Raw Cacao Bar- no soy, diary, gluten, sugar (or artificial sugar), all kosher and organic.
-Wei of Chocolate- Try Wei Love 74%, Wei Joyful, Wei Pure- no soy diary, gluten, sugar (or artificial sugar), all organic and vegan.
-Fearless Chocolate Dark as Midnight 75%, Sweet & Hot Hibiscus Ginger 70%, Super Seeds 70%, Green Tea Peppermynt 70%, and Exploding coconuts 70%, - no soy, gluten, dairy, all kosher, organic & vegan. ($6 per 50g (2oz bar)
-Pacari Raw Ecuadorian Organic 70% & (Los Rios 72%) – no soy, all organic, kosher and vegan. ($8 per 50g (2oz bar)
Less Healthy Choices
-Valrhona Guanaja 70% cocoa dark chocolate
-Noir Amer 71% cocoa
-Perugina Nero 70% cacao Dark Chocolate – from Italy
-Taza Chocolate 70% Dark Stone Ground Organic Chocolate
My Lindt chocolate bar was double wrapped!
I felt like I won the golden ticket (well silver)
I felt like I won the golden ticket (well silver)
