Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Cook’s Country magazine, an offshoot of Cook’s Illustrated, has conducted a taste test of 10 popular brands of milk chocolate bars. Bottom line: you don’t have to spend a lot to get good milk chocolate and one expensive bar ranked last.
I made a graphic showing the highest and lowest-rated and one from the middle of the pack.
The top-rated Dove bar costs a mere 80 cents for a 1.3 ounce bar. The only others in the Recommended category, Scharffen Berger and Lindt Excellence, are near or above $1 per ounce.
Even though Hershey’s is called The Great American Chocolate Bar, it was Recommended with Reservations and squarely in the middle of the rankings. Several of the magazine’s tasters found its taste chalky and too sweet. None was classed as Not Recommended, but Guittard, at $2.50 for 2 ounces, came in dead last. Most tasters panned its chocolate flavor as tasting fake.
What set the Dove bar apart? While some tasters thought it was too sweet, the majority said it has great flavor and praised it as a “good, all-around piece of chocolate.”
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great entry. I’ve never understood the love for Scharffen Berger except that it has a reputation, and that loving it somehow shows that you “know food.”
Not listed here, my favorite: “Green & Blacks.” They have the best chocolate bars on the market to my palette, with both milk and dark chocolate options.
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I’ve never had SB’s milk chocolate but I love their semi-sweet for baking. Honestly, though, I don’t think it’s better than Callebaut. Different, but not necessarily better.
I’ll keep an eye out for Green & Blacks. I’m not much of a chocolate eater in the candy form, but I do try to have a bit of dark most days. I don’t think that brand was tested at all. I didn’t link to the results because it’s subscriber-only and that’s pointless.Thanks for the tip!
i don’t think we have dove chocolate in malaysia.
maybe i’ll get lucky at the chocolate boutiques. i’m curious now if it tastes that good! personally, i love timeout and kinder bueno for the generic sort. for the expensive kinds, any will do. 
i’ve eaten patchi, leonidas and godiva so far – even their chocolate pearls taste damn good!
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Hey, sulz, that’s a great motto: For the expensive kinds, any will do.
I love it.
Dove is part of the Mars family so it might be around. At the price, it’s worth trying. If you ever see Godiva pumpkin truffles dusted with cinnamon, try one. Ooh, baby. They’re only around in autumn, and they’re as big as a golf ball. And sheer bliss.