These days, we are so spoiled for choice when it comes to desi dark craft chocolate, it’s hard to believe that most Millennial kids who grew up loving dark chocolate only had a slab called Bournville to turn to.
When we started chasing chocolate for this guide, we had to make some solid decisions – we encountered over 25 brands that we were immediately keen on.
And so, we decided to make the most of the year’s indulgent end – this glorious season of stretchy pants, which happily stretches from Diwali to Christmas.
Six weeks after our first instalment, here is the second guide to enthucutlet’s best bars – chocolate bars, obviously.
1. Ziaho
The youngest brand in India’s burgeoning craft chocolate scene, Ziaho launched in time for Diwali. The name comes from an amalgam of the words for ‘joy’ and ‘delight’ in Sanskrit. How fitting for a brand that offers dark bars in which Europe-meets-the-Western Ghats, with mix-ins like apple-cinnamon, or three Mahabaleshwar berries.
enthuRecommends: 64% Dark Cape Gooseberry – Rasbhari
2. Naviluna (previously Earth Loaf)
Naviluna is a handmade, almost 12-year-old Mysore-based chocolate brand that has a full-on terroir approach – it’s about the flavour the land and the soil bring to the bean.
enthuRecommends: 72% Malabar Forest Single Origin Chocolate Bar
3. Colocal
Clean chocolate made in Chhatarpur, Dilli that offers single origin bars that have notes of passion fruit, raspberry and toasted walnut.
enthuRecommends: 85% Cacao Single Origin Dark Chocolate
4. Bon Fiction
Bon Fiction is produced by a certified chocolate-tasting couple based out of Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh. They grow cacao; they work with farmers in the Godavari region. The fermentation and drying of the cacao are done meticulously at their estate.
enthuRecommends: A Song of Bitter and Sweet; 82% Dark Chocolate
5. Kocoatrait
Kocoatrait has been written about in the NYTimes, but that’s not why it’s here. We have been into the brand for its edgy personality– its packaging and branding reflect its joyful approach to chocolate and flavour. Think jasmine, green chillies, or panakam.
enthuRecommends: 64% Plum Cake Dark Chocolate