Finalists Announced for Chocolate Bar Awards 2017

We are proud to present the results of the 2017 CHOCOLATE BAR AWARDS Competition.

The International Chocolate Salon Awards for the 2017 CHOCOLATE BAR AWARDS are based on the combined total number of votes received by each entrant from the Judging Panel.

The Judging Panel consists of National and Regional Magazines, Newspaper and Blog Editors, plus Topic Experts, Local Chefs and Food Gurus.

The award winners below have the honor of being able to display and use the Official Award Winner title and award logos, as well as use items (such as the Award Winner lapel pin), as well as use Custom Award Certificates, and logo award merchandise.

ChocolaTas Vancouver Chocolates Raspberry Caramel in 71% dark chocolate
cochu chocolatier Mendiant Bar: Montmorency cherries, 58% dark
Creo Chocolate RASPBERRY DARK
Delysia Chocolatier Herbed almond & olive oil dark chocolate bark
Endorfin Foods Pure Mylk - Coconut Mylk Chocolate
Endorfin Foods Turkish Coffee - Dark Chocolate with Coffee, Cardamom, & Coconut Mylk
Endorfin Foods Passion - Coconut Mylk Chocolate with Ginger & Rose
Nuance Chocolate Uganda 70%
The Chocolate Fetish Peanut Crunch Bar
Vivra Chocolate PB & Pretzel

CocoVaa Chocolatier Rose. 62% Peruvian dark chocolate infused with rose otto
CocoVaa Chocolatier Black Sesame: Colombian white chocolate
Nuance Chocolate Chantilly Cream 55%
Creo Chocolate Dark milk with fleur de sels
Endorfin Foods Turkish Coffee - Dark Chocolate with Coffee, Cardamom, & Coconut Mylk
Zak's Chocolate Nicaragua Matagalpa 70% w/nibs
ChocolaTas Vancouver Chocolates Raspberry Caramel in 71% dark chocolate
CocoVaa Chocolatier Alegria: Dark Milk chocolate infused with espresso
The Chocolate Fetish Peanut Crunch Bar
Zak's Chocolate Zak's House Blend

Cocoa Republic Ltd. 65% Dark Chocolate with Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
Nuance Chocolate Peru 70%
Chocolat Madagascar ORGANIC 100% COCOA SINGLE ORIGIN
Chuao Chocolatier Totally Tangy Mango
cochu chocolatier racha peanut: sriracha & roasted peanut
Endorfin Foods Passion - Coconut Mylk Chocolate with Ginger & Rose
Delysia Chocolatier Herbed almond & olive oil dark chocolate bark
Nuance Chocolate Uganda 70%
Zak's Chocolate Guatemala Lachua 85%
Wild Sweets® By Dominique & Cindy Duby Hazelnut vanilla salted butter caramel toffee
The Chocolate Fetish Raspberry Almond Round
Ticket Chocolate Coconut-Almond Chocolate Bark
Cocoa Republic Ltd. Malted Milk Chocolate with Toffee
Endorfin Foods Pure Mylk - Coconut Mylk Chocolate
Vivra Chocolate PB & Pretzel

FAVORITES

The Washu Project. Great mouth feel, flavor texture and after taste. Delicious

Zokoko Tranquilidad Bolivia 72%

CocoVaa black sesame ! and Cochu Racha peanut is surprising

My personal favorites include: Zokoko Goddess Milk Chocolate; Creo Chocolate The Washu Project; and la Cascade du Chocolat Bene Benne.

Serena Lissy Pecan Brittle, and The Chocolate Fetish Peanut Crunch Bar.

COMMENTS

The Washu Project was on its own level above the others.

CocoVaa Rose: I felt like a carefree kid again, walking through a sunny rose garden while eating rock candy.

Zak's Chocolate: I love the paper wrappers for the House Blend and Guatemala Lachua bars. Zokoko: I love the elegant presentation of the Guadalcanal Solomon Islands box. Beautiful and classy! Chocolat Madagascar: the 100% cocoa single origin was so smooth with wonderful flavor profiles. A delight on the palate. Creo Chocolate: The Washu Project bar was absolutely amazing! My taste buds sung with joy as the flavor profiles unveiled itself. Zak's Chocolate: Zak's House Blend is an amazing blend! The flavor profile burst on to the scene and kept presenting new flavors just as the last one presented. A joyful, playful and superb adventure for the palate! Zokoko: The Goddess Milk Chocolate was amazingly creamy, buttery, caramelly, smooth, and just plain awesome. Two thumbs up to the cream! Cochu Chocolatier: the Racha Peanut bar was excellent, who would have thought? The flavor balance was excellent, great flavors with just the right amount of heat. la Cascade du Chocolat: the Bene Benne bar was absolutely beautiful to look at. The marble of milk and white chocolates showing off the black sesame seeds was a gorgeous presentation. Adding to the splendor was the amazing taste of this bar. The toasted sesame seeds and blend of chocolates perfectly complemented each other. Kudos!

Zak's Chocolate's new paper design packages are lovely! Nuance Chocolate has the most "user friendly" labels because the origin, percentage and date are printed right on the front. Delysia and Chuao once again are the most adventurous in their flavor combinations.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHOCOLATIERS

Those that had sesame were delicious and I am sure that the roasting is the key. Usually milk chocolate is not my favorite, but the Nuance with Chantilly Cream was exceptional

We adore Vivra chocolate but wish the packaging was more sophisticated or unique. CocoVaa was AMAZING chocolate, but could definitely benefit from more sophisticated or interesting packaging. we adore the little endorphin squares, cute, and non wasteful packaging.

Delysia Chocolatier: I applaud you for your adventure with unique and interesting ingredient combinations. However, the Crawfish Boil Dark Chocolate bar missed the mark on my palate. The immediate taste on the palate was TOO MUCH SALT! Then the extreme heat hit and nothing else could be tasted after that. The crawfish boil essence could have been presented with a better balance of ingredients. It tasted like the original seasoning was mixed with the chocolate in too high a proportion. Better to add the component ingredients separately to balance out the flavors to simulate the taste of a crawfish boil for a chocolate base.