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Does chocolate percentage matter?

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Ever been faced with two near identical chocolate bars but with varying percentages of cocoa inclusion? Confused about what bar to go for and how to make the right choice? You’re not alone. When it comes to cocoa percentages there are a lot of things to consider and it’s a bit of a minefield. Essentially the percentage you’re seeing tells you by weight how much of the chocolate bar is made from derivatise of cocoa beans. This however can be any part of the bean, both cocoa butter (the bit that makes your chocolate creamy) and cocoa solids (the non-fat part of a bean). While as a general rule a higher percentage means that the chocolate will be less sweet with a more intense flavour profile, this isn’t always the case.

This is because the percentage of cocoa butter, vs cocoa solids, alongside sugar and extra ingredients such as vanilla can play a huge role in the overall make-up and final taste of the chocolate. If a chocolate has a high percentage of cocoa but the majority is made up of cocoa butter as opposed to cocoa solids, the result will still be creamier than a bar that has the same percentage but with higher levels of cocoa solids.

The percentages however do give you a good indication on how much sugar a chocolate bar has. High percentages of cocoa generally mean lower percentages of sugar. This is because a high level of cocoa leaves far less room for other ingredients.

70% Milk Chocolate

Milk chocolate by its very name contains milk or cream alongside its percentage of cocoa beans and sugar. According to UK law milk chocolate must contain at least 25% cocoa solids to be considered milk chocolate. In the US this is much lower, with just 10% cocoa being required, which is tiny. That is why American chocolate tastes very different to UK chocolate and is often much sweeter.

Milk chocolate is sweeter and creamier than dark chocolate, both because of the milk or cream content and because it generally has lower percentages of cocoa in it. If you want a milk chocolate that is more chocolatey and less sweet, go for varieties that are 30% and up in terms of their cocoa content.

White Chocolate

Big fan of white chocolate? You might be shocked to learn that white chocolate doesn’t contain ANY cocoa solids! The percentage of cocoa on a white chocolate bar refers to the amount of cocoa butter on the bar instead. The higher the percentage of cocoa butter, the creamier the bar will be. In the UK, white chocolate must have at least 20% cocoa butter.

Percentages are a good indicator for the level of ‘other’ ingredients in your bar, whether that’s more milk or more sugar or other aromatics, but don’t get too bogged down in the details. It is a quantity measurement, but not necessarily an indication of quality. While higher percentages are synonymous with quality as they have fewer non-cocoa ingredients, you need to consider the end use of the product as well as your own preferred tastes.

Here at Rita Farhi we have numerous avenues to consider when it comes to our chocolate. Although the consensus for a pure chocolate product is that more cocoa and less sugar is supreme, when it comes to chocolate covered fruits and nuts, there are other factors at play. When coating nuts or fruits in chocolate, you need to account for the interaction between your chocolate layer and the flavour profiles of the products they’re paired with. We want our nuts and fruits to have an equal chance to shine, so choosing the perfect percentage of cocoa derivative was not an easy task. We needed to make sure the chocolate didn’t overwhelm and conceal the beauty of the nut or the fruit underneath.

To choose the correct percentage of cocoa for our chocolate, we needed to do a lot of R&D. This consisted of lots of taste testing sessions and even blind taste testing sessions to ensure that we were only swayed by taste and not by what we thought the percentage should be. After many chocolate covered nuts and fruits had been consumed (all in the name of science of course), we decided that for covering fruit and nuts in chocolate, our dark chocolate needed to sit at 53%. Although this means our dark chocolate contains less cocoa than some chocolate bars you might be used to, this was the sweet spot for Farhi. The perfect balance of flavours between our rich Belgian chocolate and delicately roasted nuts. It meant that the tasting notes of the nuts and fruits were never overpowered by chocolate and the two sung in harmony together in every single bite. And while we could be a slave to the numbers, we wanted to make the best tasting product that respected the produce and ensured you got a truly delightful product.

53%

Chocolate Scale

At 100% your chocolate is very pure and naturally much more bitter than the chocolate you might be used to. It will be dark chocolate that has no milk or sugar in it. It is entirely made from the cocoa bean. This isn’t for the faint hearted as the taste is pretty strong but at 100% you are getting the real benefits of the cocoa bean. High percentage chocolate is practically a health food. High in fibre and iron (which helps in the production of red blood cells) as well as copper and magnesium it is an amazing source of antioxidants, flavanols and polyhenois. According to some studies (very) dark chocolate can also help lower blood pressure and improve blood flow too.

This is the average marker for most dark chocolates in the UK. Of course dark chocolate is anything above 50% but this seems to be the benchmark for most bars. This means that 70% of the bar you’re eating has been made from the cocoa bean and the other 30% is anything from sugar, vanilla and other flavour enhances. It won’t be anywhere near as bitter as 100% but it will still have a distinctive deep and dark taste.

When it comes to milk chocolate you are looking at much lower percentages of cocoa. This is due to needing to add both sugar and of course milk or cream to get that consistency and sweetness we all know and love. 30% and above is a good point of reference when checking packaging.

White chocolate only needs to contain 20% of cocoa butter and has no cocoa solids. Its taste is much more delicate and creamy because of the cocoa butter content. We use white chocolate to enrobe delicious roasted nuts for a truly sensational taste in every mouthful.

Gift Guide: For Him

Tom Ford Noir Extreme, £123, Harvey Nichols Caramelised Nut Selection in a Gift Box (KLBD), £35.00, farhi..co.uk

SAINT LAURENT, Monogram logo leather wallet, £330.00, selfridges.com

Wasabi Peanut Crackers in a Gift Jar, £10.00, farhi.co.uk 2022 Kings Diary with Pocket, £225, Smythson

Hibiki Harmony, 70cl, £79.95, Fortnum and Mason JURAZ10 Coffee Machine, £2,145, Harrods.com Milk & Dark Chocolate Brazil nuts Gourmet Gift Jar, £17.50, farhi.co.uk

Burberry Palladium-Plated and Enamel Cufflinks £320, mrporter.com

Saffiano Leather Belt, £480, prada.com GG cashmere jacquard scarf, £ 590, gucci.com

Cinnamon Dusted Milk Chocolate Almonds Coated in a Gift Tin, £20.00, farhi.co.uk