How to compare cacao origins in a chocolate tasting

Updated September 2026

Choose a few single origin bars with the same cacao percentage and taste them side by side. Keeping the percentage similar gives you a useful comparison, though it doesn't make the recipes or chocolate-making methods identical.

Start with the producer named on each wrapper. The country is one part of the information. Fermentation, drying, roasting and the maker's recipe also help shape the chocolate you taste.

Try these three 70% bars

The single origin bars in our Dark Chocolate 6 Bar Collection offer a comparison from three named cacao sources:

• Nicaragua, Cacao Bisiesto: our tasting notes describe deeply chocolatey flavor with notes of black coffee.
• Uganda, Semuliki Forest: our notes describe chocolate cake, fig and coconut.
• Dominican Republic, Zorzal Cacao: our notes describe chocolate brownie, with hints of cinnamon and vanilla.

Those notes describe these chocolates. They aren't rules for everything grown in those countries. A flavor note also isn't an added ingredient: check the ingredient list to see what actually went into the bar.

Nicaragua Dark Chocolate 70% uses cacao from Cacao Bisiesto, a producer in La Dalia that ferments cacao from independent local farms. Details like that give you something specific to learn about after the tasting.

Make your own notes first

Set out small pieces of each bar at the same room temperature, along with water and their wrappers. Smell one piece, take a small bite and let it melt. Pay attention to the first flavor, what appears as the chocolate softens, and what remains afterward.

Write down an aroma, a flavor and a texture in your own words. Then read the maker's tasting notes and try another piece. You might recognize one of the listed flavors, notice something else, or simply know which bar you want more of.

For a group, number the samples and keep the wrappers turned over until everyone has written something. This gives quieter guests time to form an impression before someone else supplies the vocabulary.

Use snap and texture as clues

A clean snap and smooth texture can tell you about how a bar was made and stored. They don't identify its origin or prove quality on their own. A warm bar behaves differently from a cool one, and milk chocolate doesn't snap exactly like dark chocolate.

Notice whether the texture feels smooth, grainy or waxy and whether you enjoy the finish. If two samples taste very different, look back at their ingredients and cacao sources before deciding why. The wrapper can answer questions that the first bite can't.

Keep the wrappers or photograph them with your notes. Next time, you can return to the bar you liked or compare it with something new. For help setting up the table, use our small-group tasting guide.