Most people will take any excuse to hop a flight — catch up with a friend, taste test tequila, search out surf — but chocoholics like us are on a whole other level: we'd go to the ends of the earth if it was in the name of a good chocolate bar.
As we jet from here to there we try a few things everytime we see it: coffee, cocktails, and chocolate. And we make list after list of our favorites whether we're traveling to Italy, Mexico, Spain or elsewhere.
But these? These are the chocolate bars we heart so much we'd buy a plane ticket just to bring them back home. Luckily, a good deal of these are available for purchase online. And those that aren't? Well, we'd be lying if we didn't say we're waiting for out next flight to search them out.
Here are our pick of the the chocolate bars worth hopping a flight for:
Yes, we're partial to other Californians and the Los Angeles-based boutique chocolate company, Compartes, is no exception. Over the years, they've come out with stunning stores and creative flavors to match but we'll always have a soft-spot for their Golden State-inspired California Love (aka Salted Pretzel Dark Chocolate) Bar.
Two of the sweetheart artisanal food brands from the Bay Area — Tcho Chocolate and Blue Bottle Coffee — come together for this collab. This Mokkaccino Milk Chocolate and Blue Bottle Coffee is a bar we turn to when we need something sweet for our late afternoon pick-me-up.
Springfield, Missouri isn't the first place you think of when you think artisanal chocolate but Askinosie has changed that. They're chocolate that not only tastes good but also they also do good with their ethical business practices. And it's delicious to support them since they create stunning chocolate like this Dark Chocolate with Coconut Sugar and Toasted Coconut as part of a special collaboration with the ladies we love over at A Beautiful Mess.
The Italians makes some of our favorite sweets (hello, cannoli and gelato) but gianduja aka the hazelnut chocolate paste created in Turin (where Nutella got its start) might just be the best of all. At least for chocolate lovers like us. So, leave it to the meticulous Italian manufacturer, Amedei (based in Tuscany not in Turin), to make one of our favorite hazelnut chocolate bars.
We first found Cacao Sampaka when we were searching out gifts when we were traveling to Spain. Since then, they've grown to locations in Barcelona and Valencia and even Japan and Brazil. Yes, the truffles are tops but we like their high-quality single origin chocolate bars like their Leyenda (aka legendary) series. This one celebrates Criollo Blanco cacao from Tabasco Mexico and is one of the most celebrated cacaos out there.
Most of the time we're dark chocolate people but there are some milk chocolates that we'd run to the ends of the earth for, like this Mangaro Milk Chocolate that's so good we'd travel to France just to buy some. Michel Cluizel makes all sorts of tasty chocolate but their milk chocolate converted us from strictly dark chocolate lovers to milk chocolate fans.
If we're going to talk milk chocolate, we have to talk Switzerland where chocolate is one of the unofficial food groups (alongside cheese and wine, of course). And, if we're going to talk Swiss chocolate, we're all about Sprüngli. Truth is, they have a lot of delicious-ness in their stores — bark and mini macarons known as Luxemburgerli — but we'll always go back for their chocolate bars like this nut-studded milk chocolate.
The Belgians are totally stand out when it comes to some of our favorite foods — beer, cheese, and chocolate. And when it comes to chocolate, Dolfin is our favorite Belgian chocolate maker. It's hard to go wrong with their chocolate but we're partial to this Milk Chocolate with Speculoos that doubles down on the Belgian-ness because it has our favorite Belgian shortbread cookie IN the chocolate!
The Brits know how to make amazingly buttery toffee so naturally our favorite English chocolate is this toffee chocolate from Green & Black. This bar is available down the street at our local Whole Foods but the toffee flavor has us dreaming of candy shops from old-school Roald Dahl stories.
Truth is we first fell for this Western Australian chocolate maker because of their packaging — it's stunning we'd wallpaper our offices with it. But then we got a taste of their bean to bar chocolate and we're smitten. They respect the origin of their chocolate and work low and slow to make sure the best flavor comes forward.
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