Darkins

70% Dark Chocolate with Blueberries

₹170.00(₹4.86 per gram)

Shipping calculated at checkout.

Size 35g

VeganDairy-freeBean-to-barPalm-oil-freeUnrefined sugarNo vanillinNo emulsifier

Clean

Five ingredients; the blueberry is dehydrated, not candied.

Reviewed by PurePicked

This 70% dark chocolate carries dehydrated blueberry chunks through it, which brighten the cacao without sweetening it. The berry is dehydrated rather than candied, so it stays tart against a bar that is already low on sugar. Darkins builds the base bean-to-bar from Indian cacao, sweetened with unrefined cane sugar and set with cacao butter. There is no emulsifier, no vanillin and no dairy in the recipe. Five ingredients in total, with blueberry appearing twice as fruit and as extract.

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₹170.00

Why We Like It

Dehydrated blueberry stays tart. Candied fruit would have collapsed this into a sweet bar.
No emulsifier at all, which is rare even in bars at this price.
The berry lifts a 70% without any of the sugar you would normally need to do that.
Five ingredients, and two of them are blueberry.

Ingredients

Cacao Beans

Base

Whole Indian cacao beans roasted and ground in-house. Bean-to-bar means Darkins controls the roast rather than melting down bought-in couverture.

Unrefined Cane Sugar

Sweetener

Cane sugar that keeps its molasses instead of being refined white.

Dehydrated Blueberry

Inclusion

Dehydrated rather than candied, which keeps it tart.

Cacao Butter

Fat

The natural fat of the cacao bean. This is what makes it chocolate rather than compound chocolate, which uses palm or hydrogenated vegetable fat.

Blueberry Extract

Flavour

Carries the berry note through the bar between the chunks.

Darkins 70% Dark Chocolate with Blueberries vs other dark chocolates

What to compare	Darkins Dark Chocolate	Other dark chocolates
Fat used	Cocoa butter only	Often palm or hydrogenated vegetable fat, sold as compound chocolate
Cacao	Indian beans, roasted and ground in-house (bean-to-bar)	Bought-in couverture or cocoa mass, origin not stated
Emulsifier	Sunflower lecithin, or none	Soy lecithin (INS 322), often with PGPR (INS 476)
Sweetener	Unrefined cane sugar	Refined white sugar
Flavouring	None added	Vanillin (synthetic vanilla) is common
Alkalisation	Not alkalised	Cocoa is often processed with alkali

Is It For You?

Good for

Vegan and dairy-free diets

Anyone avoiding palm oil and soy

Dark chocolate eaters who want a flavour bar without additives

Soy-free diets

Avoid if

Anyone needing a certified nut-free facility

Anyone looking for a sugar-free bar

How to use

Store in a cool, dry place, away from strong smells

Best enjoyed at room temperature

A change in temperature or humidity may bring a pale bloom to the surface; this does not affect the chocolate

Break rather than bite for a cleaner snap

Best before 6 months from the date of packaging

What to look for in Chocolate?

Check the fat. Real chocolate is set with cocoa butter. If the label says vegetable fat, palm oil or hydrogenated fat, FSSAI requires it to be called compound chocolate, not chocolate.

Read the ingredient order. If sugar comes before cacao, it is a sugar bar with cocoa in it, whatever the percentage on the front says.

Look for PGPR (INS 476). It is added to cut the amount of cocoa butter a bar needs, and it is a sign the recipe is being made cheaper.

Check the emulsifier. Soy lecithin (INS 322) is the default; sunflower lecithin is the cleaner swap and matters if you avoid soy.

Vanillin is synthetic vanilla flavour. Good chocolate does not need it, and its presence usually means the cacao underneath is thin.

A bar labelled dark can still contain milk solids. If you are dairy-free, read the list rather than trusting the word dark.

Cocoa processed with alkali (dutched) is easier on the palate but strips much of the flavanol content. Unalkalised cacao keeps it.

Sugar-free bars are usually sweetened with maltitol or sorbitol. They are legal, but they are sugar alcohols and can unsettle a stomach in quantity.