Why We Like It
- If you only stock one dark bar, 70% is the one, and this is a properly made version of it.
- Three ingredients and no emulsifier, which is rarer than the price suggests.
- The grape and plum notes come from the Eluru lot, not from anything added.
- A sensible first Indian bean-to-bar bar, because 70% is the strength most people already have a reference for.
Ingredients
Naturally Farmed Cacao
BaseWhole 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
SweetenerCane sugar that keeps its molasses instead of being refined white.
Cacao Butter
FatThe natural fat of the cacao bean. This is what makes it chocolate rather than compound chocolate, which uses palm or hydrogenated vegetable fat.
Nutrition factsPer 100g
- Energy kcal
- 571.2 kcal
- Protein g
- 8.4 g
- Carbohydrate g
- 54 g
- Total sugars g
- Not declared
- Added sugars g
- 30 g
- Dietary fibre g
- 15.2 g
- Total fat g
- 36.8 g
- Saturated fat g
- 22 g
- Trans fat g
- Not declared
- Cholesterol mg
- Not declared
- Salt g
- 0 g
Darkins 70% Single Origin Dark Chocolate - Andhra Pradesh 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
Drinkers of single-origin coffee who want the same from chocolate
Soy-free diets
Avoid if
Anyone needing a certified nut-free facility
Anyone new to high-cacao chocolate, who should start lower
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.