There’s “good” dark chocolate… and then there’s the kind that makes you stop mid-bite, blink, and wonder how cacao can taste like berries, flowers, roasted nuts, wine, citrus, or spice without a single flavoring added.

That’s the world the International Chocolate Awards (ICA) exists to spotlight: the best craft chocolate on Earth—judged with serious rigor, and increasingly focused on traceable origin cacao and bean-to-bar craftsmanship.

This is our long-form guide to the best dark chocolate from around the world, featuring ICA’s top winners from 2022 through the most recent World Finals, with special attention to the three “World’s Best” plain/origin dark champions from 2023, 2024, and 2025—all of which we proudly carry exclusively in our store.

The International Chocolate Awards: why chocolate people treat it like the Oscars (but with better snacks)

The International Chocolate Awards were founded in 2012 and have grown into one of the most influential global competitions in craft chocolate. They’re run with support from an international network of partners and judges—sensory experts, experienced tasters, and alumni connected to the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting (IICCT). 

What makes ICA stand out isn’t only the scale—it’s the structure. Most years include regional competitions (bean-to-bar and craft chocolatier) that feed into the World Final, where the highest-scoring entries compete for “Best in Competition” titles across major categories. 

And that phrase—“Best in Competition: Plain/Origin Dark Bar”—is the one that matters most if you’re hunting for the best unflavored dark chocolate in the world.

How ICA judging works (and why it’s hard to “game”)

Chocolate competitions can be fluffy. ICA isn’t.

ICA publishes significant detail about how tasting sessions are designed to protect fairness and prevent palate fatigue. For example, they’ve found palates begin to “go off” after roughly 15–20 samples, so judging sessions are typically capped around that range, with structured breaks and randomized sample order so a bar doesn’t get punished for being tasted after a long lineup. They also judge entries blind to the extent possible, removing packaging so branding can’t influence scoring.

In other words: the bar has to win on what matters—aroma, flavor clarity, balance, texture, finish, and overall harmony—not marketing.

A major shift: traceability, farmers, and why “origin” got louder after 2023

If you’ve noticed more craft bars shouting about farm names, fermentation styles, harvest years, and micro-lots, it’s not just a trend—it’s the direction the craft world has been moving, and ICA has helped push it.

ICA’s “Origin Traceability” initiative states that from 2023, they only accept entries made with fully traceable origin cacao (with a limited number of sources), aligning with their philosophy that “the best chocolate can only come from the best origin cacao.” 

That’s a big deal. Because chocolate flavor doesn’t start in a factory. It starts at origin:

• the genetics of the cacao

• the soil and climate

• fermentation choices (which can make or break flavor)

• drying conditions

• post-harvest handling

• and the economics of how farmers are paid to do all of the above well

This is where bean-to-bar becomes more than a buzzword.

Bean-to-bar chocolate: what it is, and why it tastes so different

Bean-to-bar generally means the maker controls the critical steps of transforming cacao beans into chocolate—sourcing, sorting, roasting, grinding/refining, and conching—rather than buying ready-made industrial chocolate and simply molding or flavoring it.

The modern craft “bean-to-bar” movement is often traced to the mid-2000s expansion of small makers doing truly small-batch production—sometimes just a few hundred bars a month in the early days—focused on origin expression rather than uniformity. 

What bean-to-bar changes in the actual eating experience

If you’ve mostly eaten industrial dark chocolate, “70%” might feel like a simple dial: higher cacao = more bitter. Bean-to-bar blows that assumption up.

In great craft chocolate, bitterness is only one note—and often not even the lead note. You get:

• bright fruit acidity (think cherry, raspberry, citrus)

• floral top notes

• nutty mid-palate tones

• deep cocoa richness

• long, clean finishes (instead of burnt, harsh, or muddy flavors)

And because craft makers often prioritize transparency, you can often trace that flavor back to a farm or region the way you would with wine or coffee.

Our ranking philosophy: what “best dark chocolate” actually means here

There are a thousand “best chocolate” lists online. Many are really lists of what’s easy to buy at a grocery store. That’s not what this is.

This is a guide to world-class, competition-validated dark chocolate, anchored in ICA’s “Best in Competition” winners and the ecosystem of winners that surround them—bars that represent:

• standout cacao quality

• exceptional craft

• origin clarity

• balance and elegance

• and a level of flavor detail that’s hard to forget once you’ve tasted it

Now, let’s get to the winners.

The World’s Best Dark Chocolate (ICA World Final): 2022–2025 timeline

2022: PARADAi “Chantaburi Dark 70%” (Thailand) — Best dark origin bar

For the 2021–22 World Final cycle, ICA’s “Best in competition” winner for Plain/Origin Dark Bar was PARADAi Chocolate (Thailand) with Chantaburi Dark 70% (score 91.8). 

ICA’s own write-up highlights it as the best unflavored dark bar of that World Final and notes PARADAi also received Special Gold recognition related to chocolate making and direct trade. 

Why 2022 matters in the bigger story: it’s a reminder that “best in the world” doesn’t automatically mean Europe or North America. The craft world is global, and origins—and makers—continue to surprise.

2023: Vigdis Rosenkilde “Kiteni 70%” (Norway) — Gold, Best in Competition (Plain/Origin Dark)

In the World Final 2023, ICA awarded Gold and Best in Competition Overall Winner for Plain/Origin Dark Bar to:

Vigdis Rosenkilde (Norway) — 70% Kiteni (91.6) 

This is one of those landmark bars: a 70% that proves the category can be both intense and vivid without being aggressive.

Our note: If you’ve been waiting for a “gateway” into true craft dark chocolate—this is it. Not because it’s “easy,” but because it’s clear. It has that rare sense of being simultaneously precise and alive.

And yes—this is one of the three Gold “World’s Best Dark” winners from 2023–2025 that we carry exclusively.

2024: Vigdis Rosenkilde “Quellouno 70%” (Norway) — Gold, Best in Competition (Plain/Origin Dark)

In the World Final 2024, ICA again named a Vigdis Rosenkilde bar as the Gold “Best in Competition” overall winner for Plain/Origin Dark Bar:

Vigdis Rosenkilde (Norway) — 70% Quellouno (91.7) 

And this bar didn’t just win quietly—it made mainstream waves. Food & Wine described it as being made with just cacao and sugar, using Chuncho cacao from the Quelloúno area of Cusco, Peru, and reported tasting notes like forest berries, pecans, port wine, green apple, vanilla, and banana. 

This is the 2024 “World’s Best Dark Chocolate” winner—and we carry it exclusively.

2025: Cacaosuyo “El Ganso” (Peru) — Gold, Best in Competition Overall Winner (Plain/Origin Dark)

In the World Final 2025 winners, ICA highlighted:

Cacaosuyo (Peru) — El Ganso (91.6) as a Gold winner and Best in Competition Overall Winner in the plain/origin dark category. 

This win matters on multiple levels:

• It’s a top-tier “best in the world” validation for Peruvian craft chocolate excellence.

• It’s also a reminder that origin countries aren’t just cacao suppliers—they’re increasingly leaders in finished chocolate, too.

And yes—this is the 2025 champion we carry exclusively.

The crown jewels: our exclusive trio of World Final “Best Dark” Gold winners (2023–2025)

If you only try three bars this year—try these. Together, they form an edible story about what modern dark chocolate has become: origin-specific, high-definition, and emotionally satisfying.

1) World’s Best Dark Chocolate 2023

Vigdis Rosenkilde — Kiteni 70% 
Why it belongs in your lineup: a masterclass in balance at 70%—intensity without heaviness, clarity without sharpness.

2) World’s Best Dark Chocolate 2024

Vigdis Rosenkilde — Quellouno 70% 
Why people obsess over it: two ingredients, huge complexity—Food & Wine notes a spectrum from fruit to nuts to wine-like depth. 

3) World’s Best Dark Chocolate 2025

Cacaosuyo — El Ganso 
Why it’s a modern icon: a “first time with a Gold at the World Final” moment for this bar, celebrated by ICA as the top plain/origin dark winner. 

How to taste these like a judge (without being weird about it)

You don’t need a lab. You just need a moment.

1. Snap a piece and smell it for 5 seconds. Aroma is half the story.

2. Let it melt slowly—don’t chew immediately.

3. Notice the arc:

   • opening notes (often fruit/floral)

   • mid-palate (nuts/cocoa/caramel tones)

   • finish (clean, long, or drying?)

4. Sip water between bars (judges are careful about palate fatigue for a reason). 

And if you want the “wow” effect: taste one of these after a standard supermarket 70%. You’ll instantly understand why bean-to-bar exists.

What makes this even more special: we’re proud to say we’re the only store carrying all three of these World Final Gold “best dark” winners (2023–2025) together—a complete trio that essentially doesn’t exist elsewhere in one place.

FAQ: People also ask about “best dark chocolate”

What is the best dark chocolate in the world right now?

Based on the most recent ICA World Final results, Cacaosuyo “El Ganso” was highlighted as the Gold Best in Competition overall winner in the plain/origin dark category in World Final 2025. 

What does “plain/origin dark” mean?

It refers to unflavored dark chocolate (no inclusions like nuts, fruit, spices) where the flavor comes primarily from the cacao origin and the maker’s craft—the category most closely associated with “pure” dark chocolate excellence. 

Why is bean-to-bar chocolate more expensive?

Because small makers often buy higher-quality cacao, do more labor-intensive processing, and produce at much smaller scale—while aiming for origin transparency and flavor expression rather than uniformity.