I guess the members of our panel like generic supermarket chocolate, because the runaway winner was Whole Foods Dark Chocolate: Tanzania Schoolhouse Project (72%), with four first-place votes, followed by Kraft’s Green & Black’s 85% Cacao Bar with five second-place votes. Overall, 8 out of 10 panelists placed Green & Black’s 85% in their top three. Idilio Origins Finca Torres came in third, Venchi Extra Fondente 75% fourth, Vivani Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa fifth, Alter Eco Dark Blackout (85%) sixth, and Theo Pure 85% Dark Chocolate a surprisingly poor seventh. My personal favorite, Xocolata Aynouse L’Artesà Amarga, received favorable comments but garnered no votes at all — Jay even wrote “[Aynouse Amarga] is one I enjoyed, but wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who wasn’t a weirdo like me”.

I’m not sure if I’ll organize another set of chocolate tastings; it’s been a lot of work for me, not to mention fairly expensive, and I’m not sure I learned much. But I did get to meet some colleagues I would not have otherwise had any reason to socialize with, and I think all of the participants had fun.