For the true chocolate connoisseur, 100% dark chocolate is the ultimate indulgence. This type of chocolate has been around since the Mayans and Aztecs first discovered the cacao bean. It offers an intense, pure chocolate experience.

• Ingredients: 100% cacao
• Other Names: Unsweetened Chocolate, Baking Chocolate, Cocoa Liquor, Chocolate Liquor, Chocolate Mass, Bitter Chocolate, or Cooking Chocolate.
• Fun Fact: With over 1,500 flavor compounds – even a 100% Dark Chocolate can taste dramatically different from bar to bar - with flavor notes from fruity to nutty to coffee - based on the cacao bean genetics, fermentation & drying approach, and the maker’s expertise.
  

Find it here: 100% Dark Chocolate

If you're a fan of deep, complex flavors, Dark Chocolate is the way to go. Joseph Fry is generally credited with inventing and mass-producing chocolate bars in the mid-1800s under the J.S. Fry & Sons brand in the UK.

• Ingredients: cacao, sugar, typically without milk solids
• Other Names: Bittersweet or Semisweet – both with a legal minimum of 35% cacao content. Industry norms tend toward darker for Bittersweet.
• Fun Fact: FDA does not have a legal definition for Dark Chocolate in the US, so its cacao content may be as low as 10%! In both the EU and Canada, the minimum is 35%.
  

Find it here: Dark Chocolate

Similar to the smoother taste cheese gives wine when they’re paired together, milk mellows the flavor of Dark Chocolate. While seemingly new on the chocolate scene, based on the order of ingredients listed for the first Milk Chocolate bars, I’m guessing that Dark Milk Chocolate is simply making a resurgence after years of being drowned in sugar.

• Ingredients: Cacao, sugar, milk or milk solids
• Other Names: Dark Chocolate; because there’s no legal definition, Dark Chocolate can have milk or butterfat in it!
• Fun Fact: According to a 2018 article, Omanhene Chocolate from Ghana coined the term Dark Milk Chocolate in the US.

Find it here: Dark Milk Chocolate

The classic, and still the most popular, choice for chocolate lovers in the US. This delectable treat was invented in 1875 by Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter, who combined the powdered milk developed by his neighbor Henri Nestlé with chocolate liquor. The result? A silky-smooth chocolate with a sweet, creamy flavor.

• Ingredients: Sugar, milk or milk solids(>12%, at least 3.39% milkfat), cacao (>10%)
• Other Names: Sweet Chocolate
• Fun Fact: In 1900, Milton Hershey sold the first-ever milk chocolate bars made out of fresh milk, instead of powdered milk, for 2 to 10 cents ($0.74 to $3.72 in 2024 $USD)

Find it here: Milk & Vegan (Plant-Based) Milk Chocolate

While some may argue it’s not a "true" chocolate because it doesn’t contain cocoa solids, white chocolate is a beloved treat in its own right. Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter, the same inventor of milk chocolate, developed it in the early 20th century.

• Ingredients: Sugar (<55%), cocoa butter (>20%), milk or milk solids(>14%)
• Other Names: White Chocolate Coating
• Fun Fact: In the US, we typically think of White Chocolate as the sweetest, but the laws state otherwise! The maximum sugar content in White Chocolate is 55% whereas Dark Chocolate could contain up to 90% sugar! This is also one of the reasons you won’t find the term “White Chocolate” on the vast majority of grocery brand white baking chips – they don’t qualify.

Find it here: White Chocolate