Types of Chocolate Bars
Chof sorts every published bar into a browsable style. Pick any style below to see its bars by cocoa percentage, origin and tasting notes.
Definitions on this page are general to all chocolate. Counts, percentages and tasting notes are live from the Chof catalog and refresh as bars are added.
Dark is the largest classic family in the Chof catalog, with 752 bars, ahead of milk (74) and white (22).
What are the main types of chocolate bars?
There are four classic types of chocolate: dark, milk, white and ruby. Beyond them, craft makers branch into sub-styles such as dark milk, plant milk, filled bars, inclusions, raw chocolate, caramelised white and bars made without added sugar.
Most popular styles on Chof
Each style's share of the bars on Chof.
Types of chocolate compared
| Type | Cocoa range | Dairy | Sweetness | Defining trait | On Chof |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark | 50 to 90%+Chof median71% (most 70-76%) | No | Low to none | The clearest window onto origin and roast | 752 bars |
| Milk | 30 to 50%Chof median50% (most 45-55%) | Yes | High | Creamy and approachable, an everyday style | 74 bars |
| Dark milk | 50 to 70%Chof median58% (most 55-60%) | Yes | Medium | Cocoa depth with milk's roundness | 78 bars |
| White | 20%+ cocoa butter | Yes | High | Dairy and vanilla, no cocoa intensity | 22 bars |
| Ruby | about 47% | Yes | Medium | Naturally pink and tart, commercialised in 2017 | None yet |
| Unsweetened (100%) | 100% | No | None | Pure cacao, for tasting and baking | 60 bars |
Typical cocoa figures are common ranges, not legal limits. By law, dark chocolate must contain at least 35% cocoa solids in the EU (Directive 2000/36/EC); US milk chocolate must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor and 12% milk solids, and white chocolate at least 20% cocoa butter, under the FDA standards of identity (21 CFR 163).
How to choose between them
If you want to taste origin and roast, start with dark or unsweetened. For something creamier, try milk or dark milk, which keeps cocoa depth while softening it. White and ruby lean sweet and dessert-like, so treat them as their own category rather than a milder dark.
A higher cocoa percentage means more cocoa and less sugar, so a more intense bar. Around 70% is the classic balance point between depth and sweetness. New to tasting? Read the buying guide.
A guide to the types of chocolate bars
Here is what each style means. Where Chof has bars in a style, its name links to them.
- Dark chocolate
- Cacao mass, cocoa butter and sugar, with no dairy. The clearest style for tasting origin and roast.
- Milk chocolate
- Chocolate with added dairy milk. Sweeter and creamier than dark, with the cocoa percentage setting how much depth remains.
- White chocolate
- Cocoa butter, sugar and milk, but no cocoa solids (the brown, non-fat part of the bean). The best are made with real cocoa butter, not vegetable fat.
- Ruby chocolate
- Introduced commercially in 2017 and marketed as a fourth type of chocolate. Naturally pink and tart, with colour from specially processed cocoa beans. It is still rare in craft chocolate, and we do not have any ruby bars in the catalog yet.
- Dark milk
- A hybrid with the cocoa intensity of dark (often 50 to 70%) and the softness of milk.
- Inclusion bars
- Bars with non-cocoa ingredients added: sea salt, nuts, dried fruit or cookie pieces.
- Filled bars
- A centre of praline, ganache, caramel or jelly inside a chocolate shell.
By base type
The classic families, set by what is added to the cocoa.
By style and format
A cross-cutting axis layered on top of a base type. Each bar is counted once, by its most distinctive trait: a dark bar with sea salt is filed under Inclusions, not Dark, so the Dark count is bars with nothing added.
How each style tends to taste on Chof
Aggregated from the tasting notes logged on the bars in each style. Dark leans bright and fruity more often than bitter; milk runs sweeter and rounder.
| Style | Most common tasting notes |
|---|---|
| Dark | honey, nutty, fruity |
| Milk | caramel, creamy, honey |
| White | creamy, rich, vanilla |
A standout bar in each style
The top-scoring bar in four core styles, ranked by Chof Score. Open any style above to see its full lineup.
Keep exploring
Compare bars within any style
Open any style to see every bar by cocoa percentage, origin and tasting notes, or browse the full catalog. Scan a bar in the Chof app to place it instantly.
Frequently asked about chocolate types
What are the main types of chocolate, and how many are there?
There are four classic types of chocolate: dark (cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar), milk (with added dairy), white (cocoa butter but no cocoa solids) and ruby. Beyond those, craft makers produce a growing set of sub-styles such as dark milk, plant milk, inclusion bars, filled bars, raw, sugar-free and caramelised white, so the exact count depends on how finely you split them.
Which chocolate type is most common in craft chocolate?
Dark is the largest classic family in the Chof catalog, with 752 bars, ahead of milk (74) and white (22). That fits the craft scene: makers often start with dark bars because they show origin and roast most clearly.
What is dark milk chocolate?
Dark milk is a hybrid style with the cocoa intensity of dark chocolate (often 50 to 70%) and the dairy softness of milk chocolate. It can keep some origin character while feeling rounder and creamier.
Is ruby chocolate a real type of chocolate?
Ruby is a pink, naturally tart style introduced commercially in 2017 and marketed as a fourth type of chocolate. Its colour comes from specially processed cocoa beans rather than any added colouring. It is still rare in craft chocolate, so you will see it far less often than dark, milk or white.
What counts as a single-origin chocolate?
A single-origin chocolate is made from cacao beans that all come from one country. A single-estate or single-farm bar narrows this further to one growing region or one farm.