Chocolate guide
Cocoa Percentage Explained: Dark, Milk and White Chocolate
The big number on the front of a chocolate bar is the cocoa percentage. It is useful, but it measures less than most people think, and it says nothing at all about quality.
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What the percentage measures
Cocoa percentage is the share of the bar, by weight, that comes from the cocoa bean. That includes cocoa solids (the dark, flavourful part) and cocoa butter (the fat). Most of the rest is sugar, plus milk in milk chocolate and small amounts of ingredients such as vanilla or lecithin.
So a 70% bar is roughly 70% cocoa ingredients and about 30% sugar and everything else. A higher number generally means less sugar and a more intense, more bitter taste.
Why two 70% bars taste different
The percentage lumps cocoa solids and cocoa butter together. One maker's 70% might carry more butter, tasting smoother and milder, while another's carries more solids, tasting stronger and drier.
Bean origin, fermentation, roasting and how finely the chocolate is refined all change the flavour far more than a few percentage points.
Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate is cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar, usually with no milk. Most dark bars on shop shelves sit between about 55% and 85%. Around 70% is a common sweet spot where the cocoa flavour is bold without being harsh. Very high percentages, 85% and above, are intense and best eaten in small pieces.
Milk chocolate
Milk chocolate adds milk solids, which bring creaminess and caramel notes. In the United States, milk chocolate must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor under federal standards, and many mass-market bars sit not far above that.
Craft milk chocolates often run 35% to 55% or more, which is why they taste noticeably richer.
White chocolate
White chocolate contains cocoa butter but no cocoa solids, which is why it is ivory rather than brown and has no bitter cocoa flavour. US standards require at least 20% cocoa butter. Good white chocolate tastes of cream and vanilla.
Cheap versions that replace cocoa butter with other fats cannot legally be called white chocolate and are usually labelled as coatings or confectionery.
How to use the number
- Treat it as a sweetness guide, not a quality score.
- If you find 70% too bitter, try 60% to 65%, or a dark milk chocolate around 50%.
- Compare bars of the same percentage from different origins to discover what you actually like.
- Read the ingredient list: shorter lists with cocoa butter rather than other fats are a good sign.
Want to compare properly? Our guide to tasting chocolate like a professional walks through it step by step.
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