Every month, European Chocolatier sends you a new collection of different chocolate bars every month from the finest and most respected European chocolate manufacturers. Chloé Doutre-Roussel in her famous book, The Chocolate Connoisseur, says, “As a purist, I tend to encourage people to taste chocolate rather than chocolates. Bars, instead of bonbons, in short. Chocolate contains the full array of flavours and is the equivalent of fine wine…” p. 141

“I eat more than a pound of chocolate a day, but none of it from the 95 per cent that makes up the majority of the world’s chocolate. I only eat the best. When you have tasted quality … there’s no going back” p. 128 “…from the one pound of chocolate I eat a day, barely 2 ounces is chocolates – the rest is either plain bars or bars with nuts. As far as I’m concerned, a bar of chocolate is the real thing, cocoa in it’s most concentrated form, and chocolates are just a diluted form of chocolate.” (p.141)

European Chocolatier proprietor, Kenneth Emmer, travels throughout the fabled chocolate-making countries searching for the most exquisitely rich chocolate bars. You’ll receive a parcel every month that is filled with the finest chocolate in Europe. These are shipped to you, super fresh from the factory, via First Class from Switzerland.

What Makes Exceptional chocolate?

• High Quality beans and other ingredients, treated with care.*
• Production methods aimed at extracting the most flavour from the bean.*
• A reasonable level of cocoa content, so the cocoa is not drowned out by sugar or other flavourings.*
• Fine processing, and minimal additives.*

However, there is much more to separating good quality chocolate from mediocre chocolate… What truly makes European chocolates exceptional are higher standards and greater government regulation. “Standard” chocolate and “fine” chocolate are expected to be higher in cocoa solids in Europe than in the U.S.*

There is a legal definition of chocolate related to the percentage of dry cocoa solids and the percentage of cocoa butter. They are not the same for every country. There are several different grades of chocolate, and these figures show the European Union and US regulations for standard (S) as well as fine (F) chocolate.*

• Dark chocolate (S) must contain at least 35% dry cocoa solids (but 15% for ‘sweet chocolate’ in the US), while dark chocolate (F) must contain at least 43%.*
• Milk chocolate (S) must contain at least 25% dry cocoa solids (but 20% in the UK, and 10% in the US), while fine milk chocolate must contain at least 30%.*

*—The Chocolate Connoisseur, by Chloé Doutre-Rousse