- Bernard Castelain: Creamy, good balance; smooth and delicious. Said one dark-chocolate lover: "I've had three pieces, and that's huge!"
- Lindt Excellence: Luscious in the mouth; vanilla and caramel finish.
- Green & Black Organic: Good mouthfeel; slightly bitter (those who don't like dark chocolate might not like this one).
- Valrhona Nature & Chocolat: Smooth; fruity and floral notes.
- E. Guittard Orinoco: More than a slight hint of coconut.
- Jacques Callebaut: Lots of cocoa, a little less milk.
- Galler: Intense milky taste, still in a nice balance. Creamy and clean.
- Côte d'Or: Hints of peanut, anise detected. Smooth.
- Villars Swiss: Intensely sweet and salty.
- Nirvana Single Origin Java: Very light, gentle chocolate.
- Chocolatour Java: Sweet and inoffensive.
- Michel Cluizel "Mangaro": On the bitter side for milk, but nice three-dimensional flavors.
- Chocolove: Buttery up front; complete cocoa flavor.
- Pralus Mélissa: Very sweet, chocolatey; not so much character.
- Scharffen Berger: Complex; lots of cocoa, a little tannic.
- Nirvana Single Origin Papua: Slight malt flavor.
- Santander: Notes of cherry. A tad spicy.
- Cadbury: A bland sweetness; slightly waxy.
- Dagoba: Very faint cedar flavor and some mustiness.
- Venchi: At first it tastes of nothing; finishes with a wash of condensed milk.
- Dolfin: Nice melting but tastes off.
- Hershey's: Even a blind test couldn't fool us: Every tester guessed its identity correctly from its classic supersweet, metallic flavors.
- Michel Cluizel "Maralumi": Dry, unpleasant, tinny.
- Nestlé: Like solid condensed milk.
- Ghirardelli: The worst by far: waxy as a bar of soap, with little redeeming flavor.
We tasted milk chocolate straight, then in a dessert sauce, and showcased the winners in our February 2007 issue (Testing for Perfection: "Milk Chocolate Lab"). Here is the full list of chocolates included in the testing, in order of our preference, with tasting notes: