Percentages of Chocolate

The current trend in labeling chocolate, both for the professional and more recently for the consumer, has been to add a percentage to the name of the chocolate or to the label, such as 72 percent dark chocolate or  a 38 percent milk chocolate. This is really just a fancy way of telling the end user how much pure cocoa bean is in that particular chocolate. Here.s what you need to remember: the greater the number, the higher the percentage of cocoa bean and the lower the amount of other ingredients such as sugar, lecithin (an emulsifier), and vanilla. For example, a 61 percent dark chocolate tablet would mean that 61  percent of the entire tablet came from the cocoa bean and the remaining 39 percent comprises other ingredients. Milk chocolates range between 32 percent and 45 percent, while dark chocolates range between 52 percent and 100 percent. Unsweetened chocolate is labeled 100 percent and considered pure chocolate, as it only contains matter from the cocoa bean. But, trust me, you don't want to eat that because it is very bitter!

Many variables go into creating chocolate. Even if you know that 61 percent of a chocolate tablet came from the cocoa bean, that 61 percent could be broken down in different ways, depending on each individual chocolate manufacturer's formula. One company might use a formula whereby, of the 61 percent in question, 55 percent is chocolate liquor and the other 6 percent is cocoa butter. Another company might use a formula where 48 percent is liquor and the remainder cocoa butter. This is just one of the reasons why, if you taste three different brands of 61 percent chocolate  side by side, they each have different flavor and texture profiles.