Valrhona Guanaja Grue 70 per cent
We're used to having nuts and dried fruit in our chocolates, but how about cocoa nibs, the very source of your confection? Made with Criollo and Trinitario beans that grow on the eponymous island north of Honduras, Valrhona's Guanaja is a rich, deep chocolate with tart berry tones and a beautifully complex scent of green mangoes, coffee and brown sugar. The addition of crunchy cocoa nibs gives it textural interest, as well as intense, alcohol-like spurts of fruitiness. However, to some, the potency of the nibs overpowers the finesse and the delicate floral flavours.
HK$78, Sogo, 555 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay
Amedei Chuao 70 per cent
To cartographers, Chuao is a village on a peninsula in northern Venezuela, but to cocoa connoisseurs it is synonymous with a formidable chocolate made with some of the world's finest Criollo beans. Open the envelope-like packaging of this revered Tuscan chocolatier's version and you'll first be rewarded with a comforting, nutty, fruity, honey scent. Break off a piece of the glossy block and enjoy the clean, sharp snap. Now let it slide onto your tongue and savour those deep, complex flavours evoking honey, summer berries and red wine. The light acidity and lingering finish round things off.
HK$100, City'super, citywide
Lindt Excellence Dark 70 per cent