I had to twist my friend Caroline’s rubber arm to come over for some tea and chocolate tastings. As a food allergy mom who managed a milk allergy with her son for years, Caroline has vast tasting experience with both dairy-rich and dairy-free chocolates. And she wasn’t shy with her opinions on Charm School Chocolate vegan white, milk, and dark chocolate bars.
Tasting Notes for Charm School Chocolate
As I unwrapped the first bar, I immediately noticed the smooth, clean finish with only a light design imprinted and angling that created thicker and thinner portions.
“No scoring?”, I uttered in surprise.
“Excellent, then you have an excuse not to share!”, Caroline proclaimed.
That woman is a genius. Nonetheless, I broke off pieces of each decadent-looking bar for us to sample.
Vanilla Bean White Charm School Chocolate Bar (34% Cacao)
Wow, wow, WOW! At last a dairy-free white chocolate that is smooth, creamy, and not overly sweet. We both adored the deep flavor with the richness of caramel and the unmistakable underpinnings of pure white chocolate. This dairy-free white chocolate is far better than ANY other white chocolate I’ve ever tasted. With dairy or without.
Charm School Chocolate uses organic cocoa butter as the first dreamy ingredient. Adding only cane sugar and tapioca syrup for sweetness, coconut and sunflower lecithin (yes, it is soy-free, too!) for the consistency, and whole vanilla bean and French sea salt to heighten the flavors. All of which are organic ingredients as well.
The Vanilla Bean White bar is insanely delicious on its own, yet I couldn’t help but wonder how this delight would make dairy-free macadamia nut cookies come to life.
Coconut Milk Charm School Chocolate Bar (49% Cacao)
“This is off the hook!”, Caroline proclaimed. As someone who has eaten “real” milk chocolate in the past few months, I highly valued her opinion. And, I agreed. Not nearly as sweet as other dairy-free “milk” chocolate brands, Charm School Chocolate went the rich route with this creamy, decadent delight.
The flavor has full-bodied cacao bean notes. It is similar in sweetness to semi-sweet chocolate, yet has just the right amount of cocoa butter and luxurious coconut to call it a milky chocolate. No lecithin is needed in this Charm School Chocolate confection, so it is naturally soy-free. We couldn’t even detect a hint of coconut!
70% Dark Belize Charm School Chocolate Bar
After trialing the mellow, milky flavors, the Charm School Chocolate dark came as a bit of a shock to our taste buds. As we settled into the bolder cacao, and even compared it to similar percentage bars, we were surprised by the deep, raw taste of this bar. Made with organic Maya cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, and organic cocoa butter – nothing more – the pure, dark flavor was more akin to an 80% chocolate. Though it was slightly more bitter than our ideal dark (we’re wimps!), the Belize bar is definitely one for dense cacao lovers to explore.
More Facts on Charm School Chocolate
Price: $7.99 per 2.1-ounce bar
Availability: Charm School Chocolate is sold at specialty stores in the U.S., and you can order it only from the company’s website below.
Certifications: Charm School Chocolate is Certified Vegan.
Dietary Notes: By ingredients, Charm School Chocolate Bars are dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian. Select varieties are made without nuts. *he Charm School Chocolate website at www.charmschoolchocolate.com.
*Always read the ingredient and nutrition statement prior to consumption. Ingredients, processes, and labeling are subject to change at any time for any company or product. Contact the company to discuss their manufacturing processes if potential allergen cross-contamination is an issue for you. No food product can be guaranteed “safe” for every individual’s needs. You should never rely on ingredient and allergen statements alone if dealing with a severe food allergy.
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Indulgence
An indulgence well worth the splurge, their dairy-free Vanilla Bean bar is perhaps the best white chocolate I’ve tested, ever. Creamy, decadent, and not overly sweet, it’s a pure dessert unlike any other. The Coconut Milk Chocolate was similarly rated as “off the hook” and asserts itself as unique was rich cacao notes, semi-sweetness, and a definite milky consistency.
10 Comments
This is such a great post, think it was the photos that got me to go out and buy it, your sopt on, this stuff is incredible, so much so I ended up doing my own review, but just of the coconut milk versions. I found it the perfect milk chocolate substitute when cooking too.
Cheer,
Simon
I have just found out that Im lactose intolerant I feel so much better now that I made the switch from reg milk to lactose free now I have been trying to find lactose free chocolate bars and other chocolate stuff. I would like to try you chocolate bars. How do I go about getting them.
Lee
Hi Lee, they sell direct from their website. This is a third party review; we aren’t affiliated with them. You can order from Charm School at https://www.charmschoolchocolate.com/
Love charm school!
xXx
Shoot! I was hoping for a give-a-way! I might keep my eye out for them and try one even though the price is kind of steep for my budget.
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Charm School chocolate is a great! One thing I didn’t see mentioned in the review is that they are a bean-to-bar,craft chocolate company. This means they are sourcing high-quality cacao beans from farmers who are compensated fairly. Then they make the chocolate from scratch. It is a laborious process, which is one of the reasons it will have a higher cost than many supermarket brands.
I’m a bit chocolate obsessed, if you can’t tell by my enthusiasm!
Thanks Jasmine!
Great review! Could I melt down these bars to use to coat a cake? How many bars do you think I would need?
I would imagine so Chrissy, but I wouldn’t know how many you need. They are good size bars – see the review summary for the sizing.