On Tuesday, 23 January, The International Chocolate Awards announced the winners of the 2024 World Craft Drinking Chocolate Competition at a live ceremony held at SIGEP, one of the largest expo dedicated to pastry, ice cream, coffee and chocolate, organized in Rimini, Italy. Co-founders, Monica Meschini and Martin Christy, and Grand Jury members Michaela Schupp and Kathryn Laverack announced this year’s winners after 2.5 days of intense judging.
The new Craft Drinking Chocolate competition received over 150 entries, from chocolate makers from all over the world, working with an equally global range of cacao. For our chocolate judges, this was yet another exciting opportunity to see how all the great chocolate-making talent out there translates that into something designed to become a drink.
The competition judged not only chocolate-based drinks, but also cacao infusions and even alcoholic beverages made with cacao.
Judging
The judging panel was a carefully selected group of our most experienced judges with a professional culinary background, who tasted the entries in anonymised judging, together with the permanent members of our Grand Jury.
Scores
The International Chocolate Awards is continuing its drive for transparency and standardisation in chocolate sensory evaluation, using the flavor profiling system from our parent body, the IICCT. As part of this initiative, we are now listing the scores for all winners and finalists, giving consumers a better guide for chocolate quality and entrants something extra to celebrate along with their medals. The scores given are similar to those used in specialty coffee, where 80 and above indicates fine chocolate quality and scores above 90 suggest extraordinary quality and craft. The prize break points are set by the Grand Jury for each category, according to the product type.
The 2024 World Craft Drinking Chocolate Winners are:
(Prizes are shown in score order for each medal)
Plain/origin dark drinking chocolate (made with water)
Gold: SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Peru Chuncho 72% (91.1) (**)
Silver: SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Thailand 70% (88.0) (**)
Bronze: AHERZ (Austria) – Ritualkakao – 100% Kakao OĀ“Tuma (85.6) (**)
Plain/origin dark drinking chocolate (made with milk)
Gold: Sakulthai farm (Thailand) – Dark 100% (91.6) (**)
+ Gold: 100%
Silver: FjĆ„k Chocolate (Norway) – 70% Dark Tanzania (90.1) (**)
Silver: Chocoholic Thailand (Thailand) – Eleven Days (89.5) (**)
Silver: Sakulthai farm (Thailand) – Siam Aiyara (89.5) (**)
Silver: TeocƤo (Mexico) – Chocolate Amargo 70% (89.2) (**)
Silver: Khom Chocolatier House (Thailand) – Sawasdee Jao Blend – Dark Chocolate 75% (88.9) (**)
Silver: Boo Chocolate (Thailand) – Mae Kham – Cei Dark 75% (88.8) (**)
Silver: Wewish (Thailand) – Wewish: First of Winter (88.4) (**)
Silver: Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – Choc A Dii CPN83 (88.4) (**)
Silver: GarƧoa Chocolate (Switzerland) – GarƧoa Trinkschoggi Bundibugyo 70% BIO (88.4) (**)
Silver: Fu Wan Chocolate (Taiwan) – River 100% (88.2) (**)
Silver: Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – Choc A Dii SRT Natural Powder (88.2) (**)
Silver: Plearn Chocolate (Thailand) – Chanthaburi – Dark Chocolate Drink 70% (88.1) (**)
Silver: Khom Chocolatier House (Thailand) – Chiang Rai – Dark Chocolate Drink 75% (87.4) (**)
Silver: Chocoholic Thailand (Thailand) – Phatthalung 100% Dark Chocolate (87.2) (**)
Silver: SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Guatemala 70% (87.1) (**)
Bronze: Charlee (Thailand) – Central North No.1 75% (86.6) (**)
Bronze: Benns Ethicoa (Malaysia) – 68% Kota Marudu Drinking Chocolate (86.5) (**)
Bronze: Eigen Chocolate (United States) – Drinking Chocolate (86.5) (**)
Bronze: ANDER (Belgium) – Ander . 65% India . Single Origin (86.4)
Bronze: Godel Chocolate (Philippines) – Godel Tablea 100% Cocoa Mass (86.3) (**)
Bronze: Malagos Chocolate (Philippines) – Malagos Premium Unsweetened Chocolate (86.3) (**)
Bronze: SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Philippines 72% (86.2) (**)
Bronze: AfterChoc.Chocolate (Thailand) – Phet Phum (86.1) (**)
Bronze: AHERZ (Austria) – Dunkle Trinkschokolade Haiti PISA (86.1) (**)
Bronze: CHAROENDEE CHOCOLATE (Thailand) – Pala-u Dark 80% (86.0) (**)
Bronze: GarƧoa Chocolate (Switzerland) – GarƧoa Trinkschoggi Ana Maria 73% (85.8) (**)
Bronze: SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Peru Chuncho 72% (85.8) (**)
Bronze: FjĆ„k Chocolate (Norway) – 70% Dominican Republic (85.6) (**)
Bronze: Fu Wan Chocolate (Taiwan) – Cloud 80% (85.6) (**)
Bronze: Mindo Chocolate Makers (United States) – 100% Ecuadorian Drinking Chocolate (85.6) (**)
Flavoured dark drinking chocolate (made with water)
Silver: SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Aged with Hops 72% (87.7) (**)
+ Special: Innovation
Bronze: Mucho Chocolate (Mexico) – Finca Siempre Viva Lavado- de Mesa (85.6) (**)
Flavoured dark drinking chocolate (made with milk)
Silver: NRCOFFEE(ėė¦°ģ»¤ķ¼) (South Korea) – Chocolate Powder(Malt Whisky Aged) (88.3) (**)
Silver: Black Jaguar Chocolate (Canada) – Mayan Traditional Drinking Chocolate (87.5) (**)
Bronze: Sipsnap24 (Thailand) – Sip in wonder (86.3)
Bronze: Flow Cacao roasters (Bulgaria) – Drinking Chocolate 70% Cacao Spicy Maya (86.0) (**)
Plain/origin milk drinking chocolate (with milk chocolate/milk powder)
Silver: Solkiki Chocolatemaker (United Kingdom) – Esmeraldas&Cashew 53% Drinking Chocolate (88.4) (**)
Flavoured milk drinking chocolate (with milk chocolate/milk powder)
Gold: Alex Yu (Taiwan) – Win Win9 Yu Tien Fu 68% Tieguanyin Tea (91.7) (**)
+ Special: Local ingredients
Silver: Alex Yu (Taiwan) – Y&c-yu Tien-fu 72% Red Oolong Tea (89.9) (**)
Silver: Alex Yu (Taiwan) – Mu Lin-cong-yi 70% Oriental Beauty Tea (88.3) (**)
Silver: Alex Yu (Taiwan) – Win Win9 Yu Tien-fu 68% Gaba Oolong Tea (88.0) (**)
Silver: Alex Yu (Taiwan) – Win Win9 Yu Tien-fu 72% Pouchomg Tea (88.0) (**)
Bronze: Alex Yu (Taiwan) – MU Xu Ying-kai 58%SunMoon Lake honey Tea (86.7) (**)
White drinking chocolate
Gold: FjĆ„k Chocolate (Norway) – White Caramelised & Brown Cheese (90.9) (**)
+ Special: Local ingredients
Silver: SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Lu’an Black Tea (87.0) (**)
+ Special: Innovation
Plain/origin cocoa powder drinks (made with milk)
Silver: Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Maple Hot Cocoa (87.6) (**)
Silver: Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Almendra Blanca Hot Cocoa (87.3) (**)
Bronze: Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Asochivite Hot Cocoa (85.5) (**)
Flavoured cocoa powder drinks (made with milk)
Bronze: Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Pimienta Gorda Hot Cocoa (86.6) (**)
Cacau te / infusions
Gold: Fu Wan Chocolate (Taiwan) – Cocoa Cola (89.7) (**)
Silver: ANDER (Belgium) – Ander . Drip Cacao Bags Vietnam (87.1)
Silver: Fu Wan Chocolate (Taiwan) – Calming Cocoa Tea (87.0) (**)
+ Special: Recipe
Silver: ANDER (Belgium) – Ander . Drip Cacao Bags India (87.0)
Alcoholic drinks/liquors made with chocolate or cacao (Pilot category)
Gold: Mil Alas Nocturne (Guatemala) – Mil Alas Nocturne (90.5)
+ Special: Local ingredients
Bronze: Conspiracy Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Fernet Hunter Cacao (86.9) (**)
(*) Declared chocolate maker for private label bars.
(**) Winner has declared the product is made with their own bean-to-bar chocolate or couverture.
