On Monday, 19th January at 4:30pm, The International Chocolate Awards announced the winners of the 2026 World Craft Drinking Chocolate Competition at a live ceremony held at SIGEP in Rimini, Italy.
Co-founders Monica Meschini and Martin Christy announced this year’s winners after a weekend of intense in-person judging in Florence prior to SIGEP.
The Craft Drinking Chocolate competition received over 130 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.
Click here to view the 2026 World Craft Drinking Chocolate Grand Jury Finalists.
The 2026 World Craft Drinking Chocolate Winners are:
(Prizes are shown in score order for each medal)
‘Best in competition’ overall winners
Flavoured with alcohol
Gold: Aroko Chocolate (Italy) – Sur del Lago with Santa Teresa rum (90.2)Flavoured with tea
Gold: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Golden Garden (89.1)Chocolat chaud noir nature/d’origine (préparé avec de l’eau)
Gold: Rila Kakao (Thailand) – 72%Prachuap chocolate drink (89.0) (**)
Silver: Chocolateria Pumatiy (Peru) – Pasta Pura Cacao Chuncho 100% (88.3) (**)
Silver: Rila Kakao (Thailand) – 70%Chanthaburi chocolate drink (87.9) (**)
Plain/origin dark drinking chocolate (prepared with milk)
Gold: SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Cupuaçu 70% (90.7) (**)
+ Gold: Alternate theobromas
+ Special: Innovation
Gold: San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Chanthaburi (89.9) (**)
Silver: Nibbo bean to bar chocolate (China) – Arhuacos 70% drinking chocolate (89.3) (**)
Silver: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Cozy Winter Dark 75% (89.0) (**)
+ Special: Recipe
Silver: San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Nakhon si thammarat (88.7) (**)
Silver: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Rainy Bliss Dark 70% (88.6) (**)
Silver: San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Krabi (88.4) (**)
Silver: Infinite cacao (Thailand) – Dark80% Chanthaburi (87.9) (**)
Silver: Kaori Kakao (Thailand) – Nan Suanyaluang Dark Chocolate 70% (87.8) (**)
Silver: Rila Kakao (Thailand) – 72%Prachuap Milk chocolate drink (87.8) (**)
Silver: Rila Kakao (Thailand) – 70%Chanthaburi milk chocolate drink (87.4) (**)
Silver: Nana Craft Chocolate (Thailand) – No.1 (87.1) (**)
Bronze: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – The Rainbowmist (86.9) (**)
Bronze: Lewis Pogue Artisan Chocolate (United States) – Classic Artisan Drinking Chocolate (86.5) (**)
Bronze: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Sunny Summer Dark 80% (86.4) (**)
Bronze: Chocoholic Thailand (Thailand) – Phunchai (86.3) (**)
Bronze: Aroko Chocolate (Italy) – Porcelana (85.9) (**)
Bronze: San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Phatthalung (85.8) (**)
Bronze: San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – House Blend (85.7) (**)
Bronze: AfterChoc.Chocolate (Thailand) – 75% Dark Nakhon Si Thammarat Blend (85.5) (**)
Flavoured dark drinking chocolate (prepared with water)
Gold: Infinite cacao (Thailand) – Dark63% Cola Manuka (89.2) (**)
+ Special: Reinterpretation
Silver: Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – « Midnight Romance » Flavor Dark 62% (87.4) (**)
Bronze: Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – « Choco Roselle » Flavor Dark 60% (85.5) (**)
Flavoured dark drinking chocolate (prepared with milk)
Gold: Aroko Chocolate (Italy) – Sur del Lago with Santa Teresa rum (90.2) (**)
+ Special: Ingredients
Silver: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Charoen-d-tini (88.1) (**)
Silver: Nibbo bean to bar chocolate (China) – Gingerbread man drinking chocolate (87.3) (**)
Flavoured milk drinking chocolate (with milk chocolate/milk powder)
Bronze: Nibbo bean to bar chocolate (China) – GingerEgg & Walnuts hot chocolate (85.6) (**)
White drinking chocolate
Bronze: Kestar Chocolate (Romania) – Ecuador White Hot Chocolate (86.6) (**)
Plain/origin cocoa powder drinks (prepared with milk)
Silver: Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Asochivite Hot Cocoa (87.5) (**)
Bronze: Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – El Carmen Hot Cocoa (86.8) (**)
Bronze: Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Ucayali Hot Cocoa (85.8) (**)
Flavoured cocoa powder drinks (prepared with milk)
Bronze: Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Maple Hot Cocoa (86.9) (**)
Bronze: Infinite cacao (Thailand) – Planted based Cocoa (85.5) (**)
Thé/infusions au cacao
Gold: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Golden Garden (89.1) (**)
+ Special: Reinterpretation
Silver: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Homdokmai (87.7) (**)
Silver: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Gentle Soul (87.6) (**)
Silver: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Black Ruby (87.5) (**)
Bronze: Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Heart at Ease (85.5) (**)
Alcoholic drinks/liquors made with chocolate or cacao (Pilot category)
Gold: Mil Alas Nocturne (Guatemala) – Nocturne (93.3) (**)
+ Special: Recipe
(*) Declared chocolate maker for private label bars.
(**) Winner has declared the product is made with their own bean-to-bar chocolate or couverture.
