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.
Along with the winners, the list of the Grand Jury Finalists with their final scores is also published.
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.
The Grand Jury Finalists are the entries that made it through to the final Grand Jury round, following an initial technical Selection round and a main round of judging. The Finalists are the nominations from which the Grand Jury select the prize winners, through private voting.
While listing as a Grand Jury Finalist is an achievement in itself, it does not necessarily indicate that the entry will receive a prize.
Click here to view the Winners list.
Scores
Scores were published for each finalist product, using the IICCT scoring system, which is tuned to match the scoring scale used in specialty coffee.
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 2026 World Craft Drinking Chocolate Grand Jury Finalists are:
Plain/origin dark drinking chocolate (made with water)
Rila Kakao (Thailand) – 72%Prachuap chocolate drink (89.02)Chocolateria Pumatiy (Peru) – Pasta Pura Cacao Chuncho 100% (88.29)
SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Peru Chuncho 70% (85.19)
Rila Kakao (Thailand) – 70%Chiangmai chocolate drink (83.86)
SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Thailand Phatthalung 70% (83.56)
Depetris Riccardo / Depetris…i Ciculaté (Italy) – Xela – Cioccolato Da Bere 77% (82.95)
SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Peru Chuncho 72% (82.35)
Sakulthai chocolate (Thailand) – Surin100% (82.23)
Plain/origin dark drinking chocolate (prepared with milk)
SLOK Chocolate (Hong Kong) – Cupuaçu 70% (90.67)San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Chanthaburi (89.90)
Nibbo bean to bar chocolate (China) – Arhuacos 70% drinking chocolate (89.26)
Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Cozy Winter Dark 75% (89.00)
San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Nakhon si thammarat (88.72)
Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Rainy Bliss Dark 70% (88.58)
San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Krabi (88.43)
Infinite cacao (Thailand) – Dark80% Chanthaburi (87.85)
Kaori Kakao (Thailand) – Nan Suanyaluang Dark Chocolate 70% (87.77)
Rila Kakao (Thailand) – 72%Prachuap Milk chocolate drink (87.75)
Rila Kakao (Thailand) – 70%Chanthaburi milk chocolate drink (87.36)
Nana Craft Chocolate (Thailand) – No.1 (87.07)
Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – The Rainbowmist (86.92)
Lewis Pogue Artisan Chocolate (United States) – Classic Artisan Drinking Chocolate (86.50)
Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Sunny Summer Dark 80% (86.35)
Chocoholic Thailand (Thailand) – Phunchai (86.30)
Aroko Chocolate (Italy) – Porcelana (85.94)
San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Phatthalung (85.77)
San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – House Blend (85.71)
AfterChoc.Chocolate (Thailand) – 75% Dark Nakhon Si Thammarat Blend (85.52)
Charlee (Thailand) – Tak 75% (85.35)
Zamukia Chocolate (Colombia) – Chocolate de taza 100% Colombian (85.30)
Chocoholic Thailand (Thailand) – Phatthalung 75% Dark Chocolate (85.21)
San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Trat (85.05)
Rila Kakao (Thailand) – 70%Chiangmai Milk chocolate drink (85.03)
Nana Craft Chocolate (Thailand) – No.3 (85.02)
San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Chiang Rai (84.53)
Kestar Chocolate (Romania) – Peru Marahua 70% Hot Chocolate (84.38)
San Marzano x Noir Chocolate Bar (Thailand) – Chonburi (84.32)
Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – “Kham-Khiri Blend” x ChocoBrew (84.19)
Kestar Chocolate (Romania) – Venezuela CriolloChoroni100%HotChocolate (83.73)
Kestar Chocolate (Romania) – Venezuela Sur del Lago 70% Hot Chocolate (83.67)
Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Cozy Winter Dark 100% (83.58)
RECEPTION (Thailand) – Khonkaen Fullmoon (83.46)
Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – “Mild Sweet : Sawi” Dark 65%xRaiGo-Nueng (83.44)
Charlee (Thailand) – Kamphaeng Phet 75% (83.38)
Nana Craft Chocolate (Thailand) – No.2 (83.03)
Flow Cacao roasters (Bulgaria) – 100% Drinking chocolate Tanzania (82.77)
Cocoa Diary (Thailand) – Phrae Dark 75% (82.56)
Beskid Chocolate (Poland) – Czekolada do picia Kuba Baracoa 70% (82.34)
Flavoured dark drinking chocolate (prepared with water)
Infinite cacao (Thailand) – Dark63% Cola Manuka (89.18)Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – “Midnight Romance” Flavor Dark 62% (87.39)
Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – “Choco Roselle” Flavor Dark 60% (85.50)
Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – “a Day of Yada” X 92 Coffee Bar (84.28)
Flavoured dark drinking chocolate (prepared with milk)
Aroko Chocolate (Italy) – Sur del Lago with Santa Teresa rum (90.18)Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Charoen-d-tini (88.13)
Nibbo bean to bar chocolate (China) – Gingerbread man drinking chocolate (87.28)
Kaori Kakao (Thailand) – Hom Mali Dark Rice Milk Chocolate 65% (85.07)
Nibbo bean to bar chocolate (China) – Osmanthus&Persimmon hot chocolate (84.78)
Lewis Pogue Artisan Chocolate (United States) – Heat Artisan Drinking Chocolate (84.65)
A-TYPICA (France) – Chocolat Chaud Masala (84.52)
CiaoYu (Taiwan) – Taiwan Kinmen Kaoliang Distillers (84.08)
A-TYPICA (France) – Chocolat Chaud Antillais (82.47)
Plain/origin milk drinking chocolate (with milk chocolate/milk powder)
Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – “ChocoRice : Hom Nil Rice 60%” (85.17)Nibbo bean to bar chocolate (China) – Chuncho Milk55% drinking chocolate (84.92)
Flavoured milk drinking chocolate (with milk chocolate/milk powder)
Nibbo bean to bar chocolate (China) – GingerEgg & Walnuts hot chocolate (85.62)Kaori Kakao (Thailand) – Earl Grey Tea Dark Milk Chocolate 65% (85.21)
White drinking chocolate
Kestar Chocolate (Romania) – Ecuador White Hot Chocolate (86.62)CiaoYu (Taiwan) – White Chocolate with Ginger and Makauy (84.09)
Plain/origin cocoa powder drinks (prepared with milk)
Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Asochivite Hot Cocoa (87.50)Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – El Carmen Hot Cocoa (86.80)
Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Ucayali Hot Cocoa (85.80)
Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – House Blend Hot Cocoa (83.13)
Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Almendra Blanca Hot Cocoa (82.87)
Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Esmeraldas Hot Cocoa (82.19)
Flavoured cocoa powder drinks (prepared with milk)
Goodnow Farms Chocolate (United States) – Maple Hot Cocoa (86.85)Infinite cacao (Thailand) – Planted based Cocoa (85.53)
CHO-MEAL CHOCOLATE (Taiwan) – Ruby Black Tea Cacao drink (81.95)
Caco infuso con tè
Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Golden Garden (89.08)Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Homdokmai (87.67)
Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Gentle Soul (87.63)
Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Black Ruby (87.49)
Charoendee Chocolate (Thailand) – Heart at Ease (85.53)
Choc-A-Dii (Thailand) – Glow:Cacao Tea Blend x Tea Luck Cha (82.80)
