Every Godiva Chocolate Bar Flavor, Ranked Worst To Best

Chocolate makes a delicious gift or snack any time of year, although it's especially popular during Valentine's Day. There are many chocolate brands to pick from, and Godiva ranks pretty high on that list. But what kind of chocolate bars does the brand offer these days? I wanted to try Godiva's entire line of chocolate bars to get a feel for the brand's selection. 

Godiva offers two types: the mini bars and the standard bars. The former comes in packs of eight bars with each pack weighing 3.1 ounces total. These mini bars are individually wrapped and contain six pieces of perforated chocolate. Then the standard bars are 1.5 ounces each and have four larger perforated pieces. This will help set the tone for each bar's sizing and appearance. 

For this ranking, I tasted the company's six mini bar flavors and five standard bar flavors. All were judged based on their flavor and texture. If you'd like to learn more about my sampling process, scroll down to the methodology section. I'll start with the one I enjoyed the least and work my way up to my top choice. However, it's helpful to mention that even the last-placed chocolate was still very good; I simply preferred the others. You may have preferences that make your rankings different from mine. We have a choco-lot to go through, so let's begin the tasting.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

With so many flavorful options, it's not a huge surprise that the Signature Milk Chocolate Mini Bars sit at the bottom in this ranking. The milk chocolate bars are smooth, creamy, and sweet but not cloying. And that's about it. Milk powder and butter oil are two ingredients that can contribute to the milky richness. These are perfectly tasty; I just preferred others more. That's all it boils down to, especially when other options are more powerful and memorable in taste and texture.

These bars melt easily from warmth, so the milkiness would be a fun way to add chocolate to your coffee. Place a couple of small pieces in the heat of your cup of joe for a mocha-inspired morning beverage. Overall, this plain milk chocolate is highly versatile and beloved by many, especially those who favor the flavors of milkier chocolates. I admit the buttery, meltiness makes quite a compelling mouthfeel, but I preferred other flavors more and found myself going back to them. If you like milk chocolate or a lighter and sweeter bar, this is a quality option.

As a fan of dark chocolate, Godiva's Dark Chocolate Bar wasn't as bittersweet as I usually prefer. I like the bitter notes of cacao to pop through for dark chocolates, but it wasn't as prominent here as one of the other dark chocolates on this list. This bar has mildly bitter undertones, especially as I let it melt on my tongue, but its sweetness still came through. I'd mark it as a more subtle dark chocolate, which may be a good starting point for someone who might not like the earthiness in darker chocolates. This is the densest of the small bars as it doesn't have any type of filling.

The sizing of the small bar may also play a part in your overall experience. Once you break off a chunk of the Dark Chocolate small bar, you're committing to a larger piece, whereas the minis allow you to have one little segment at a time — giving you the flexibility to eat it (or try multiple flavors) without feeling overwhelmed. It's just something to keep in mind as the sizing can be a notable factor for some. The dark chocolate had a slightly richer taste than the milk chocolate mini bar but didn't rank too high on my list, especially compared to other more interesting flavors. 

The Roasted Almond Milk Chocolate Bar has added oomph, compared with the previous two flavors because of its almonds. This has whole roasted nuts that offer a more noticeable crunch to the otherwise smooth chocolate. I felt the snap of the nut as I took a bite and chewed, which made for a captivating sensory experience. It's like having a chocolate-covered almond, and it gives a nutty, buttery complexity to the milky taste of chocolate, which comes from the skim milk powder, milk powder, and butter oil. 

The almonds are sporadically placed so you might get a bite without an almond, which makes for an uneven experience. I would appreciate more almonds to allow each bite to have at least a trace of the nut. The Roasted Almond Milk Chocolate Bar is a versatile and delectable option when you want chocolate that offers more than just a flavor — the crunch factor of the whole almond has the most striking texture out of all the Godiva chocolate bars. You could chop this up and put it over ice cream or even pair it with a glass of wine, but it makes a nice snack all on its own.

The Signature Almond and Honey Milk Chocolate Mini Bars contain pieces of nuts and dried honey to create a lightly crunchy, creamy delight. I was intrigued by the addition of dried honey as it's not something I often come across. After trying a couple of pieces, I noticed the honey offered a mild caramel-like sweetness and a gentle crunchiness without the stickiness of your average honey. But I wanted more of it. You have to close your eyes and let it melt to notice it. The almonds bring a nutty profile to add dimension to the flavor and a welcome crunch. Because of the sugar and honey, this variety has a sweeter profile.

This bar is similar to other milk chocolate offerings in the Godiva line but with some added pizzazz. I ranked this higher than the Roasted Almond Milk Chocolate Bar because I enjoyed the addition of the dried honey and the way the nut pieces felt as I bit into each piece. It still melted on the tongue, but the added namesake ingredients brought some dimension to the mouthfeel, giving it substance without being overly chewy. This would be iconic on a chocolate or dessert charcuterie board because it hits multiple notes with its nuts, honey, and chocolate. If there were more dried honey, I may have ranked this flavor higher, but alas, that's not the case.

We are really working our way up through the nut-based chocolates here. The Signature Roasted Almond Dark Chocolate Mini Bars are my favorite of the nut-imbued bars from Godiva. Like the previous Signature Almond and Honey Milk Chocolate Mini Bars, the almond pieces in this bar are small. They offer a subtle crunch as opposed to the noticeable snap of the whole nuts found in the Roasted Almond Milk Chocolate Bar. Here, they are also roasted, which gives them a deep nutty profile and an ultra-crisp consistency despite the tiny pieces. The small nuts are evenly dispersed, so every bite has a crunchy tidbit.

These have more dimension than the other nut-based chocolates because of the flavors from the dark chocolate, which is slightly bitter and earthy. I preferred them just a smidge above the almond and honey ones solely because I like dark chocolate. They offer similar components — chocolate and nuts — but the difference is in those small details. If you appreciate dark chocolate almond bark, then this is a great pre-made option with smaller nut morsels. These bars are handy to keep in the pantry as an afternoon bite or to bring out when entertaining guests.

Those who like caramel will thoroughly enjoy the Milk Chocolate Bar with Caramel Filling. It's sugary and creamy and one of the sweetest options from the Godiva chocolate bar line, thanks to sweeteners like sugar, corn syrup, and sugar alcohols. I liked this as an after-dinner dessert or paired with coffee thanks to the sweet and buttery caramel filling paired with the milk chocolate. This contains skim milk powder, milk powder, heavy cream, butter oil, and caramel, according to the ingredients, which gives it the creamy, buttery, milky flavor.

This bar has a gooey interior, which adds a welcome balance of texture to the somewhat firm chocolate. But because it's filled, it isn't as dense as say the Dark Chocolate Bar. Once I took the first bite, I could feel the snap of the chocolate, followed by the silky almost liquid-like caramel. When I took a bite and put the half-eaten piece of chocolate on my plate, some of the caramel filling crept out, leaving its sticky mark. This bar does have a gooey nature, which means your best bet is to polish off a piece after taking a bite of it, or else you'll be left to swipe the caramel off with your finger. This and the Roasted Almond Dark Chocolate Mini Bars are extremely close, but I enjoyed the consistency that the caramel brought to the chocolate just a hair more.

I enjoy dark chocolate, so it's no surprise that the Signature 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate Mini Bars fared pretty well in this ranking. Unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder are the first ingredients in this chocolate. These components give it that richer, darker, more cocoa-forward taste, while the sugar gives it some lift. It's bittersweet (more than any other dark chocolate on this list) but still has a pop of sweetness. 

While some grocery store dark chocolates are vegan, the Godiva 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate has some milk content in the form of butter oil but isn't nearly as milky or sweet as the milk chocolates. I'd say this is a great dark chocolate. I like the smooth texture and flavor as it disintegrated on my tongue, leaving a lingering cacao taste. The 72% chocolate may be your best bet if you want something with a less sugary profile. You can easily pair it with other ingredients to give it added flair. Try creating a small snack platter of sorts with black tea, dried fruit, nuts, and a dry cheese like Manchego. Or pair it with black tea or malty beer.

Seeing as this is the highest-ranking plain chocolate, I'd happily stock this in my chocolate arsenal when I want the chocolate to speak for itself. The remaining options on this list are all flavored, so there may be a time and place for them based on your craving, but the bitter notes and richness of the 72% cacao can speak for themselves.

Out of all the filled chocolates from the Godiva line, the Dark Chocolate Bar with Mint Filling is the most congealed. The minty inside is like a creme, whereas the caramel flavor and raspberry one (still to come) were more runny. The chocolate has a happy snap to it, followed by the soft, rich mint interior, which has a light green tint from yellow 5 aluminum lake and blue 1 aluminum lake, which I could do without. I'm not a pigment snob by any means, but there are other mint creme-filled chocolates on the market that don't use artificial colorants, so it's certainly feasible to make one without it. It's not necessary to make something green to make it seem more mint-like. 

If you like mint chip ice cream or any chocolate and mint combination, you'll find the Dark Chocolate Bar with Mint Filling very appetizing. The ingredients don't specify where the mint comes from, only that there is a natural flavor, but other store-bought mint chocolates tend to use peppermint oil. Its sweet notes come from the mix of sugar, xylitol, sorbitol, and sweetened condensed milk. 

This bar is delightful by itself, but you could chop it into smaller pieces to make a scrumptious and dazzling topper for peppermint ice cream. The mintiness gives this bar a refreshing taste and a happy lift when paired with the bittersweet notes of the dark chocolate, which is why I preferred it over the caramel-filled variety. It left a chocolate and mint aftertaste in my mouth.

The Dark Chocolate Bar with Raspberry Filling has the familiar allure of chocolate-covered fruit for those who are enthusiastic about the combination. It has sweetness from sugar and high fructose corn syrup and berry notes from raspberry powder and juice concentrate. The interior raspberry portion is sweet, almost syrupy with a slight tang that you get from the colorful fruit.

The raspberry filling is soft, not quite as liquidy as the caramel but not nearly as firm as the mint. It has a fruit-forward flavor to bring buoyancy to the heaviness of the slightly bitter dark chocolate. But it also holds the added texture of raspberry seeds, which makes it feel more authentic to the real thing. The seeds bring an ever-so-slight hint of grit to the mouthfeel as I gnawed into the piece of chocolate. It's not too seedy, maybe a couple in each square. 

Out of all the Godiva bar offerings, the Dark Chocolate Bar with Raspberry Filling makes a top choice for a Valentine's Day gift because of its association with chocolate-covered berries and date nights. I appreciated the sweet-tart fruit flavor to pair with the bittersweet notes of the chocolate. This tasted decadent and refreshing and was easily one of my favorite chocolates from Godiva.

The Signature Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Mini Bars are a true delight. I found myself coming back to this mellow flavor over and over again thanks to its use of a common household ingredient: sea salt. The salt brings dimension to the chocolate, giving a salty, balanced flavor to the sugary cocoa notes. It has a slightly bittersweet taste, although not nearly as bitter as the 72% dark chocolate. 

But the salt truly makes a difference in its taste and texture. You can feel the slight grit of the salt crystals as you bite down and it softens on your tongue. It brings a little bit of texture, but not as much as some of the other options with nuts. I ranked this high because the salt brings such complexity to the chocolate throughout the whole experience. I preferred to take a small bite and let it melt so the cocoa and salt would dance on my tongue.

It goes to show you don't always have to have the kookiest ingredients or flavor combinations to get superior results. This bar is also something that you can eat without it tasting too saccharine. Try cutting a couple of mini bars into small crumbles to act as a topping for a no-bake salted chocolate cheesecake to provide added crunch paired with the graham cracker crust. 

Despite everything I've said about loving dark chocolate, my No. 1 pick is a bar of milk chocolate. After a full-blown, multi-day taste test, I determined that the Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Mini Bars deserved the highest spot. But why, you may wonder. Similar to how the sea salt crystals offer dimension to the Signature Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Mini Bars, the salted toffee pieces here bring a marvelous flavor and texture to the smooth chocolate — which in turn, helps solidify this chocolate bar's place at the top. 

There's a milky taste from both the chocolate and toffee with ingredients such as milk powder, butter oil, and cream, but then that sweet crunch with a mildly salty undertone of the toffee. Out of all the mini chocolate bars, this option tastes the most like a candy bar with its noticeable sweetness from the sugar and glucose syrup – the caramel, mint, and raspberry-filled small bars would also be comparable to candy bars. 

The toffee bits in this bar present a delightful crunch that's more crisp and noticeable than the sea salt in the previous chocolate. Seeing as this bar is marketed as having salted toffee pieces, I think it would be better named as a salted toffee milk chocolate. Because the milk chocolate is noticeably sweet, this would probably be more well-liked if you served it to family or at a party. This would be my Godiva bar to give to someone as a gift.

I am a lifelong fan of chocolate, so this taste test was an enticing endeavor. While I prefer the bittersweet, rich cocoa notes of dark chocolate, I can appreciate delicious milk chocolate if it comes around, which certainly occurred here. The sizing, particularly of the mini bars, makes them very easy to sample. Over several days, I tested the different flavors to let my thoughts form. I first tried the minis, simply because they were delivered sooner, then sampled the small bars, and then I tried them all again. 

I based my judgments on the overall flavor of the chocolate, which is easily the most important factor. How did it taste and what flavors did it bring to the table? I noted, where applicable, if the flavors change from the first bite to when it's melting in the mouth or in its aftertaste. 

The texture was the secondary quality I factored in. Was there a decadent mouthfeel or an interesting texture combination? I also mentioned the versatility of the chocolate, but it didn't play a factor in its ranking. How could you use it besides eating it in its bar form? Are there other ways to eat, serve, or enjoy it? I did not factor in the cost as the minis and regular bars were different prices. If you purchase from a local shop, the price may vary based on your location or retailer.