Best Chocolate of 2016 on The Chocolate Cult

I decided to give you all a full day to recover from the New Year's weekend. Admit it, you hit it a little hard this year, but that's okay. Today I want to look back at 2016 and recap every feature review that we did ranging from books to silicone bake and candy making gear. The brands, companies, and individuals are listed in order that they were covered starting with the earliest and building to the latest. At the end, we'll name our "Best" for 2016. Note: the "Best" must be chocolate food or drink so a lot these were automatically out of the running for this year's title. Chocolate products eligible for our "Best Of" are marked with *.

Bonjour Cuisine Silicone Baking Mats and Spatula
*Dagoba Assortment Gift Jar
*Sahale Snacks Bars and Pouches
*Viola Chocolat House Blend Hot Chocolate Mix
*Reese's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup
Premium 12 Cup Silicone Muffin and Cupcake Complete Bundle
Reynold's Cookie Baking Sheets
Madd Capp Checkers
SmartPlanet
Designer Protein Lite
Kroger
Fuzion Cookware
Garnier
The Carrot Seed Kitchen Co.
DII
*Equal Exchange
*Endangered Species Chocolate
*Moonstruck
* MAGNUM
101 Vegan Chocolate Recipes: A Vegan Cookbook Delight
Popsicle
*KozyShack
Sterno S'mores Kit
*Breyers Gelato
*Good Humor
* Tempting Sweets
*Klondike
*Rolo
*Take Five
* Hunters Honey Farm
Market Lane
*Arnott's
* Lake Champlain Chocolates
*Sheila G. Brownie Brittle
The Southern Cookie Book
*Get Up and Go
*UNREAL
Yolli
*Enjoy Life
Snickers
Velesco
Jif
Jackie Kingon
OXO
*240Sweet
Donna Linder
*Seattle Chocolates
Joanne Fluke
*FARM Restaurant
*Twix
*Snickers
Loony Labs
*Silk

So out of 52 companies, brands, and individuals whose creations we've looked at in 2016, only 28 were food or drink items made with chocolate in some form. That means only those 28 are in the running for Best of 2016. Why so many non-edible items? We work with what companies are willing to send our way, readers. So let's narrow down the master list to those in the running.

*Dagoba Assortment Gift Jar
*Sahale Snacks Bars and Pouches
*Viola Chocolat House Blend Hot Chocolate Mix
*Reese's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup
*Equal Exchange
*Endangered Species Chocolate
*Moonstruck
* MAGNUM
*KozyShack
*Breyers Gelato
*Good Humor
* Tempting Sweets
*Klondike
*Rolo
*Take Five
* Hunters Honey Farm
*Arnott's
* Lake Champlain Chocolates
*Sheila G. Brownie Brittle
*Get Up and Go
*UNREAL
*Enjoy Life
*240Sweet
*Seattle Chocolates
*FARM Restaurant
*Twix
*Snickers
*Silk

Let's remember the previous winners so we can reflect on what makes for the "Best" here on The Chocolate Cult.

Previous Best of the Year on The Chocolate Cult have included:
Chocion (2015)
Michel Cluizel (2014)
Askinosie Chocolate (2013)
TCHO (2012)
American Heritage Chocolate (2011)
Guittard (2010)
Theo Chocolate (2009)

All of the winners offer a wide range of chocolate products, they all have some type of educational or social program that gives back to the world around them either directly through farmers, through fair labor practices, charity work, or engagement with the public. Several of the 2016 companies and brands meet these criteria so I went back and considered those we've featured in the past as well. That makes the winner easier to determine.

The 2016 Best Chocolate of the Year on The Chocolate Cult is

Equal Exchange

From tiny chocolates you can hand out at Halloween

Easter

or Valentines Day

to bars and cocoas you can use to bake with or candy make with

to bars you can enjoy as they are Equal Exchange has a wide range of products.

Recently I've been talking with the company more and looking into their practices and I am pleased by what I'm learning every year. Read our interview with them here.

Congratulations, Equal Exchange! We look forward to revealing more of your wonderful products in the years to come.