If you're anything like me, you've never met a chocolate you haven't liked. But to save people from slogging through multiple bars to find the perfect chocolate (an awful task, we know), we set four chocolate experts the task of tasting and ranking 24 milk chocolates.
When the chocolate cravings hit, most of us tend to stick to our preferred brand to make sure we get exactly the hit we're looking for. But if you're open to trying our judges' top pick, it could be worth considering a different brand – and you might just be surprised by what it is.
How we score
Our four chocolate experts (yes, that really is a job!) tasted the 24 milk chocolate samples 'blind' – meaning they didn't know which was which.
The CHOICE Expert Score is made up of 90% taste (35% flavour, 35% texture, 25% appearance and five percent aroma) and 10% nutrition (based on the Health Star Rating, calculated from the details in the nutrition information panel and converted to a percentage).
We recommend products with a CHOICE Expert Rating of 70% and above. To find out how our experts scored all 24 chocolates, check out our milk chocolate review.
Aldi's Moser Roth milk choc topped our taste test. It's also cheaper than Cadbury's Dairy Milk.
The nation's favourite vs the supermarket brand
One of the most recognisable brands in the chocolate aisle is Cadbury Dairy Milk. The mere sight of its trademark purple wrapper really gets the chocolate cravings going (or is that just me?) and the vast array of flavours can send even the most efficient shopper into a hypnotic trance (again, is that just me?). Anyhow, regardless of my shopping habits, it's safe to say it's a favourite in many Australian households.
Moser Roth reigns supreme
When we think about chocolate brands, Aldi probably isn't top of mind – but maybe it should be. Its Moser Roth milk chocolate topped our taste test – by a convincing margin of four percentage points, beating even premium brand Lindt. Not only that, but its cheaper house brand Choceur also made the podium, coming in third just behind Lindt.
Surely this is a national tragedy! Perhaps, but the numbers don't lie.
Dairy Milk bombed in a our taste taste, outscored by several cooking chocolates. Ouch.
Where do you think Cadbury lands in this delicious ladder of chocolate rankings? Fourth? Fifth, maybe?
Nope. It was way down the list, performing even worse than several cooking chocolates, including Woolworths' Essentials Milk Choc Cooking Block, which costs just 67 cents per 100 grams.
It was even beaten by – and this is truly embarrassing – its own baking chocolate counterpart, Cadbury Baking Milk Chocolate.
More cocoa, less sugar
The Moser Roth chocolate is cheaper, contains more cocoa, and has less sugar. The only downside to the Aldi chocolate is that it comes in a smaller block – 125g to Cadbury's 180g. Moser Roth comes packaged as five individual bars, which might just help you curtail those cravings so you stop after just one. (Highly unlikely, but we hear that some people are capable of such a feat of self-control.)
Aside from the smaller block, that sounds like good news all around. And since it's cheaper, you can eat more without the guilt. (That's how it works, right?)
The winner: Aldi Moser Roth Finest Milk Chocolate
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 81%
- Price per 100g: $2.39
- Country of origin statement: Made in Germany
- Experts say: "Good texture. Very smooth, easily melts. Clean flavour, true to type. Slight but pleasant aroma. Strong cocoa flavour. Fruity and slightly bitter. Smooth, shiny, nice appearance. Mild but pleasant and balanced aroma. Melts well in the mouth. Very pleasant, not too sweet, balanced. A little roasty on the top note. Well moulded. Overall a good example of a supermarket-grade milk chocolate."
The runner-up: Cadbury Dairy Milk Milk Chocolate
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 49%
- Price per 100g: $2.78
- Country of origin statement: Made in Australia from imported and local ingredients
- Experts say: "Slight milky/caramel notes. Very plain and oversweet. Creamy melt, after chalky start."
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
