America's Best Chocolatiers 2013

Christmas and Valentine's Day are just around the corner so if you're shopping for chocoholics or for yourself, you might want to include these great chocolate-makers and their award-winning creations in your holiday gift baskets. There are only a handful of awards for chocolate, and even fewer which are international and judged by experts. This chocolatiers in this article were compiled by combining the findings of the International Chocolate Awards (the most prestigious) and the Academy of Chocolate Awards for 2013 to spotlight the best the U.S. has to offer. Not surprisingly, there were overlaps between the two lists and these are the American chocolate makers that made the cut and the confections that got them there:

Chocolopolis

AMANO CHOCOLATE COMPANY (Orem, UT)

• Chuao 70% Dark Chocolate Bar 

ASKINOSIE CHOCOLATE (Springfield, MO)

• 70% Cortés, Honduras Dark Chocolate Bar
•  Dark Milk Chocolate + Ancho Chile and Pistachio CollaBARation™ Bar

BAR AU CHOCOLAT (Manhattan Beach, CA)

• Chiapas, Mexico 70%  
• Sambirano Vallley, Madagascar 70%

CHOCOLOPOLIS (Seattle, WA)

• Colombia Truffle 
• Anise Ganache Fig Dark
• Lemon Lavender Truffle

CHUAO CHOCOLATIER (Encinitas, CA)

• Salted Chocolate Crunch (flavored dark chocolate bar)
• Spicy Maya (flavored dark chocolate bar)
• Pop Corn (flavored milk chocolate bar)
• Rosemary Salt Caramel

Forte Chocolates

CHOCOLATE SPRINGS (Lenox, MA)

• Salted Caramel Truffle

DANDELION CHOCOLATE (San Francisco, CA)

• Papua New Guinea 70% Dark Chocolate Bar

FIKA CHOKLAD (New York, NY)

• Quinoa Hazelnut
• Goat Cheese Truffle

FORTE CHOCOLATES (Mount Vernon, WA)

• Chocolate Love (dark milk chocolate bar)
• Rosemary Sea Salt Bar (flavored white chocolate bar)
• Rosemary Caramel
• Sea Salt Caramel
• Lemon Pepper Butter Truffle
• Caramel with Rosemary and Orange
• Chipotle Caramel with Orange

FRUITION CHOCOLATE (Shokan, NY)

• Toasted White Chocolate (white chocolate bar)
• Strawberry and Toasted Cashew Gianduja

GEARHARTS FINE CHOCOLATES (Charlottesville, VA)

• Pistachio Toffee

Jade Chocolates

HUDSON CHOCOLATES (Hudson Valley, NY)

• Milk Chocolate and Sichimi Togarashi Bar

JADE CHOCOLATES (San Francisco, CA)

• Genmai  (flavored milk chocolate bar)

JCOCO (Seattle, WA)

• jcoco Edamame Sea Salt (flavored milk chocolate bar)
• jcoco Veracruz Orange Cayenne (flavored white chocolate bar)

L.A.BURDICK (Walpole, NH)

• Fig Bonbon 
• White Chocolate Mousse

Socola Chocolatier

LILLIE BELLE FARMS (Central Point, OR)

• Lavender Sea Salt Caramel

LUXX CHOCOLAT (Ridgewood, NJ)

• Fig and Port Hat Trick

PATRIC CHOCOLATE (Columbia, MO)

• Madagascar 67% Dark Chocolate Bar
• Piura 67% Dark Chocolate Bar
• Mocha OMG Flavored Dark Chocolate Bar 

PAYARD (New York, NY)

• Chocolat Chocolat
• Key Lime Chocolate
• Salted Caramel Chocolate

POTOMAC CHOCOLATE

• San Martín 70%

THE SECRET CHOCOLATIER (Charlotte, NC)

• Cardamom Chocolate Truffle

SOCOLA CHOCOLATIER (San Francisco, CA)

• Dark Chocolate Cognac truffles

TCHO Galactic Gelato Bars

TCHO CHOCOLATE (San Francisco, CA)

• Classic Milk Chocolate Bar
• Galactic Gelato Bars (flavored dark chocolate bar)
• Mokaccino (flavored milk chocolate bar)
• Serious Milk – Classic
• Classic Serious-Milk + New American Gianduja

TEJAS CHOCOLATE (Spring, TX)

• Capistrano Dark Chocolate Bar

THEO CHOCOLATE (Seattle, WA)

• Mint Ganache
• Ghost Chile Caramel
• Licorice Caramel 
• Burnt Sugar Ganache
• Honey Saffron Caramel
• Talisker Ganache Confection

TUMBADOR CHOCOLATE (Brooklyn, NY)

• Salted Peanut Bar
• Kalamansi “Pie” Caramel

XOCOLATTI (New York, NY)

• Passion Fruit Truffle