The World's Most Expensive Chocolate — Would You Spend $500 On A Bar?

Even if you're not in a place to drop a lot of money on a Michelin-star meal, a nice bar of chocolate is a perfect little everyday luxury. But did you know there are chocolate bars that cost as much, if not more, than dinner at a world-class restaurant? Specifically, the most expensive brand of chocolate in the world, To'ak Chocolate, sells 1.76 oz of the Masters Series Enriquestuardo — El Jaguar chocolate for a hefty $490. The bar is made from grand cru cacao, which is a French term used in a variety of food designations. In the case of chocolate, grand cru is cacao from a single region or geographic territory. In the case of "El Jaguar," the cacao is single-origin chocolate sourced from particular beans in Ecuador that are famous for their especially fine and intense flavor.

The "El Jaguar" bar is also packaged in a lavish way that befits such a pricey treat. The packaging is specially designed to recall Mesoamerican history and folklore thanks to original artwork by the Ecuadorian artist Enriquestuardo, and is decorated with real gold leaf. Not all To'ak items are so elaborate or expensive, though. If you want to try some To'ak chocolate but don't have several hundred dollars in your candy bar budget, you can find some of the flavored chocolates on the To'ak website (including one made with powdered ants — which are indeed safe to eat) for under $10 for 2 servings. Be sure to do the "break trick" for chocolate quality before biting in.

One of the reasons To'ak chocolate is able to command such a high price is that the company specializes in specially-sourced, single origin chocolate. But what exactly does that mean? Well, chocolate comes from the bean, or seed, inside cacao fruit, the flavor of which is greatly impacted by where the cacao is grown. Single origin chocolate is made of cacao from one region, or even, in specialty cases, form a single estate. This is similar to what makes a wine a Malbec from a certain vineyard as opposed to a red blend. Coffee can also be single origin, and is often more expensive if it is.

But why does single origin chocolate cost more than chocolate made with cacao from multiple sources? Well, there are a few reasons; but essentially, the answer is that more bespoke effort goes into producing single origin chocolate. This can include increased shipping costs to ensure that the chocolate from a particular region or estate is being used, and the fact that single-origin chocolate is often produced in smaller batches, leading to higher costs per batch. In the case of chocolates like "El Jaguar," rare cacao beans will also command a higher price.