Auro Chocolate is an award-winning and highly ethical tree-to-bar Filipino chocolate brand with the goal of refining Philippine cacao and elevating the lives of local farmers. I included their mini (0.95oz or 27g) 42% milk chocolate bar in my latest Bar & Cacao haul and was so excited to try it.
The Auro Chocolate Bar
The Auro Chocolate 42% milk chocolate bar was made of sustainably-sourced cacao beans grown by farmers in the Davao region of the Philipines. It is certified to be gluten-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free, and halal. It was awarded One Star by the Great Taste Awards in 2020.
Packaging
The packaging was regal. The intricate gold and silver foil patterns paired with the burgundy background gave a sense of luxury and royalty. The intricate patterns remind me of traditional Filipino fabric. Inside the box, the chocolate was wrapped in a gold wrapper, keeping the chocolate bar fresh and intact.
Appearance
The chocolate bar itself was a medium brown color, smooth and shiny. The mold chosen for the chocolate bar was simple but different and effective. The shape of it makes it easy to break into even square pieces to share with friends or to portion off to eat again later if you don’t want to share.
Aroma and Sound
The smell is cacao-heavy with notes of tropical spices reminiscent of traditional markets of my childhood back when I was living in Jakarta, Indonesia. You can hear a crisp snap when you break the chocolate in two or as you take your first bite.
Flavor
The chocolate is sweet but not as sweet as other 42% milk chocolate bars I have tried previously. The sweetness is closer to raw honey than cane sugar. The chocolate bar is one of the most complex and interesting milk chocolate I’ve ever tried. It is cacao-forward with notes of honey, roasted walnuts, and tamarind. It also has a subtle spiciness like peppercorn that tingles the back of my throat and an aftertaste of pleasant bitterness. All these flavors are in a smooth blend of milk chocolate.
Mouthfeel
It doesn’t melt at room temperature or at the touch of my hands. It remains hard and intact until three chews in when it melts in your mouth. I wish it was a little softer.
Quality
The chocolate bar is really high-quality. You cannot get strong flavors from pure milk chocolate without the proper care put into the chocolate-making process. From fermentation to the grounding process, the process has been fine-tuned to produce such a bar of high-quality chocolate.
Is Auro Chocolate Ethical?
Auro is one of the most ethical companies I’ve reviewed. They have also made a commitment to continuously improve their production and packing process to make them more sustainable and environmentally friendly. They directly trade and partner with Filipino farmers providing high transparency and traceability that many brands lack. Auro purchases the cacao beans with an additional 10-15% premium world market price to ensure that farmers are paid fairly, sends their cacao experts to farms to help farmers get better yields, and conducts free training to help farmers improve their businesses.
Conclusion
Overall, the Auro Chocolate 42% Milk Chocolate is a winner in my books. I would definitely buy the full bar in the future. It’s one of my favorite bars from my Bar and Cacao haul.
Chocolate Scorecard
| Packaging | 5/5 | Regal and intricate |
| Appearance | 4.5/5 | Medium brown color, smooth and shiny |
| Flavor | 4.5/5 | Cacao-forward with notes of honey, roasted walnuts, and tamarind |
| Aroma | 4.5/5 | Cacao heavy with notes of tropical spices |
| Mouthfeel | 4/5 | I wish it was a little softer. |
| Quality | 5/5 | Really high-quality |
| Ethics | 5/5 | High transparency and traceability |
| Overall | 4.6/5 |
Where can you buy Auro Chocolate?
In the United States, you can buy it online from Bar & Cocoa and Chocosphere. Check out my review on Bar & Cacao. Click here for the full list of chocolate distributors.
Should you buy Auro Chocolate?
Yes, definitely!
Chocolate Information
| Brand | Auro Chocolate |
| Description | Our best-selling smooth and creamy milk chocolate with more pronounced cacao flavor crafted from a blend of the best Philippine-origin cacao beans. |
| Cocoa percentage | 42% |
| Cost | $3.50 |
| Made in | Philipines |
| Ingredients | Cane sugar, cacao mass, cacao butter, full cream milk powder, skim milk powder, soy lecithin, (emulsifier) |
| Allergens | Contains soy and milk. This product is manufactured in a facility that processes other products which may contain tree nuts and peanuts. |
Nutrition Facts
N/A
Have you tried this chocolate bar before? How was your experience? What other chocolates would you like me to review? Let me know in the comments below.
