What do you give someone who already has everything? A beautiful box of rare artisan chocolate, of course. Whether for you or for that special someone, here are the best chocolatiers in Britain.
Famous Chocolates in UK
Terry’s Chocolate Orange, Dairy Milk, Yorkies – these are just a few of the iconic chocolates consumed every day in Britain. While it’s easy to wolf down an entire share bar of Cadbury’s wholenut after a long day, the rich world of chocolate goes far beyond those purple wrappers on supermarket shelves. In the UK, you’ll find plenty of artisan chocolatiers hand-crafting delightful chocolates that are fit for royal households, or better still, fit for you. From bean-to-bar producers working with all-female cooperatives in Virunga National Park, to master chocolatiers crafting award-winning truffles in the Scottish Highlands, here’s the best chocolate you’ll find.
Rococo Chocolate
Rococo is everything an artisanal chocolatier should be: creative, distinctly original, and above all, uncompromising on quality. This London chocolatier first opened its doors in 1983 as a small boutique selling hand-made chocolate, but today, it’s one of the most respected brands in the capital, with retail stores in affluent districts like Belgravia, Chelsea and Marylebone. Here you can indulge in some lovely flavours that aren’t typically paired with chocolate in the UK, such as cardamom, lavender and rose.
The praline quail eggs at Rococo are everything that Cadbury’s mini eggs wish they could be – unbelievably rich and almost too pretty to eat. True chocolate aficionados will enjoy the Criollo chocolate range at Rococo, which uses a rare variety of cacao that dates back to the Mayan empire. Despite the company’s impressive growth, the chocolates are still handmade in small batches in London to ensure that every morsel is consistently excellent.
Ocelot Chocolate
Ocelot Chocolate is one of the newer contenders on the artisanal chocolate scene. This modern brand was founded in 2013 by husband and wife duo Matt and Ish Broadbent – two professional chefs who started making chocolate in the back of their apartment for the love of it. Following a rapid growth period fuelled by online interest, Ocelot now produces a range of delectable chocolate products in its Scottish micro-factory, crafting bars with bold flavours like blood orange and rich black cherry.
Ocelot stands out for its direct, transparent approach to ethical sourcing, working with Original Beans to empower cocoa farmers in Eastern Congo, paying nearly twice the Fairtrade price. The full-bodied, earthy beans that make Ocelot’s creamy organic 70% chocolate are grown in the famous Virunga National Park, which is home to the last Mountain Gorillas. The 50% dark milk chocolate bar, Femme, is named in homage to the first all-female farming cooperative who grow the cocoa in Virunga.
Charbonnel & Walker
If it’s good enough for Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II, it’s good enough for us. Established in 1875, Charbonnel & Walker was one of the first master chocolatiers in London, and they’re as esteemed today as they were in Victorian high-society (and, believe it or not, they’re in the same shop on Bond Street). This iconic brand uses many of the original recipes from the nineteenth century, and makes its chocolate with traditional rich couverture for a supremely creamy texture and that extra pleasing ‘snap’ when broken.
Charbonnel & Walker is most famed for its truffle selection, which includes flavours like Marc de Champagne, sea salt caramel, caramelised biscuit, and more. Other favourites include English rose and violet creams, classic bittermints, and dark chocolate gift boxes which come in a handmade box tied with a satin ribbon – a perfect gift for any occasion. The company’s Royal Warrant was renewed in 1970 by the late Queen Elizabeth II, and the chocolates are made on the Duchy of Cornwall Estate in Poundbury.
Paul A. Young
Paul A. Young is an award-winning chocolatier who embodies the best of British artisan chocolate. Although the Islington store shuttered last year, Paul is still active in the industry but takes a more ‘freelance’ approach to the art of chocolate, appearing at different events and shops around the UK. As a self-taught chocolatier, Paul is renowned for producing avant-garde pairings that you don’t expect to work but really do work, like the port and stilton truffle, or the more controversial marmite truffle. The enthusiastic home chef will enjoy Paul’s award-winning book, Adventures with Chocolate, which has recipes like spicy Aztec hot chocolate, alongside savoury chocolate dishes like chocolate chilli con carne.
Cartografie
Founded in 2020 by Kae Shibata and Masterchef the Professionals winner Sven-Hanson Britt, Cartografie is a bean-to-bar artisanal chocolate maker that has sustainability and ethical sourcing at its core. Much like Ocelot, many of the beans used here are grown by the women of Virunga, but they also have a huge selection of other cocoa varieties sourced from the Amazon basin, the valleys of Peru and beyond.
These dazzling chocolates are made in store every day, and they glint with a shine that looks impossible for an edible product. Chocolate aficionados with a refined cocoa palate will love Cartografie’s minimalist Purity collection, which offers a selection of their chocolates in their purest form: perfectly-tempered couverture seasoned generously with sea salt. You’ll find this lovely chocolaterie in Nine Elms, London, but there’s also an online shop which stocks gift-worthy goodies like single-origin Tanzanian hot chocolate.
Highland Chocolatier
Nestled in the quaint village of Grandtully in the Scottish Highlands is Scotland’s best artisan chocolatier, Highland Chocolatier. It’s here you’ll find the multi-award winning velvet truffle – a mouth-wateringly smooth piece of chocolate dusted ganache that will linger on your mind and palate long after the box has finished.
Highland Chocolatier is as dedicated as it gets when it comes to the art of making chocolate. Master chocolatier and founder Iain Burnett trained traditionally under various French, Belgian and Swiss schools to master the craft, and he spent three years perfecting the recipe of the velvet truffle. The cocoa used in this beautiful chocolate is sustainably sourced from the volcanic soils of São Tomé, and the cream is sourced from the local herd of Scottish Friesians. The shop in Grandtully is open every day, but there’s a well-stocked online shop if you’re unable to venture that far north.
Artisan du Chocolat
Artisan du Chocolat is one of the UK’s most favoured modern luxury chocolatiers. Here you can find red cacao slabs, shimmering pistachio pearls, creamy pralines, and best of all: salted caramels, which the house is credited with first creating. This sumptuous British chocolate is hand-crafted in the Kent countryside from beans sustainably grown in South America, and it has enjoyed quite the journey since launching 24 years ago.
In 2003, Artisan du Chocolat chocolates were served on the last ever concorde flight, and 2009, the company sent its candied gingers to space as a NASA astronaut’s favourite treat. This modern luxury chocolatier has also supplied a range of Michelin-starred restaurants in London, exemplifying its consistent quality.
Artisan du Chocolat has boutiques in London’s most glamorous spots including Chelsea, Kensington and Selfridges, and it has recently expanded to international cities like Doha and Riyadh. Treat yourself to some milk salted honeycombs from the brand’s self-indulgence collection, or fork out on a gift hamper to impress that someone who already has everything.
Final Take
There's a moment for the simple pleasure of a classic Yorkie bar, and there's a moment for indulging in a dreamy box of handcrafted Rococo truffles. Whether they’re for you or for someone else, sinking into a sumptuous box of artisanal chocolate is always a sensory feast, and in these seven UK chocolateries, it’s usually always worth the price tag.
