Bonnat is my favorite chocolate maker of all time. They remain true to the best traditions while trying new things. Bonnat still makes full-size 100g bars while many other makers are at 50-75g.
One of the few to just use cacao beans, cocoa butter, and less sugar...and skip vanilla, higher sugar, lecithin, oils, and alkali to mask lower quality cacao or reduce the use of more expensive cocoa butter. Many of Bonnat's dark bars use 75pct cacao, and many milk bars have industry-leading 65pct cacao.
My most memorable chocolate bar ever was Bonnat's Juliana which was strikingly light/non-heavy and floral for a 75pct bar, and I hope it comes back one day. Also I remember Kaori, another one from Brazil, with a beautiful light blue wrapper. I wish I ordered more bars of each variety instead of just one; didn't realize how ephemeral these would be.
We made sure to visit the Bonnat store in Paris, close to Arc de Triomphe. You can also order Bonnat online direct from France although shipping is expensive.
It's great to see Bonnat release new varieties periodically like Chartreuse (infused aroma), Les Sirenes, Kuna Balam. My favorites are Real del Xoconuzco and Porcelana which are historically significant varietals and taste great.
Stephane Bonnat is as close to the real Willy Wonka as I can find, with such a passion and uncompromising dedication to chocolate making: not selling out to large multinationals (unlike others) or taking the easy road to higher profits (raising prices excessively, shrinking portions, reducing quality, producing sweeter products).
Also love the French style of chocolate using more cocoa butter. Comparing Bonnat to other world leading chocolate makers, they provide smoother texture/taste and greater quantity/value than Italian makers Amadei & Domori, and is less darkly roasted than French maker Pralus. read more