Darker, but not bitter
Meiji Black Chocolate Mild Japanese Dark Bar 50g
$4.09 AUD
$8.18 per 100 gYou are looking at this one
Made byMeijiTokyo, Japan
Meiji Black Chocolate Mild Japanese Dark Bar 50g
Meiji's dark bar, and the honest thing to say first is that "Black" oversells it.
Regular price $4.09AUD
Also in the range
How many to add
- Postage from $11.95. Postage is calculated at checkout on the weight of your parcel.
- Dispatched from Sydney within 2 business days.
- Tracked to your door with Australia Post.
Why we say this
14th best-selling chocolate in Japan on the national purchase-volume ranking for January to March 2025: the ranked item is this 50 g bar.
The range
Which one do I need?
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The plain milk one
Meiji Milk Chocolate Japanese Chocolate Bar 50g
$4.09 AUD
$8.18 per 100 g
Product information
About
Meiji's dark bar, and the honest thing to say first is that "Black" oversells it. It is bittersweet rather than bitter, the cocoa is there without the sharp edge of a high-cocoa bar, and it snaps crisp, sharper still straight from the fridge. Buy it if you find most milk chocolate too sweet but do not actually want a bitter bar; if you want something genuinely bitter, this is the wrong one and a 70% or higher is what you are after. It was the 14th best-selling chocolate in Japan on the national purchase-volume ranking for January to March 2025, and the ranked pack is this 50 g bar.
On the pack: 明治ブラックチョコレート
What you're getting
- In 2024 Meiji cut the cocoa in several of its products, far enough that some dropped below Japan's full chocolate standard. This bar was not one of them.
- It does contain vegetable fat, third on the ingredient list, where Meiji's milk bar has none. Both are still full chocolate.
- Chill it and it snaps cleanly.
- Japanese bakers use it two ways, in place of Meiji's milk bar, or together with it. Meiji's own recipe notes say it cuts the sweetness and deepens the colour.
- Allergens: milk and soy. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.
There is no cocoa percentage for this bar, none has ever been published, so any figure you see quoted for it is a guess. It is also not the same thing as Meiji's Chocolate Effect range, which is the genuinely high-cocoa line and a separate range. It is an eating bar, not a couverture: the kind made to be melted and re-set at controlled temperatures. Fine for melting into cakes; not a chocolatier's coating chocolate. One thing that surprises label-readers: it carries slightly more fat and slightly more energy than the milk bar, not less. One practical thing before you order: Meiji's own storage limit is below 28 °C, and a Sydney summer runs well above that, so it is worth thinking about when you order rather than after it arrives.
Meiji's basic nama chocolate recipe, the soft, barely-set squares you eat with a dusting of cocoa, is written around the milk bar, and notes this one as an acceptable substitute. Meiji's own FAQ says the swap gives a less sweet result. Our guide Nama chocolate: the soft squares, and why the recipe counts in bars has the method and the ratio.
Ingredients
Sugar, cocoa mass, vegetable fat, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, lecithin (soy), flavouring.
For your safety, please check both the information on this page and the printed label on the pack. If anything is unclear or the information differs, please contact us before consuming the product.
Allergens
- Contains
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- Milk
- Soy
- Dietary notes
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Nothing in the ingredient list names gelatine, alcohol or animal fat.
For your safety, please check both the information on this page and the printed label on the pack. If anything is unclear or the information differs, please contact us before consuming the product.
Nutrition
| Per bar (50 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 1205 kJ (288 kcal) | 2410 kJ (576 kcal) |
| Protein | 3.3 g | 6.6 g |
| Fat | 19.7 g | 39.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 26.1 g | 52.2 g |
| – available carbohydrate | 22.8 g | 45.6 g |
| – dietary fibre | 3.3 g | 6.6 g |
| Sodium | 5 mg | 10 mg |
From the Japanese pack's nutrition panel — not the Australian nutrition information panel. Available carbohydrate is the pack's 糖質: carbohydrate less fibre, not sugars. The Japanese pack gives no saturated fat or sugars figure. The per-100 g column, the kJ figures and sodium (from the pack's salt equivalent, 食塩相当量, ÷ 2.54) are our calculation.
Details
- Maker
- Meiji · Tokyo
- Made in
- Japan
- Net contents
- One bar: 50 g
Our guide
How to eat it
Good to know
- Wrap it and put it in the fridge for a while before you eat it. It is ready when a square snaps cleanly off along a moulded line. Wrap it because Meiji warns that chocolate picks up other smells in a fridge.
- For baking you can use it two ways: on its own in place of the milk bar when you want the result less sweet, or with it, one of Meiji's own recipes takes 100 g of each. Chop it, melt it in a bowl set over hot water at about 50–55 °C, and stir until smooth.
- Keep it below 28 °C the rest of the time. That is Meiji's own limit.
In their own words
What Japanese buyers say
What do the numbers mean?
Counts of how many reviews mentioned each thing, not a score. One review can mention several. Every quote is our translation, with the original Japanese beneath it.
- What they like
Just the right sweetness, and easy to eat.
ちょうど良い甘さで食べやすい。
mentioned in 14 of 100 reviews we readfrom monolog, a Japanese review site
- What they like
It does a lot of the work when I make gâteau au chocolat.
ガトーショコラを作るのに大活躍です。
mentioned in 17 of 100 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they grumble about
Ate it after ages — was "black" always this sweet?
久々に食べましたがブラックってこんなに甘かったっけ？
mentioned in 9 of 100 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they like
For a chocolate bar, Meiji is the one I like best.
板チョコだと明治が一番すきです。
mentioned in 12 of 100 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they like
The crisp snap of the texture was good.
パキパキっとした食感がよかったです。
mentioned in 9 of 78 reviews we readfrom mognavi, a Japanese food and drink review site
- What they grumble about
Contrary to the jet-black pack, the taste is mild.
真っ黒なパッケージと裏腹にマイルドなお味。
from mognavi
- What they like
Gently bitter, not too sweet.
ほろ苦い味、あまり甘すぎず
from mognavi
- What they like
I love biting into it crisp and snapping cold from the freezer.
冷凍庫でキンキンに冷やしたブラックチョコをパリパリとかじって食べるのが好き。
from monolog
- What they grumble about
It says "black", but unlike canned coffee there's ordinary sweetness.
ブラックといいつつ、缶コーヒーと異なり、甘みが普通にあり
from mognavi
Our tip: On a can of coffee in Japan, "black" means unsweetened — which is the expectation this bar's name sets, and does not quite meet.
- What they like
A bitter chocolate, yes, but not a strong bitterness — a refined one.
ビターチョコレートとはいえ、強い苦味ではなく、上品な苦味が感じられます。
from mognavi
- What they like
The balance of milk sweetness and cacao's gentle bitterness is exquisite.
ミルクの甘味とカカオのほろ苦さとのバランスが絶妙
from mognavi
- What they grumble about
Chocolate's got pretty expensive… it's a luxury now, lol.
チョコもかなり高くなったよね…高級だよ…笑
mentioned in 17 of 100 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they grumble about
Bit heavy on the fat feel. Could be more bitter.
油脂感強いかなぁ。もっとビターでもいいかなぁ
from mognavi
Our tip: The vegetable fat is third on the ingredient list. The milk bar in this same range has none, which is the difference if you are comparing the two.
- What they like
Bitter, but the sweetness is just right — I eat it when I'm tired, or when I want something sweet.
ビターですが、甘さが丁度よく、疲れている時、甘い物が欲しい時に食べてます。
from monolog
- What they grumble about
A severity, a bitterness, more than I can take. None of chocolate's sweet aroma.
受け止めきれないぐらいの厳しさ。苦さ。チョコレートの甘い香りなど無い。
from mognavi
- What they like
Clean sweetness, cacao richness.
甘さスッキリ カカオの、こく
from monolog
- What they like
It isn't greasy either.
脂っぽくもないです
from mognavi
- What they grumble about
Personally I'd like a sugar-free, properly bitter one.
個人的には糖分なしの 苦〰️いチョコにして欲しいなっ。
from monolog
Real quotes from the review sites named on the cards. We show no star rating from those sites.
The maker
Where it comes from
- Meiji
- Tokyo
- Founded 1917
Meiji has made chocolate in Japan since the 1920s. Its milk bar, this one's sibling, went on sale in September 1926 and turned 100 in September 2026.
In 2024, with cocoa prices climbing, Meiji cut the cocoa in around forty of its products.
Two of the four bars in this line-up went that way: the hi-milk and the white. This one did not, and neither did the milk bar.
Product facts here are checked against the maker's own page: meiji.co.jp (opens in a new tab)
Often bought together
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Meiji Black Chocolate Mild Japanese Dark Bar 50g
$4.09 AUD
You are on this one
