Darker, but not bitter
Meiji Black Chocolate — Mild Japanese Dark Bar, 50g
$3.29
$6.58 per 100 gYou are looking at this one
The range
Which one do I need?
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The plain milk one
Meiji Milk Chocolate — Japanese Chocolate Bar, 50g
$3.40
$6.80 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
- It was not one of the Meiji bars whose cocoa was cut back in 2024.
- It does contain vegetable fat, third on the ingredient list, where the milk bar has none. Both are still full chocolate, but it is a difference you could otherwise only find by reading a Japanese label, so we would rather say it than let you discover it.
- Chill it and it snaps cleanly, and that crispness is one of the things people mention most about it.
- Japanese bakers use it two ways, in place of the 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.
- Allergens, and one thing the label does not settle: it names a flavouring without saying what that flavouring is made from, so this is not a bar we can call vegetarian.
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 is sold separately. 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.
Ingredients
The maker's ingredient list, translated from the Japanese pack. Anything after the break is an additive — the Japanese label lists those separately.
Sugar, cocoa mass, vegetable fat, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, emulsifier (soy lecithin), flavouring.
The printed label on the pack is always the authority on ingredients and allergens, not this page — please read it in full before you rely on our summary. If you are unsure about an ingredient, contact us.
Allergens
The maker declares:
- Allergens
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- Milk
- Soy
- Dietary notes
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The ingredient list names a flavouring without saying what it is made from, so this is not a bar we can call vegetarian. Nothing else in the list names gelatine, alcohol or animal fat. The vegetable fat is exactly that: vegetable.
The printed label on the pack is always the authority on ingredients and allergens, not this page — please read it in full before you rely on our summary. If you are unsure about an ingredient, contact us.
Details
- Maker
- Meiji
- Prefecture
- Tokyo
- Made in
- Japan
- Net contents
- One bar: 50 g
Our guide
How to eat it
- 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
Not being too sweet is what's good about it.
甘すぎないのが良い。
mentioned in 19 of 110 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they like
Cheap and just the right sweetness — invaluable for baking!
安いし丁度いい甘さなのでお菓子作りに重宝！
mentioned in 17 of 110 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 21 of 110 reviews we readfrom monolog
- What they like
For a chocolate bar it's Meiji. I've known it since childhood, so I use it with confidence.
板チョコと言えば明治さん。小さい頃から知っているので安心して使えます。
mentioned in 12 of 110 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 6 of 110 reviews we readfrom mognavi
- 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 that isn't too bitter.
ビターチョコレートなのに苦すぎない
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 8 of 110 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.
ビターですが、甘さが丁度よく、疲れている時に食べてます。
from monolog
- What they grumble about
No chocolate aroma — harsh, severe, bitter.
チョコレートの香りが無くキツい、厳しさ。苦さ。
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 Japanese review sites (monolog, mognavi), translated by us. We show no star rating from those sites.
The maker
Where it comes from
- Meiji
- Tokyo
Meiji has made chocolate in Japan since the 1920s. Its milk bar, this one's sibling, went on sale in September 1926 and turns 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
$3.29
You are on this one
