The Luxury Gift Guide: The Best for Chocolate Lovers

Is someone on your gift list a chocoholic? Then you’re in a need of a luxury gift with a chocolate theme. No worries – we’ve got a list of delicious gifts for those who love chocolate. Our correspondent Abbie Martin Greenbaum has curated our luxury gift guide of the best presents for chocolate lovers.

what’s the best gift for a chocoholic?

Everybody loves chocolate. Okay, maybe not everybody, but most people – and those who do love it with a passion.

And with good reason! Chocolate is so versatile that it can taste like a completely different dessert each time you taste it. Here at Dandelion Chandelier, we’re on a permanent rotation that goes something like this: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, hot chocolate, chocolate with nuts, without nuts, semisweet, bittersweet. Repeat.  

Chocolate has also become a symbol of love and romance, a token of affection. Who doesn’t want to get a box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day? Or, for that matter, on any day!

Chocolate is such a crowd-pleaser, it is the easiest way to give someone – even someone you don’t know all that well – something they’ll probably like. Few people say no to delicious gifts of chocolate.

why do so many people love chocolate?

It turns out there’s science behind our deep desires for chocolates. Eating chocolate directly stimulates our brains with feelings of pleasure and happiness, due to the release of the hormone serotonin.

It also has some medicinal properties – some would even say it’s good for us. Chocolate is actually a super food that contains flavanols – shown to reduce blood pressure; they can sometimes also boost brain power and memory because they stimulate increased blood flow to the brain. Cocoa has nearly twice as many antioxidants as red wine; that means it may have beneficial impact on diseases like high blood pressure.

So in addition to being a gesture of love, affection and friendship, delicious gifts of chocolate could be considered as gifts of wellness. What could be better than that?

the luxury gift guide: the best for chocolate lovers

If you’re all in on this idea, we have assembled a gift guide for all of the chocoholics in your life. Here you’ll find some of the most luxurious boxes, tasting sets and baskets, perfect for anyone you know and love who has a sweet tooth. And maybe for yourself, as well. Here’s our Sweet Sixteen of delicious gifts of chocolate.

1. Truffles from Charbonnel et Walker

We begin our luxury gift guide to the best for chocolate lovers with the chocolatier to The Queen. London-based Charbonnel et Walker makes chocolate gifts that are gorgeous to look at and even better to consume. Our personal favorite is the Pink Champagne Truffles (£27). But you cannot go wrong with any of them. Trust us – we’ve tried lots of their flavors!

2. the vegan gift box from Melt London

Is your chocolate lover vegan or vegetarian? Then Melt London is the place to go for the perfect luxury chocolate gift. Their Vegan Gift Box (£18.99) includes the shop’s famous Praline cup and dark chocolate truffle; it is also plastic-free. 

3. Fortnum & Mason’s chocolate library

Fortnum & Mason, the famous London shop on Piccadilly, is known for many things. One of our favorites is their literate and whimsical Chocolate Library. 

As they describe it, “combining the best of both the literary and chocolate worlds, our Chocolate bar Library is filled with a selection of delicious and interesting flavors, such as Rose & Violet, White Chocolate, Salted Honeycomb and more. Our Chocolate library makes for a perfect reading accompaniment.” Each bar (£5.95) has a literary connection. Say no more. We’re in! 

4. milk chocolate with fleur de sel from Pierre Hermé Paris 

French chocolatier Pierre Hermé has long been the toast of Paris. Now, his confections are available in London and New York City (at his new shop at Saks Fifth Avenue), as well as by mail order delivery across Europe. So if you’re lucky, you could give the gift of one of his charming and delicious gift boxes or bars. The bars (€9.90) are available in a multitude of flavors. At retail, though, we think these adorable tins are the best way to gift a little taste of Paris no matter where your gift recipient lives. 

5. A Trip to the Home of Chocolate

If your chocolate lover also loves to travel, perhaps a trip to Switzerland is in order. That’s where they can check out the newly-opened Lindt Home of Chocolate, which is entirely dedicated to the history and production of the confection. This new space in a nearly suburb of Zurich will serve multiple purposes; it’s home to a museum, a Lindt café, a chocolate store, a research facility, and a chocolateria (offering chocolate classes). The star attraction, though? The world’s largest chocolate fountain, which stands at over 30 feet tall.

6. A tasting box from Max Chocolatier

Located in Lucerne, Switzerland, Max Chocolatier makes all of their chocolates by hand, using only the best ingredients. Consider a chocoholic gift of  one of these attractive blue Tasting Boxes from Max Chocolatier (CHF 99). It includes eight different kinds of chocolate. Variety of flavor is everything when it comes to a gift with a chocolate theme. Each of these bars is made with chocolate from a different place in the world, from Bolivia to Madagascar.

7. a set of petits from Richart

In this set of Petits from Richart ($72.60), each chocolate looks like a gem. And tastes incredible, too. There are forty-nine individual chocolates, each of them decorated to look like a miniature work of art. The flavors are robust and often evocative of memories; each one is  like a tiny, specific experience. They are made with 73% dark chocolate from Venezuela, from the coco bean Criollo.

8. Dark Chocolate “Fruits de Mer” from Leonidas

This Belgian chocolate-maker offers seasonal gift boxes to suit each month. These miniature shell-shaped chocolates are the ideal luxury gift for chocolate lovers who live by the sea (or who wish they did). The Dark Chocolate “Fruits de Mer” collection from Leonidas ($36.50) is a box of dark chocolate sea creatures, with an unforgettable praline filling. Chocoholics will fall in love with them, and the nautical theme will evoke the best days by the shore.

9. Pistoles de Marie Antoinette from Debauve & Gallais

Pistoles are historic as well as delicious. The Royal Family’s chemist invented them as a way of helping Marie Antoinette swallow medicine. Today they are made by Debauve & Gallais, the oldest chocolate shop in Paris. In the gift box of Pistoles de Marie Antoinette from Debauve & Gallais ($85), each piece is printed with the image of a different French monument. Making them the most palatable historic souvenir anyone has anyone received. The little coins come in multiple flavors, including dark chocolate, coffee, earl gray and almond.

10. “Great Sensations” from Pierre Marcolini

The “Great Sensations” box from Pierre Marcolini (89€) is the chocolate box to end all chocolate boxes. Three drawers: one with milk and dark chocolate squares, one with traditional truffles, and one with the colorful crème-filled hearts for which the brand is best known. This visually arresting gift offers your chocolate lover the gift of eighty-six bites of pure happiness.

11. Chocolate Steamer Trunk from Vosges

The most ambitious gift on this list of delicious gifts of chocolate, the Chocolate Steamer Trunk from Vosges ($1,500) is more than a decadent dessert. It is a luxurious experience, a commitment to an exploration of the world through the sense of taste. It includes every single delectable item from the Vosges line, including truffles, bars, squares, caramels, and more. The items come delivered in a unique vintage trunk that is hand-selected for each recipient. If you know someone who loves chocolates but already has everything, this might just be the perfect way to wow them.

12. Chocolate celebration tower from Truffili di Pellegrini

In the Chocolate Celebration Tower from Truffili Di Pellegrini ($185), three elegant red tiered boxes are tied together with a ribbon. Each one is filled with gourmet Swiss chocolates. These creations are designed to entertain every sense, and so they are beautiful to look at, silky to touch, sweet-smelling and, of course, melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

13. Ultimate Chocolate Hamper from Corné Port Royal

Corné Port Royal (£40) first opened in 1932, and is still in business today. This basket has everything a chocoholic could ever want, including truffles, pralines and chocolate squares. Everything is adorably wrapped and tied with a bow, pairing the chocolate’s scrumptious taste with a sleek presentation. And the chocolates are all hand-decorated, making them as stylish as the packaging.

14. Truffles from Auer Chocolatier

The Swiss truffles from Auer Chocolatier (CHF 48) can be customized. Before ordering, you can select the desired weight of the truffles, as well as whether or not you would like them to have alcohol in the center. This way you’re able to have a chocolate experience that is as expertly tailored to the taste buds of your luxury gift recipient as possible.

15. Swiss Chocolate Box from Delafee

Chocolate wrapped in gold – what could be more luxurious? This box of Swiss chocolates wrapped in gold leaf from Delafee (CHF 390) is proof positive of that statement. The truffles are wrapped in edible gold leaf, and come with a historic gold coin dated from the early twentieth century. With each decadent morsel, you’ll be consuming something that is unique. And you can hold onto the coin as a token of this incredible experience.

16. The Road to Origins from Belvas

“The Road to Origins” gift box from Belvas (€24) is designed to provide your chocoholic gift recipient with a survey of some of the best chocolates from all around the world. It includes a dark chocolate square from Ecuador, hazelnut praline milk chocolate from Peru, soft dark chocolate ganache from the Dominican Republic, and a mocha milk chocolate from Colombia that tastes intensely of coffee. Their chocolates are fair trade and gluten free, made without any preservatives or artificial flavors, making them some of the best of the best.

17. “Frish Schoggi” from Laderach

“Frisch Schoggi” simply means fresh chocolate in Swiss German, and that is what this delightful gift bag from Laderach (CHF 37.50) holds. Unlike traditional individually wrapped chocolate bars, these slabs of chocolate are unwrapped, imbuing each mouthful with the feeling of being inside a Swiss chocolate shop. The package contains a wide variety of flavors, including milk and dark chocolates, with and without nuts. And even a few white chocolate options.

luxury chocolate gifts

That’s it! Our suggestions for the best luxury gifts for chocolate lovers of all types. Have fun shopping. And be sure to sample them first if you can!

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Abbie Martin Greenbaum grew up in New York City and currently lives in Brooklyn, where she drinks a lot of coffee and matches roommates together for a living. At Oberlin College, she studied English and Cinema, which are still two of her favorite things, along with dessert and musical theater. She believes in magic.

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