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It took weeks

Over several weeks, through steady nibbling and one large blind tasting, members of the Dining section's staff at the New York Times tasted more than 30 milk chocolates ranging from 30 percent to 50 percent cacao. These "dark milk" bars revealed a broad spectrum of color, creaminess, sweetness, spice and fruit.

The favorites had a nice balance between dark chocolate's power and milk chocolate's friendliness. We all liked Valrhona's Le Lacte, Michel Cluizel's basic 45 percent milk chocolate, Guittard Orinoco from California and Galler from Belgium, a very creamy specimen with a caramelized orange scent.

Die-hard dark-chocolate fans loved the crispness and acidity of the Melissa bar from Pralus. But bars with forward flavors of coffee and caramel -- like Amedei, El Rey Caoba from Venezuela and malty Villars from Switzerland -- were more traditional, balanced and satisfying to milk-chocolate lovers.

Softness and waxiness were the only consistent problems, but after biting into a Slitti Lattenero 45 percent bar with a loud snap and letting it melt in her mouth, one cheap-chocolate fanatic said: "I had no idea milk chocolate could be this good."
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