What Percent Cacao is Lindt? Exploring Excellence and Beyond

December 28, 2025 •

3 min read

The Lindt Excellence range of dark chocolate boasts bars with cacao percentages ranging from 70% all the way up to an intense 100%. This wide variety of cocoa content is a defining characteristic of the Swiss chocolatier, allowing consumers to explore a spectrum of flavors and intensities.

Quick Summary

Lindt offers a wide range of cacao percentages, from milk and white chocolate to its high-cocoa Excellence dark chocolate series. Higher percentages result in a more intense, complex, and less sweet flavor profile. The specific percentage indicates the total cocoa-derived ingredients, including cocoa solids and cocoa butter.

Key Points

Lindt Excellence Range: Lindt's Excellence dark chocolate bars are available in multiple cacao percentages, from 70% to 99%, and even 100%.
Cacao vs. Flavor: A higher cacao percentage generally means a more intense, less sweet, and more complex chocolate flavor.
Beyond the Number: Factors like bean origin, roasting, and the famous conching process also significantly influence the final taste and texture.
Mild vs. Assertive: Lower-percentage dark bars like the 70% are smoother and milder, while higher-percentage bars like the 85% and 90% offer a more robust and earthy flavor.
Not Just Dark: Lindt also produces milk chocolate with a minimum of 30% cacao and white chocolate with at least 20% cocoa solids, offering a wide range of products.
Incredible Smoothness: Rodolphe Lindt's conching invention is what gives Lindt chocolate its famously smooth, melt-in-your-mouth quality.

Lindt Excellence: A Spectrum of Cacao Percentages

Lindt’s renowned Excellence line is where the brand showcases its mastery of different cocoa percentages. These chocolate bars are designed for tasting, allowing aficionados to appreciate the nuanced differences that varying cacao contents create. The percentage refers to the total amount of cocoa solids and cocoa butter present in the chocolate.

The 70% to 85% Range: A Gateway to Dark Chocolate

For many, the 70% bar is the introduction to high-quality dark chocolate. Lindt's 70% Mild Dark Chocolate offers a balance of intensity and approachability, with notes of vanilla and orange. The 78% bar, interestingly, can be even creamier due to its cocoa butter content, revealing notes of toasted nuts. Moving to the 85% bar provides a more assertive, robust cocoa flavor for those who prefer a bolder taste.

Climbing the Ladder to 90% and Beyond

At 90%, the chocolate becomes considerably less sweet and more earthy. Lindt’s 90% bar has less of a strong cocoa taste compared to the 85%, but its creamy melt reveals notes of espresso and a satisfyingly bitter finish. The 99% bar is for true purists, offering a powerful, unsweetened chocolate experience with a rich, natural flavor. At 100% cocoa, the product is often used for baking and is classified simply as cocoa rather than chocolate due to the lack of sugar.

Cacao Percentage and Flavor Profile

The cacao percentage is the primary indicator of a chocolate’s flavor intensity. This number provides a roadmap for what to expect, but other factors like the bean origin and processing methods also play a significant role. Lindt uses a combination of fine flavor cocoa beans (Criollo and Trinitario) and robust consumer cocoa (Forastero) to achieve its distinct flavor profiles.

Key factors that influence flavor:

Bean Origin: Cocoa beans from different regions, such as Ecuador or Madagascar, can impart fruity, floral, or nutty notes.
Conching Process: This prolonged mixing and kneading process, invented by Rodolphe Lindt, smoothens the chocolate and allows bitter acids to evaporate, creating the signature Lindt melt.
Cocoa Butter Content: Higher levels of cocoa butter contribute to a creamier, smoother mouthfeel, which can balance the bitterness in high-percentage dark chocolate.

Comparison Table: Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate Bars


Percentage	Flavor Profile	Suggested Palate	Key Tasting Notes	Baking Use
70%	Balanced, rounded, and mild intensity	Dark chocolate beginners	Red fruit, vanilla, orange	All-purpose, excellent for cakes and mousses
78%	Creamier texture than the 70%	Those transitioning to higher cacao	Toasted nuts, smoky finish	Ganache that sets slightly firmer
85%	Assertive, robust, and intense	Purists who enjoy a bold taste	Deep cocoa notes, hints of vanilla and leather	Good for creating intense chocolate chips
90%	Smooth, earthy, and less sweet	Connoisseurs of very dark chocolate	Espresso, fall leaves, firewood	Adds a rich, intense flavor to baked goods
99%	Very intense and unsweetened	Extreme dark chocolate enthusiasts	Very powerful, purist cocoa flavor	Baking where zero sugar is desired

Beyond Dark Chocolate: Other Lindt Products

While the Excellence line is famous for its dark chocolate, Lindt offers many other products with varying cocoa contents. For instance, some milk chocolate products contain a minimum of 30% cacao, providing a sweeter, creamier profile. Similarly, white chocolate relies on cocoa butter, milk, and sugar, resulting in a minimum of 20% cocoa solids and a luscious, mild flavor. For example, the iconic LINDOR truffles come in a range of flavors, including dark and milk chocolate options with different cacao percentages. This wide selection ensures there is a Lindt chocolate for every palate and preference.

Conclusion: Finding Your Perfect Cacao Level

The percentage of cacao in Lindt chocolate is a crucial metric for understanding its flavor, intensity, and overall character. From the approachable 70% Excellence bar to the powerful 99% version, Lindt provides a comprehensive chocolate tasting journey. While the number offers a clear guide, a chocolate’s true essence is also shaped by bean origin, processing, and craftsmanship. Experimenting with different percentages is the best way to discover your personal preference. For those new to the world of high-cacao chocolate, starting with a lower percentage and working your way up is an excellent method for training your palate to appreciate the complex and subtle flavors of darker varieties. Lindt’s range makes this exploration both accessible and delicious.

Visit Lindt's website to learn more about their chocolate production process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Lindt offers an Excellence bar with 99% cocoa content, designed for purists and baking, alongside a 100% cocoa product that contains no sugar.

Generally, yes, a higher cacao percentage means the chocolate contains less sugar and more cocoa solids, which are naturally bitter. However, Lindt's craftsmanship and conching process create a smooth texture that balances the intensity.

Lindt's milk chocolate products contain a minimum of 30% cocoa solids, striking a balance between cocoa flavor and the creamy sweetness of milk.

The number on a Lindt Excellence bar quantifies the amount of cocoa-derived ingredients, including cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder. For example, a 70% bar contains 70% cocoa solids.

Yes, the Lindt Excellence 70% bar is an excellent all-rounder for baking. It provides a balanced, rich flavor that is perfect for use in recipes like cakes and mousses.

Lindt’s signature smoothness, even in high-cacao bars like the 90%, is due in part to a higher proportion of cocoa butter and its unique conching process, which creates a fine, melt-on-the-tongue quality.

Lindt sources its cocoa beans from various regions. The company uses both robust consumer cocoa from Ghana and fine flavor cocoa from countries like Ecuador, Madagascar, and the Dominican Republic.