The Hands-Down Best Chocolate Bar Doesn't Come From An American Brand

When you think about popular chocolate bars, the ones that probably come to mind are Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar, a Snickers, or maybe a Milky Way. But being popular doesn't make them the best. In our chocolate bar taste test, the reviewer found those bars to be among the worst on the market. The best comes from the historically British brand Cadbury. Although it has many must-try chocolate bars, the one that beat the rest is Cadbury Caramello.

Cadbury Caramello earned the top spot by impressing our taste tester in, well, pretty much every way. The bar comes in a delightful shape built of multiple squares perfect for snacking. The chocolate itself tastes like good, quality milk chocolate with a satisfyingly smooth texture. Inside the rich chocolate is a melt-in-your-mouth "creamy, buttery caramel." And you may want to let it melt slowly — for the purpose of savoring every single bite. Our taste tester declared it the "conqueror of the candy section."

Fans agree, taking to Reddit to reveal their love for the bar. "This is my absolute favorite candy, hands down," one wrote, while another said they're "10/10, one of the all-timers." The bar is perfect for those who aren't looking for a sticky, cling-to-your-teeth texture, as some fans characterized Caramello's interior as similar to caramel sauce.

Cadbury may have started in Great Britain, but the truth about Cadbury Caramello today is that The Hershey Company produces the U.S. supply. Since 1988, Hershey's has had the licensing rights to make and sell certain Cadbury products in the U.S. market, meaning the brand behind some of the chocolate bars that ranked worst in our taste test also makes the best — not that you'd know it from the regal purple and yellow packaging.

Hershey's sells a slew of Caramello versions, including 1.6-, 2.7-, and 4-ounce bars, bags of individually wrapped squares, and bars made with dark chocolate instead of milk. The variety, however, doesn't quell the complaints from some fans who claim the bars have changed for the worse in recent years. "The chocolate tastes weird, the caramel is different," described one Reddit user. Others reported the chocolate now has a waxiness (a common complaint about Hershey bars) and less caramel than before, throwing off the bar's balance.

The name may be less familiar than more common American chocolate bars, but Cadbury Caramellos are in major grocery stores like Target and Walmart, and drugstores like CVS. A Reddit user also reported, "You can buy the ones made in the U.K. at World Market. They taste right." World Market does, in fact, sell Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramello bars, so you could even perform your own taste test between the two makers.