Taza Chocolate is a popular type of Mexican chocolate available online and in stores across America. Find out everything you need to know about Taza Chocolate today in our review.
What is Taza Chocolate?
Taza Chocolate is a series of chocolate bars and chocolate products available for sale online and in stores across the United States. The chocolate originates from Mexico, but it’s made by a company based in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Taza Chocolate is best-known for its “gritty” chocolate. The company makes unrefined, stone ground chocolate made using traditional Mexican stone mills (molinos). This gives the chocolate a uniquely gritty flavor. Taza Chocolate is also the only major chocolate company that sells chocolate in “discs”.
The chocolate is also known for coming in multiple varieties and flavors. In fact, you can even buy a Mexican chocolate sampler from Amazon, which includes unique flavors like Chipotle Chili, Cinnamon, Coffee, and Salted Almond.
There are several things that make Taza Chocolate unique from other chocolate companies. The company takes pride in making its chocolate from “bean-to-bar” in its Somerville factory, for example, which means that the chocolate isn’t cobbled together from parts made around the world.
The chocolate is also USDA Organic certified and Direct Trade certified. Plus, it’s gluten free, Kosher pareve, and Non-GMO Project Verified, as well as dairy-free, soy-free, and vegan.
Taza Chocolate was founded in 2006 after the co-founder, Alex Whitmore, traveled to Oaxaca in 2005. There, he learned about traditional chocolate-making techniques, including how the pre-Columbian cultures transformed cacao into a spiritual beverage with minimal processing.
The end result of this process is that you can get authentic Mexican-style chocolate in the United States.
How is Taza Chocolate Made?
Taza Chocolate is unrefined, stone ground chocolate made from “bean to bar” at a factory in Somerville, Massachusetts. The company claims that its unique chocolate-making techniques are all about minimal processing in order to “let the bold flavors or our organic, Direct Trade Certified cacao shout loud and proud”.
The company offers tours of its facility if you’re in the Somerville area. During a tour, you can view the company’s traditional Mexican stone mills (called “molinos”) as they grind the cacao. The hand-carved stones turn inside the mills and preserve the bright, fruity flavor of the beans.
Taza Chocolate claims this leads to chocolate that’s bold, rustic, and satisfyingly gritty and “unlike any other chocolate you’ve tasted”.
The company has a visual guide on how they make their chocolate here. The process starts by roasting the cacao beans, before they go through a winnowing and grinding process. Then, they enter a mixing tank, where they’re then turned into chocolate discs or chocolate bars.
Taza Chocolate Ingredients
Taza Chocolate takes pride in offering natural, USDA Organic certified ingredients. Here’s the full list of ingredients in the “sampler pack” sold on Amazon, which includes six different flavors and their unique ingredients:
Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic almonds, organic chili powder, organic coffee, organic vanilla beans, organic cinnamon, salt, organic chipotle chili powder. Contains almonds and traces of coconut, pecans, cashews and hazelnuts.
As you can see, there aren’t any artificial compounds, preservatives, or any “strange” looking ingredients listed. It’s a wholly natural and organic type of chocolate.
Taza Chocolate Products
Today, Taza Chocolate separates its products into six different categories, including all of the following:
Gifts & Collections
This category includes all of the tasters, variety packs, and other unique Taza Chocolate products. The company’s popular gifts and variety packs include its Mi Corazon Trio, Perfectly Unrefined Gift Box, Seriously Good Trio, and its Chocolate Mexicano Classic Collection. Gift boxes are priced between $15 and $70.
In addition to selling chocolate through its gift category, Taza Chocolate sells items like a ceramic pot and chocolate whisk based on traditional Mexican chocolate-making techniques.
Amaze Bars
Amaze Bars promise to take stone ground chocolate “to another dimension” by mixing flavor combinations into the company’s classic minimally-processed, bold dark chocolate.
Some of the popular products in this category include the Espresso Buzz, Coconut Almond, 95% Wicket Dark, and Maple Pecan chocolate bars, all of which are priced at $5 online.
The company also offers unique flavors like Raspberry Crunch, Cold Besos Chocolate, and Cacao Crunch. If you like the gritty flavor of Taza Chocolate, then this category will have plenty of chocolate to keep you entertained.
Chocolate Mexicano
The Chocolate Mexicano category is the company’s classic, stoneground chocolate made from hand-carved granite millstones. This creates rustic, organic, dark Mexican-style chocolate discs in a variety of flavors while maintaining the classic Taza Chocolate taste. Key products in this category include the Oaxacan Sampler, Chipotle Chili, Cacao Puro, 85% Super Dark, and Chocolate Mexicano Sampler.
Origin Bars
The Origin Bars are minimally processed in order to let the original cacao sources shine through. If you want to taste the unique flavor of the Direct Trade Certified beans used by the company, then this is the category for you. The beans in this category come from multiple countries, and are labeled as such. Popular products include the 87% Dark Bolivia, 84% Dark Haiti, 80% Dark Dominican Republic, and 77% Dark Belize.
Chocolate Covered
Taza Chocolate’s Chocolate Covered category includes chocolate-covered nuts, including almonds, cashews, and hazelnuts. They’re priced at around $16 to $20 for a jar of chocolate-covered nuts.
Bulk and Baking
Many people use Taza Chocolate for baking. Some people even buy Taza Chocolate in bulk, then make their own Mexican chocolate at home. Whatever you’re using it for, Taza Chocolate’s Bulk and Baking category includes huge bags of chocolate.
The most popular products in this category are the 70% Dark 5lb Bag ($90), the 80% Dark 5lb Bag ($90), and the Guajillo Chili Chocolate 5lb Bag ($90).
Taza Chocolate Reviews: What Do Customers Have to Say About It?
Taza Chocolate is very well-reviewed online, with many people praising the natural ingredients, tasty flavors, and ethical sources. The main downside to the chocolate, of course, is the high price tag. Overall, Taza Chocolate has an average rating of 4.1 stars out of 5 on Amazon. Here are some of the pros and cons:
Pros
- Authentic Mexican chocolate
- Great samplers that let you try different varieties
- A unique texture unlike any other chocolate in the world (grainy and you can feel and chew tiny bits of beans)
- Mixes well in hot chocolate
- Rich and tasty flavors, and it’s fun to try different flavors
- Natural ingredients
- Healthy chocolate
- They make great gifts
Cons
- Pricey
- If you’re looking for super sweet, mouthwatering chocolate with a smooth texture, then you probably won’t like Taza Chocolate
About Taza Chocolate
Taza was founded by Alex Whitmore and his wife, Kathleen Fulton. As mentioned above, Alex discovered authentic Mexican chocolate-making techniques while visiting Oaxaca in 2005. He brought those techniques back to the United States, and the rest is history.
Taza considers itself a pioneer in ethical cacao sourcing. They were the first US chocolate maker to establish a third party certified Direct Trade Cacao Certification program, for example. Today, they continue to maintain direct relationships with their cacao farmers, and they pay a premium price above Fair Trade for the cacao.
As the official Taza Chocolate website explains, “We partner only with cacao producers who respect the rights of workers and the environment.”
To get in touch with Taza Chocolate, use the contact information at this page.
Should You Buy Taza Chocolate?
Overall, Taza Chocolate is a popular Mexican-style chocolate made in Massachusetts and sourced from beans grown throughout Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The company’s chocolate is known for its gritty texture, USDA Organic certified ingredients, natural flavors, and wide variety of chocolate products. No, it’s not cheap chocolate: but it’s some of the tastiest and most unique chocolate available today.
