Description
ABOUT THE BAR
Though still stone-ground and coarse, this wickedly dark 95% bar is far smoother than most Taza bars. Nor is it that intense for such a bar with such a high cocoa percentage. Although bold and dark the characteristically fruity notes of the cacao shine through in this chocolate. Indeed, we found this very easy to eat, with a little earthiness and some sweetness.
ABOUT THE MAKER
Alex Whitmore, the founder of Taza Chocolate, first tried traditional Mexican stone-ground chocolate on a holiday in Oaxaca and was inspired to bring this unique form of chocolate to the US. He apprenticed under a molinero to learn how to craft the very best stone-ground, unrefined chocolate using hand-crafted molinos, or mill stones. This method foregoes the usual refining and conching steps of the chocolate-making process, giving a chocolate closer in style to the original bars of the nineteenth century, still popular in parts of Mexico and South America today.
Taza Chocolate is not like most silky-smooth craft chocolate – because it’s stone ground, the bars are rustic, a bit caveman, gritty and rough. If you like your coffee ristretto, Taza is the chocolate for you. The minimal handling involved in this process creates discs with a satisfyingly coarse, almost biscuit-like texture, and a sweet flavour that lets you taste the bold flavours of the cocoa, sugar and spices individually. This is how the earliest bars of chocolate tasted – it really is a taste of history.
Hannah E. –
Just a hint of sweetness and a slightly grainy texture.
Sally E. –
Gritty texture but fantastic almost sweet flavour for a 95% bar!
Farrah L. –
Tastes like your typical grocery store bitter chocolate.