Taza 70% Stone Ground

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on July 9 2009 | Leave A Comment
Taza 70% Stone Ground Dark Chocolate

I truly feel bad about this. I got this unique bar while on vacation, so I kept it nice and wrapped up for a week. But on the return drive, what happens? I realize that the heater is on and the bag the chocolate is in is sitting right in front of one of the vents. Tragedy didn’t make me very happy. But, oh, well, I thought, it is a $6.50/85 gram bar, and since the finer chocolates are usually hearty as pioneers, it should be okay taste-wise, at least.

The looks did suffer most horribly, hence my attempt to hide most of the damage in the picture by only showing four of the sixteen squares. But a deep and chocolatey smell emanated from it, bidding me continue on. Evidence of the “stone ground” process is in the chocolate’s grainier, more rock-like look, though it still has a good breaking sound. Inside your mouth, you can feel the small bits of chocolate and sugar. Just as I was considering that they distract too much from the flavor, I started to get a soft banana flavor, so my assumption was a little off. The funniest thing, though, was that I was reminded so much of biting into Mexican hot chocolate, minus the cheapness.

Taza 70% Stone Ground Dark Chocolate

Normally, I save any research of a company for after I taste their chocolate to keep from being sidetracked by them instead of the actual product. And I was glad of this this time because I had the chance to pick up on Taza Chocolate’s motive on my own. Namely, to “combine the Mesoamerican tradition with a modern, high-quality product manufactured in a socially responsible way.” One of the cofounders, Alex Whitmore, studied with a stone miller in Oaxaca after starting the company in Massachusetts. As opposed to conching, Taza uses machines with hand-hewn granite millstones from Mexico for a cultural flavor and to preserve many of the inherent nutrients. Besides being dairy, gluten, and soy free and USDA organic, this Dominican Republic bar is Direct Trade. That’s Direct Trade, not Fair Trade. On their site (which is full of information and worth taking a look at), Taza explains the problems they see in the Fair Trade system. By going Direct Trade, they deal more directly with the growers and can use the money they would’ve used for the Fair Trade logo to pay them more.

Going with my reminder of hot chocolate, Taza’s flavored chocolates are made in the traditional disc shape. They’re labeled to be eaten as is or made into hot chocolate. I actually made some with this bar, just to see how it would turn out. Very nice. Like the chocolate itself, it has the strength of the historic blended with sophisticated quality and comfortable familiarity. Worth looking into as something that’s different while still easy to catch onto.

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Comments On This Post

  1. I’m not sure where the name comes from. “Taza” does mean “cup” in Spanish, though, so maybe they were thinking about hot chocolate again when they named it?

  2. Simon

    This looks like a very interesting product – the sort of thing I’d like to get my teeth into.

    Maybe ‘chocs away’ isn’t such a bad idea after all . . .

  3. silvermage2000

    Yum this sounds good. Iv’e had enjoyed lindt 70 and enjoyed and will give this a thought.

  4. Well seeing as you have oh so many fans I just watned to say thank you again for sharing your awesome married life with all of us.If I do get picked it would be a great {belated} birthday present!You guys are wonderful and wish you all the best!Keep bringing much more joy to all of us readers!<3,S

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