Taza Chocolate – Chocolate Mexicano

 At my local Whole Foods I spotted a type of chocolate I’d never seen in ready to eat form before, Stone Ground, Organic Chocolate Mexicano with added Cinnamon. Delicately packaged in wax paper, this chocolate is, as you can imagine delicious and yet is distinctly different from the classic Hershey’s milk chocolate bars many of us grew up with. Each portion of the wheel shaped chocolate block contains subtle earthy flavors along with a perfectly balanced splash of cinnamon so that neither of these flavors overpowers the satisfying texture and taste of the chocolate. The texture must be imparted from the stone ground process used to create it, with a grainy texture that doesn’t melt in your mouth as conventional milk chocolate would and instead provides a satisfying crunch 

While delicious as an on the go treat, this chocolate is also made to quickly and easily dissolve into any hot beverage for an intense chocolate infusion. I put two portions of a wheel into my morning latte and was very pleased with the results imparting a complex sweetness along with a mild and pleasant hint of cinnamon.

As a added bonus this chocolate is certified organic, with the only 3 ingredients being cocao beans, cane sugar and cinnamon. This treat can be purchased directly from the Taza website. While Taza Chocolate on its site advertises a feature to track the exact process by which your exact chocolate bar was made through a tracking number on the bar, my bar contained no such code. If the bar you purchase does contain a tracking code, the site provides every imaginable detail of the process that took the original cocoa beans to the finish bar, including maximum roasting temperature, the specific grower and even who wrapped the packaging. Even without this advanced tracking this bar chocolate definitely provided a delicious, unique and versatile experience.

  

Comments

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This is especially great in light of information regarding the benefits of chocolate milk. One such article can be found here:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/54828/the-chocolate-milk-diet/

Making our own cocoa not only supports the idea of "slow food" in our families, but this is one of those things that is both nutritious and delicious (and if you're doing it together, FUN) for kids. My daughter has been hooked on Mexican cocoa ever since we vacationed in Mexico when she was a little girl. I'll definitely look for this one!