Taza Chocolate

Description from Healdsburg SHED

Stone-ground chocolate with enticing flavors

If you travel to Oaxaca in central Mexico, you’ll meet locals who still make stone-ground chocolate, using tools and techniques that have been in their community for generations. When Taza founder Alex Whitmore took such a trip, he returned home not only with chocolate but also a plan to create his own company using those traditional methods.

His approach goes beyond sourcing high quality cacao and paying the farmers a premium above fair trade prices – which he does, developing face-to-face relationships with the growers. To build his Massachusetts factory, he first learned to hand-carve the granite millstones themselves. Taza uses those stones to grind organic beans, and the result is proof that the old ways work: dark chocolate that bursts with flavor.

We offer here a combo of three flavors to start, all made with organic, single-origin Dominican beans:

Guajillo: This kind of chili is often used in Mexican cuisine, and it provides a spicy kick. The flavor is bright and complex.

Cinnamon: Taza grinds whole cinnamon sticks together with the cacao, creating an intense flavor and rustic texture ideal for hot chocolate.

Salted Almond: For a balance of salty and sweet, whole, raw almonds are roasted in-house. The combination is topped with a touch of kosher salt.