Chocolate for Thinking People
Taza's fair trade organic chocolate comes from pods that are sustainably harvested
Pure, 100 percent organic, fair trade, sustainably sourced, kosher, dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, GMO-free, additive-free, certified high antioxidant content, crafted in small batches by independent artisans reviving an ancient nearly lost tradition, deliveries made by bicycle, cacao chaff donated to area farms. It seems like an act of conscience to eat Taza’s dark chocolate – as if you really need more reasons to indulge.
And once you do, ecstasy eclipses all thoughts of the purity and principles underpinning the craft of this bean-to-bar chocolate-maker, one of a rare breed. Taza’s ensconced in the creative-class-meets-working-class town of Somerville, Massachusetts, just west of Cambridge.
During a 2005 journey in Oaxaca, Mexico, Boston-born Alex Whitmore learned about pre-Columbian rituals involving “xocolātl.” Fascination inspired the lifelong chocolate-lover, whose former occupations included anthropologist, yacht captain, chef, and bike courier, to apprentice with a molinero – stone miller – and learn the art of making rustic, granular-textured Mexican chocolate. He brought back authentic grinding stones called molinos, reclaimed a vintage winnower from a shuttered candy factory, imported a roaster from Italy, and with partners Larry Slotnick and Kathleen Fulton, founded Taza Chocolate.
Samples add taste to the tour
After opening a mini-factory close to Somerville’s Union Square mid-2010, the entrepreneurs began offering tours to show choco-connoisseurs how the magic happens. The tours proved so popular that beginning this month [June], they expanded the number to twelve a week. The cost: $5 per person, children under 3 free. A bargain, given the ample samples.
Powered by thoughts of a lunchtime tour (okay, chocolate), I pedal down a side-street, passing an auto-body shop, its walls ablaze with psychedelic-patriotic graffiti. Around the corner, a bland business park houses Taza Chocolate.
I’m happy to see a clutch of bicycles belonging to the eco-minded staff, and once inside, happier still to behold colorful displays of bars and discs of chocolate in such varieties as cinnamon (pure, not cassia), Guajillo chili, chipotle chili, yerba maté, ginger, orange, salted almond, bio-dynamically grown vanilla bean, and “puro” (for the purists).
Authentic mill stone used for grinding cacao
After everyone dons hygienic hair nets, Whitmore begins the tour with the origin story of Meso-American bean-to-bar chocolate. Cradling football-sized cacao pods, he segues into the Taza credo. “We buy raw agricultural ingredients, unlike most chocolate-makers who buy large [processed] blocks.” And Taza goes beyond Fair Trade, working directly with its growers instead of middle-men, paying a premium above Fair Trade prices.
We view the hand-operated equipment that roasts and winnows the beans (the bright red roaster is quite a sight), and the granite millstones used to grind nibs. A 3,000-pound-capacity vat opens; whiffs of fermenting chocolate make me woozy.
A reclaimed red roaster from Italy roasts the beans
Ingredients for Taza’s varieties, such as ginger (the real deal from the root), cinnamon, pepper, vanilla bean, and nuts, are carefully, ethically sourced, and ground up with the chocolate to enhance texture and mouthfeel.
As the tour wraps up, Whitmore takes us down a hallway for a peek at the Taza “Chococycle,” an Oaxacan-style cargo trike that sports an awning-shaded display case. This vehicle is used for festivals, farmer’s markets, and deliveries too large for regular bikes.
The finale of the 45-minute tour: sampling. I follow instructions outlined on Taza’s “how to taste chocolate” card. Taking a tiny bite, I luxuriate in granular perfection– before a wave of flavor overwhelms my textural appraisal.
To rest my palate between samples, I reach for recipe cards tucked around the showroom. There’s one for molten spice cake, another for Mexican hot chocolate. Elsewhere, I read about the health bonifides of Taza’s chocolate: minerals such as magnesium, iron, calcium, phosphorus, potassium; vitamins A, B1, C, D, E. And the darker the chocolate, the higher level of antioxidants, which help protect cells. Besides the distinctive 2.7-ounce Mexicano discs ($4.50 each) and 3-ounce bars ($6.50 each), Taza sells nibs, baking chocolate, and chocoholic giftables.
At my computer later that week, an arts-listserv post catches my eye: “Taza needs a friendly self-starter with strong bike and organizational skills.” A good day job – if only I could reliably pedal past the constant temptations of pure chocolate on board.
Pedal a Choco-cycle for a living? Maybe some day....
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