The Good: Wonderful ingredients, Good flavor, Quality justifies the price!
The Bad: A little bitter and simple on the flavor front
The Basics: Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano is good, but a very simply, very dark chocolate that is accurate to its promised flavor, but not entirely enjoyable.
I have finally, for now, reached the end of my stash of Taza chocolates! The final chocolate from Taza that I am getting around to reviewing is the Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano. And Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano is good, but it is much more like a baking chocolate than a chocolate one wants to consume for a snack, dessert, or enjoyment.
Basics
Taza is an premium chocolatier from Massachusetts that is making Mexican-style stone ground chocolate. The Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano is a high-quality chocolate that I was lucky enough to find inexpensively at my local discount store.
The Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano comes as two discs (2.7 oz. total) that are paper-wrapped together and packaged inside a cardboard wrapper. The whole disc is presented as a 3” in diameter by 5/16” thick slightly segmented chocolate disc. The segments do not snap apart evenly. This makes the Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano generally easy to portion out to have less than a full serving, which is nice for those who might be watching their waistline!
Ease Of Preparation
Eating Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano is not a real challenge. After removing the cardboard and the paper wrappers, simply pull out the disc or break a segment off and stick it in your mouth. There is no particularly complicated equation to eating these chocolates. This is an entirely ready-to-eat food . . . unless one wants to make it into a hot cocoa!
The hot chocolate version of the Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate requires milk and uses both discs in a package. One needs to grind up both discs of the chocolate and stir it into the simmering milk. Honestly, I've yet to make up some of this flavor as a cocoa.
Taste
Unwrapping the dark chocolate disc, the smell of dark chocolate is powerful and very distinct. The Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano smells potently of the cacao in them; this is a very pure chocolate-scented confection.
The Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate is very hard dark chocolate. The Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano is chocolate is bitter and cacao-flavored. The Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano is not very complicated on the flavor front; it is rich, dry, and cacao flavored with a fairly dry finishing flavor.
There is a strong, bitter dark chocolate aftertaste in the mouth left by the Dark Chocolate Mexicano after the last of it is consumed.
Nutrition
Taza chocolates are intended as a dessert product, so anyone attempting to live off them is proceeding under a ridiculous premise! Each 38 gram disc of Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano represent a single serving of the chocolate. Made entirely of organic cacao beans and organic cane sugar, there are no unpronounceable ingredients in this chocolate. They were produced on equipment that forces them to add a disclaimer about almonds, coconuts, pecans, and hazelnuts. The Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano are marked as both gluten free and Vegan-compliant, as well as Soy Free.
Taza's Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano have 210 calories in a one-disc serving, 110 of which are from fat. A full serving represents 35% of one's RDA of saturated fat, but they are cholesterol-free. There is a minimal amount of sodium in these Dark Chocolate Mexicano Cacao Puro chocolates and there are 3 grams of protein. These are not a significant source of any vitamins or minerals, though they do have 1% of one’s daily calcium and 4% of the RDA of Iron.
Storage/Cleanup
As a chocolate, Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano are fine as long as they are stored below 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The package I picked up last month had an expiration date of March 26, 2018. Given that mine are gone already, I cannot comment on how well they endure as they get closer to the expiration date.
If, however, they melt, they will stain. Consult your fabric guide if they melt as dark chocolate can be a bear to clean up when melted into light fabrics. Otherwise, cleanup is simply throwing the paper wrapper away when you are done with the chocolate disc.
Overall
Taza Cacao Puro Dark Chocolate Mexicano is all right, but it is not a particularly enjoyable dark chocolate.
For other dark chocolates, please check out my reviews of:
Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa Chocolate Squares
Green & Black's Pure Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao chocolate bars
Wild Ophelia Cold Brew Jet Black Chocolate Coffee Bites
8.5/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment