Taza Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano Disappoints.

The Good: Wonderful ingredients
The Bad: A little expensive, No almond (or even salt) flavor
The Basics: Taza Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano is fine, but has none of the flavors it promises outside, somewhat, the chocolate flavor.


Some things are painfully simple when it comes time to review them. I like, in general, the Taxa Dark Chocolate Mexicano discs I have tried so far. But, when I tried the Taza Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano, I couldn't find even a hint of almond flavor in it and the chocolate flavor seemed a bit weaker than the other dark chocolates. It, quite simply, does not live up to the standards of the promised flavors.

Basics

Taza is an premium chocolatier in Massachussetts that makes stone-ground Mexican chocolates. Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano is a high-quality chocolate that I was lucky enough to find inexpensively at my local discount store.

The Salted Almond 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. Despite that, the Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano are 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 Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano is not a real challenge. After removing the chocolate from the cardboard and the paper wrapper, simply pull out the disc or break a segment off and stick it in your mouth. There is no particularly complicated method 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 Salted Almond 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 paper around the Salted Almond dark chocolate disc, the smell of dark chocolate is instantly recognizable. The Salted Almond Dark Chocolate smells almost homegeneously of the dark chocolate, without any hint of anything nutty in its aroma.

In the mouth, the Salted Almond Dark Chocolate is surprisingly bland. This chocolate is not overly sweet and it is not even distincly salty on the first blush. Instead, it is slightly dry and crispy with only a light, generic chocolate flavor. Try as I might, I could not find even a hint of almond in the flavor of this chocolate.

There is a sightly sweet chocolate flavor that lingers in the mouth from the Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano for about five minutes after the last of these are consumed.

Nutrition

Taza chocolates are intended as a dessert product, not a health food! Each 38 gram disc of Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano represent a single serving of the chocolate. Made primarily of organic cane sugar, organic cacao beans and organic almond, there are no unpronounceable ingredients in this chocolate. They were produced on equipment that forces them to add a disclaimer about almonds, coconuts, and hazelnuts. The Taza Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano are marked as both gluten free and Vegan-compliant, as well as Soy Free.

Taza's Salted Almond 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 Salted Almond 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 Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano are fine as long as they are stored below 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The package I picked up two weeks ago had an expiration date of April 6, 2018. Given that mine are gone already, I cannot comment on how well they endure as they come 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 Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Mexicano is unlikely to satisfy anyone who loves any form of mix between nuts and chocolate . . . or even nut flavors in chocolate.

For other Taza chocolates, please check out my reviews of:
Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Mexicano
Vanilla Dark Chocolate Mexicano
Coffee Dark Chocolate Mexicano

2.5/10

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.
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