I am always skeptical about companies who refer to the ancient traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and the health benefits they derived from chocolate. Those people didn’t make their chocolate drink with a sweetener, and invariably the companies claiming health benefits make very sweet chocolate. I’m not claiming that chocolate doesn’t have potential health benefits. Oh no – I use that excuse for indulging as often as the next lady! The health benefits of sugar, however, have yet come to my attention.
For me, Taza Chocolate’s Mexicano Chocolate Discs fall into this category. They claim their chocolate has complex flavor, but of the three I tried – Cacao Puro, Vanilla, and Cinnamon – any complexity is lost in a sea of sweet.
Knowing that I am not a fan of sweet chocolate, I had my friend Diane over who, as she says, “just likes chocolate”. Our opinions were in sync throughout the tasting, so, in an effort to balance out this review, I racked my brains to think of someone else I knew who might actually enjoy it. It wasn’t too long before I hit on my friend, Jonpaul, who also happens to be a teenager. I spent the summer watching him devour buckets of ice cream and cookies. Surely sweet wouldn’t offend his sensibilities. He agreed and invited some friends to join him.
On to the actual tasting notes:
When eating the discs straight from the packaging, all three flavors are gritty and don’t melt on your tongue. I had to suck the chocolate out from between the granules of sugar to get an idea of its taste. The Cinnamon flavor was the most granular and the sweetest of the three. Vanilla surprised my friend Diane and me by tasting like fruity jelly beans. The Cacao Puro had the fullest chocolate flavor of them all, but that’s not saying much – as I mentioned, it’s hard to discern the chocolate through the cloyingly sweet sugar it’s packed in.
Jonpaul and his friends, not surprisingly, didn’t find the chocolate too sweet. They enjoyed the “interesting texture” because it made the experience different. They found the flavor “strong and not too sweet, but not so strong that it was bitter”.
Right. No bitterness at all here folks.
As hot chocolate, Jonpaul said, “it is much better as a bar, and for someone with limited time, not a simple project”. He used half a disc to one and a half cups milk and felt that he should have used more of the disc when they made their hot chocolate. He found the flavor was good, but it needed more sweetness. He figured a quarter disc to a half cup of milk would have been a good ratio.
This happens to be exactly the ratio Diane and I found needed to be diluted due to sweetness. It’s interesting that when drinking, the cinnamon had the best flavor (but not by much) since I found it the worst eating bar. The vanilla actually became too sweet for Diane and me to actually consume.
The discs leave undissolved chocolate at the bottom of the pan, and I made a real effort to incorporate it; I stirred constantly as I heated, whisked it vigorously – nothing worked. I admit, if I had liked any of the flavors I would have found this treasure trove of chocolate at the bottom a charming surprise at the end of the cup, but frankly, I’d rather have the chocolate dissolved in my chocolate drink than all of that sugar.
I do believe the people making this chocolate are sincere. According to their Web site they care about the environment and your health. They try to make sure their ingredients are harvested fairly and sustainably. They’ve gone out of their way to present a unique product. I love all of that. I simply can’t stomach it.
