As Taza Chocolate's cacao bean sourcing season draws to a close, Sourcing Manager Jesse Last is hard at work finalizing our 2017 Transparency Report. In last year's Report, he explored the topic of price - how much Taza pays for cacao, and how this price fits into the supply chain value equation. ​This year, Jesse is exploring how Taza's Origin Partners transform cacao from a bitter, fruit-covered seed to a fermented, flavorful base for making chocolate. Through personal interviews, Jesse will bring our Partners' hard work to life and deepen our appreciation for the role they play in making ..read more

At the Taza Chocolate Bar at the Boston Public Market, we've got a new grab-and-go drink that will have you bidding farewell to your sad desk lunch forever!  Our new Chocolate Banana Protein Shake is totally vegan, dairy-free, and paleo-friendly!  Sweetened with bananas and just a touch of maple syrup, this little powerhouse boasts 13 grams of protein per bottle to keep you full without sending you straight into a mid-day slump! Still staring forlornly at your sandwich? Stop in at the Taza Chocolate Bar and mention this post for $1 o ..read more

By Jesse Last, Taza Cocoa Sourcing Manager Knowledge exchange between Taza Chocolate's origin partners is not a formal part of our Direct Trade program. Nonetheless, since OKO Caribe's Gualberto Acebey first traveled to Bolivia in 2015 to train our partners at the Alto Beni Cacao Co., a learning community has taken root. Today, whether through emails, Skype calls or in-person visits, our partners exchange ideas ranging from how big to build fermentation boxes to how to improve cacao tree health. As Taza's Cocoa Sourcing Manager, this "Direct Learning" is a dream come true. During my recent tra ..read more

It is officially S’mores Season, friends! We can’t think of a better way to enjoy chocolate in the summer so we’ve partnered with Smashmallow, Built NY and Effie's Homemade to give you all the goods to create a supremely exceptional version of the classic treat! ⠀ We will be choosing 5 lucky winners who will each receive:  One Taza Chocolate Dark Bark Variety Pack including all 5 flavors! One Smashmallow Variety Pack Sampler with all 7 extraordinary flavors! Two bags of Effie’s Homemade Oatcakes A Built NY Gourmet Getaway bag to carry all the goodness to the nearest bonfire, campfire, o ..read more

Taza Cocoa Sourcing Manager Jesse Last shares reflections about his spring trip to our newest origin: Ecuador. In 2007, Taza Chocolate sourced its first lot of organic cacao from La Red Guaconejo, a farmer cooperative in the Dominican Republic. The same year, the Peace Corps assigned a recruit named Kate Cavallin to the organization. While La Red Guaconejo formed several years before she arrived and would persevere  for several years after she left, Kate imparted invaluable stability to the cooperative - and to Taza's supply chain - during her time in the country. Ten years later, Taza's ..read more

We've got something to bark about!  Dark Bark, our NEW seriously satisfying snacking chocolate, is NOW AVAILABLE in our online store!  Dark Bark starts with our stone ground, 80% dark chocolate. Then we stir in crispy, protein-packed quinoa, and add crunchy, craveable toppings like almonds, coconut, and toasted pumpkin seeds, for a delicious anytime treat. Bonus: most flavors have just 6-7 grams of sugar per serving, so you can get your snack on, guilt-free! We've got 5 delicious flavors: Sea Salt & Almond, Toasted Coconut, Pumpkin Seed, Coconut Almond, and Peppermint, packed in ..read more

The Taza team has its fair share of beer lovers, and we're on a mission to let you know that if you haven't paired beer with chocolate, you're missing out! We tapped our friends over at Drink Craft Beer to help us create some perfect pairs. We definitely have some funky favorites like our Super Dark Chocolate Disc with a Smoked Beer or the 95% Wicked Dark Bar with a Vanilla Stout.  For those of you who don’t have your personal beer guides on speed dial, they shared some awesome pairings to get your started on your own beer and chocolate journey!   Pairing Guide: Taza Choco ..read more

In March, as we celebrate the kick-off of our #sourcingseason and usher in the spring, our thoughts turn to the warm tropical climates that bring us the magical cacao fruit. Our Cocoa Sourcing Manager, Jesse Last, will pack his bags for an annual visit to each cocoa producer we work with, as a way to build on our relationship and secure seriously good cocoa beans for a busy chocolate-making year ahead. While we wish we could join him on his tour of cacao country to walk the farms and sample fresh fruit from the trees, we’ll be celebrating the cocoa bean in its many forms right here ....It’s Ta ..read more

  As a pioneer in ethical cacao sourcing with a commitment to economic justice, we are excited to launch a partnership with a wonderful, mission-aligned organization, the Boston Women’s Fund (BWF). Now through Mother’s Day (Sunday May 9, 2021), 15% off all Taza website sales will be donated to BWF. Founded in 1984, the Boston Women’s Fund was the first women’s foundation in Massachusetts and one of the first in the United States. BWF envisions a world where power, opportunity, and access are not limited by gender.  BWF works to achieve this by advocating for and investing in grassr ..read more

What makes a perfect picnic? Delicious, healthy snacks & beverages and great friends! So we teamed up with our friends at Wildway, Joolies, Siren Snacks, and Grüvi to bring you a special deal on picnic essentials: take 20% off your entire order at all the websites below! Just enter code PICNIC20 on any of the sites to get your discount, now through 4/16/21! At Taza Chocolate we make stone ground chocolate. Cacao is so complex in flavor that we want to let it shout loud and proud. That is why we do less to bring you more. We stone grind organic cacao beans into perfectly unrefined, minima ..read more