Taza Chocolate

Terrific indie chocolate factory with an excellent and informative chocolate tour. History, samples, and chocolate-​making process appeal to all ages.
Factory shop has great variety of this gourmet organic chocolate.
Hair nets for tour-​takers a bonus!

We took the «Taza Chocolate Factory Tour for Families» on 21^st May 2016. The staff were very friendly and went out of way to make us feel comfortable through out the tour.
Tour is very informative for the parents. Even the children are kept busy with a fun activity filling a sticker sheet.
We spent around 1 hour in the factory took some photos and talking to the staff.
Parking is limited and be sure arrive early. I couldn’t find street parking near by but I didn’t search for more than 10 mins. Overall, My family had a wonderful time learning about the chocolate making process along with my 4 year old son.

We came for a Sunday tour; the last tour for the day. There isn’t too much around the building to see so don’t come too early.
The tour lasted an hour and I thought it could have gone on for another 15 minutes (tempering wasnt talked about). The machines werent running since it was sunday. Our tour group was a little bigger than normal but manageable.
The information is great and the samples if chocolate even better. You really learn more about their entire product line and the rationale for their development, pricing, and packaging.
We bought a few different bars and the chocolate covered nibs.

Nice tour. Cool company. Plenty of samples. Wonderful chocolate. Bought plenty on special. Learned a lot. What more could you ask for?

So many samples! The chocolate was really good and our guide had a lot pep and enthusiasm. She had an answer for every question and was very informative about the factory. After the tour they let you sample any of the chocolate.
Highly recommended if you in the Boston area.

My boyfriend and I did a tour on a Sunday afternoon (1pm) and we had such a good time. The price is really inexpensive… it’s only $ 6 a person.
Our tour guide was Mimi and I HIGHLY recommend you try and get on a tour with her. She was so funny, energetic, and just made the tour so much fun. I feel partial because she reminded me so much of a dear friend of mine…
The tour was really fun and informative. Of course you get to try a lot of different chocolates. The place is small but it’s still amazing.
I’ve had Taza chocolate before the tour but now I’m glad to see where it comes from. To me, the chocolate is definitely worth paying a little extra. Take the tour and you’ll know why!

A neighborhood gem.
The rustic and simple chocolate at Taza is both unique and delicious. Using only two ingredients, cocoa and cane sugar, they make both traditional unrefined Mexican chocolate disks and smoother chocolate bars. I personally enjoy the crunchier less grinded sugar in the traditional disks, but both are very good.
At their store tastings are a plenty, with lots of samples pre dispensed and the ability to ask for a taste of any of their flavors. I did not do a tour, but it sounds like it could be fun.
Now every time I walk around Union Square, I’ll be thinking about maybe taking a small detour for a taste.

I recently visited this lovely factory and had a wonderful time learning about the chocolate and tasting yummy samples. Taza has a great quality chocolate and this tour is definitely worth it.

I have been on this tour a few times! It’s a great thing to do when friends are in town or if I’m just looking for a fun chocolate-​filled weekend activity.
Pros:
–inexpensive
–lots of chocolate samples
–fun tour
Areas for improvement:
–you can’t try the chocolate after it comes out of the grinding machine. Taza should not only let you try it but also sell it. You can do this is Oaxaca, and you can also buy it to take home. This is great because it tastes awesome and is cheaper than the discs because it doesn’t have to be tempered and packaged.
–knowledge of staff members varies greatly. One tried to tell me you couldn’t eat the chocolate after it comes out of the grinding machine? The information about how chocolate works in Oaxaca also tends to vary in accuracy. For example, «they only ever have the chocolate with water». Not true — you can get it with milk. Maybe the staff should brush up on their Oaxaca facts to ensure a more consistent story line.

The Taza Chocolate Factory tour is an incredible, worthwhile experience. I organize a private student group tour of this facility every year, and the staff are incredibly accommodating. The group tours are very easy to set up either through phone or email (both of which can be found on their website). Normally. a private group tour costs $ 150 flat rate for up to 20 people, but on Mondays — Wednesdays between 11am-​3pm the tours are half off, so only $ 75 for up to 20 people. A single ticket for a public tour where you join a group with other people is $ 6.
The chocolate factory itself is located in Somerville and a little difficult to get to, although the 69 bus takes you very close from Harvard Square. The factory is located next to some used car junkyards and warehouses, but don’t let the surroundings as you near the factory dissuade you — as you walk close the delicious aroma of melting chocolate becomes quite strong, and the «welcome area» on the inside of the factory is a cute little shop with lots of taza products on display.
For those who don’t know, taza chocolate is a special type of Mexican chocolate that is grainier in texture, since it is ground using a millstone. It comes packaged in distinctive wheels and is flavored with a lot of different types of spices and flavorings, including cinnamon, vanilla, orange, etc. During the tour, they emphasize how everything is locally sourced and how they take special care to support small farmers and businesses, which I really like.
The tour itself is about 40 minutes long, and consists of several different rooms in the factory. The tour guide will take you through every step of the process, from picking the cacao to roasting the beans, creating the chocolate, and packaging and shipping (with plentiful samples along the way). The end of the tour ends in the lobby gift shop, and you have to chance to sample even more different flavors of chocolate and buy some for home.
Overall, this tour is very well done and the staff are very nice!

The factory tour is a lot of fun! For $ 6 per person, it is totally worth it. You are taken through the factory and shown how chocolate candy is created from the cacao bean, with tastings along the way. You are shown the process for stone grinding the bean to create chocolate, and it is very interesting for those of all ages. In the store area, there are samples everywhere you turn, and they are all chocolately, sweet and incredible. The chocolate is different than your typical brand name Hersheys bar and so much tastier! They have a variety of flavors including jalapeño chocolate, eggnog flavored chocolate and even sea salt flavored chocolate. I highly recommend taking a tour and visiting the store. It is a bit off the beaten path in Somerville, but easy to find with GPS!

So, let me start by saying that I have been to Taza Chocolate, and I should go there because I am family, and I love the way Taza is set up as a business, I like the products because they can be used for more than just sticking them in your mouth – then chewing (I.E. the Mexicano can be melted and poured into coffee, hot, Cocoa, Hot Chocolate, toast spread, etc. I am sure all the products can be consumed in different ways)… I like the fact that the WHOLE cocao bean is used – shells, nibs, everything. From Chocolate to mulch (if they are still making mulch).
I have been on the tour, it was informative, it taught me something about the process in making Mexicano/​dark chocolate. The tour guide’s job is to take people around the facility and teach. He/​she is a teacher. A teacher who has rules to follow and pass along to others. If rules can’t be followed, whether it is the fault of or not the fault of the person not following the rule (I.E. children might have trouble, not their fault, but, still a problem), their parents will be warned or told that they must leave. Especially when it comes down to sanitation (there was a complaint and bad review posted here on Unilocal,because a tour guide at Taza was enforcing the rules, and rightly so).
When I go to a store and I see someone at the register, I assume it is to make sure the money inside it is secure. But, if I have a question, I find that all I have to do is ask the person behind the register and he/​she will help me as best as he/​she can. I don’t expect this person to be able to read minds (there was a complaint about not paying enough attention to shoppers shopping around)…
People have the right to their opinions, but be fair. People who go on Unilocal to complain about their past employment, divulging info about internal affairs not meant for the public is a sign post that you are absolutely unemployable. Meaning future bosses should research where you have worked, and then check to see if you got vindictive on any social online platforms, including Unilocal: about these former employers. You should NEVER be hired again, by anybody, you don’t deserve it (no names, you know who you are).
Lastly, if Taza was in one of my local liquor stores, and I didn’t really like the taste myself (but I do), I would never go on Unilocal,give a bad review, to the point of borderline harsh, and write as if I can’t believe that this product is in a store I go too — «I guess big drinkers must like it» (I read your review sir. And will just start and finish by saying, you are a mean person… your review left a BAD TASTE in MY mouth)…
I love Taza, and most people do (PERIOD).

Warning: taza chocolate is very unique and doesn’t taste like most other chocolates in the sense that it is very grainy. I like the different texture though and they have tons of creative and delicious flavors!
Get a groupon and take the tour — you’ll learn a lot about the company’s mission and get to see how their mission is so central to everything they do, from harvesting cacao in certain places to how they wrap it up. The factory doesn’t seem to be working most days of the week, but tours are still cool to see the machinery. It would be way better if the machines were on though so maybe call in advance to see what days they’re making chocolate and try to go then
Even if you can’t make it on a tour, they have tons of samples in their gift shop area YUM
Love the staff! So friendly and knowledgeable. Will kindly and patiently answer all your questions.

An excellent option to get out of the house and try something new in the middle of winter. The Taza chocolate tour is a mere $ 6 for tons of chocolate and fun. Not as much fun on the weekends when they’re not actually making chocolate, but still worth the $ 6 to eat lots of free chocolate and get high on chocolate fumes! The tour comes with lots of samples of various stages of the chocolate, and ends with a little cup of hot chocolate (at least in the winter it does).
tip: if the store isn’t busy, the guys are happy to give you samples of all the different chocolates they have along the wall with the big jars, just ask!

This tour was very interesting! I loved hearing the story of Taza Chocolate and how it came to be. This chocolate is so unique.
They are very generous with samples so make sure you come ready to try EVERYTHING!
Also there is a brewery nearby called Slumbrew that uses cocoa nibs from Taza for their beer. It was very nice to go there after the tour and get their beer flight.

I went into the Taza factory tour with muted expectations — I remember having done the Hershey factory tour as a child, decades back, and thinking that this would be a much less Disney-​fied version of the same thing. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I dunno how where they found our tour guide, but the gent (I’m terribly sorry, I forgot your name already, but I blame the excessive chocolate-​eating on my distraction). Regardless, he was knowledgeable, witty, hilarious, and energetic (read: may have had more caffeine than is medically advisable). Frankly, the guide made the tour — he could have been talking about a pencil-​making factory, but with the level of enthusiasm he imparted upon us, it would have been the most engaging lesson ever!
Not only do you get to learn all about the history of Oaxacan chocolate, the story of the founders and their passion for the business, see what goes into making a bar (or, y’know, disc) of Taza chocolate from start to finish, you get to consume more chocolate than reason would allow. At least, that was the case for our tour, which was the last one held on Saturday afternoon. Our guide was a pusher. And our audience… well, we had a junkie or two.
Bonus points to my friend who scored a groupon that netted us a deal on a tour for two people, plus a chocolate disc included in the cost. Definitely worth the cost — be sure to double-​check whether or not a similar deal is running before showing up.

So fun and educational, a seriously wonderful time for people of all ages. I came here with some friends on the weekend, so while we didn’t see any of the chocolate being made (the factory is only in production M-​F), the tour alone was still great. Compared to a few years ago, Taza has grown so much in terms of expansion in the market as well as in breath of products. It really is amazing to see them in the path of success.
As for the tour, it lasts about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the tour guide. My tour guide was super friendly, knowledgeable, and very welcoming to questions. In general, everyone at Taza genuinely seemed happy to be working there. While on the tour, you learn about the history behind Taza, how chocolate is made, and also sample a bit along the way.
OK, now my favorite part of the whole experience. Eating the chocolate. I would advise getting there actually a bit earlier so that you can sample some of the chocolate they have in the showroom. They don’t limit the amount of chocolate you are eating, which is great, because I got to sample some of the different chocolates more than just once. You get chocolate before the tour, during the tour, and after the tour.
Definitely would be interested in coming back again. It was such a great time!

My little brother and I went on the Taza factory tour today and were both SO impressed! Our tour guide, Trisha, was funny, informative, and just really cool. I was blown away by how much info she packed in during a 1-​hour tour.
I’ve always loved Taza chocolate, but I have a newfound appreciation for the company after learning of their honest business practices and hard-​working employees. Learning about the chocolate making process was so neat. It was so cool seeing an actual (dried) cacao pod and where they come from. I loved how the tour was interactive, too. Aside from letting us try a ton of samples, we got to see pictures of the process and go inside the actual production area where the employees are crafting the bars.
The chocolate is different than your typical big-​named stuff. It’s more on the gritty side but still tastes delicious. I really appreciate that their whole facility is dairy free. The bars are all organic, dairy free, gluten free, vegan, soy free, non gmo. ALL REAL and ALL GOOD!
As far as the flavors go, I really like the Toffee Almond & Sea Salt, Coconut, Sea Salt & Almond, Vanilla, and Cinnamon. Delicious!

Stone ground Mexican style chocolate factory! My first tour of the chocolate factory and I actually found this gem through one of the Unilocal newsletters. Thanks for the suggestion!
I went with my boyfriend on one day and we waited for about 20 minutes for the previous tour to conclude. While we waited we were offered various samples of their delicious chocolate around the store (Raspberry, Salt/​Pepper, Guajillo Chili, and many more)! This place is amazing and it was very informative to get a guided tour throughout their whole process of preparation and stuffing our face with more samples along the way. Since they stone grind the cocoa pods their chocolate is also vegan!
I highly recommend checking this place out! I think the tours are $ 6/​person for a 45 minute tour, and plenty of chocolate to sample. I think it’s definitely worth the price.

For $ 6 (or even less if you snag a Groupon deal), you get a 45-​minute tour of the chocolate production process and samples galore of every flavor you desire. The talk itself was entertaining, engaging, and pretty informative thanks the enthusiastic tour guide in my group. It’s really neat that the factory itself participates in direct trade and actually brings their products for the cacao farmers to taste! Unlike your run-​of-​the-​mill chocolate bar, the offerings here have a more grainy texture due to the unique stone grinding process. Though I do prefer a smoother consistency, I found the flavors, especially sea sat chocolate, right up my alley.
For those wanting to stop by and just buy chocolate, samples are always available around the shop area as well. I would go back just to scarf down more of those raspberry chocolate nibs!