The free food gods are smiling on me lately; in one week I was treated to free beer, free truffle fries, and free chocolate.

The last was courtesy of Yelp!, where I am an elite member and my roommate K was my plus-one as soon as I got an invitation that mentioned the the word “chocolate.”

One night recently, we made our way through the rain over to the Taza Chocolate Factory, just a short drive away still in Somerville.  Usually, visitors here get a tour of the place and samples of some of the chocolate, but at this event we were treated to a full banquet.  Drinks featuring chocolate extract courtesy of Russell House Tavern, finger food from Cuisine en Locale, and all the chocolate we could eat.

Between K and myself, we tried every single bar they made and revisited the chocolate nibs container a few times before settling ourselves in front of the chocolate covered cashews (a-mazing).  Then we got the behind-the-scenes tour of the factory, moving from one great smelling room to the next.  We got to see the raw cacao beans in giant bags, the cool packing room, and then my favorite- the room where the magic chocolate actually happens.

Alex holding a hand-cut grindstone

Here, Alex – the owner – explained to us how he studied the Mexican chocolate process for years before bringing back the best ideas and starting his own factory.  As with good beer, his chocolate consists of the minimum number of ingredients:

1. cacao
2. sugar

That’s IT.  The amount of each ingredient varies between batches and other ingredients get added now and then, but they keep it real at Taza, which is why the result is so incredible.  The process is simple and pure (how often do you get to see the grindstones used to make your food?), the business is locally owned and they work directly with the bean growers to make sure everything is being traded fairly.

The only thing better than chocolate is getting it for free and knowing that part of the reason it’s so sweet is all the heart and soul that went into it.

And the sugar too.

Click here to reserve your spot on a free Taza tour!  And take me with you when you go!