Oaxaca · CACAO, CHOCOLATE & COFFEE TASTINGS
14 reviewed
Oaxacan chocolate is ground with almonds and cinnamon and drunk hot with water, and the coffee comes down from the Sierra. Here are the best tastings and mill visits: which let you grind your own blend, which pair cacao with mezcal, how long each sitting lasts, and what they cost.
Oaxaca street art, artist studios, and hands-on printmaking, then a guided cacao tasting with multiple varieties and drinks.
“In depth explanation of the political meanings + inspiration behind the murals which gave us more insight into Oaxacan culture.”
Small-group Oaxaca cacao tasting with 15–20 cocoa samples, traceability stories, cocoa toast, and a house drink in ~2 hours.
“I would recommend this experience to anyone. It was fantastic, and our whole family enjoyed it. We learned so much about chocolate and how different cacao varieties are prepared, and we got to try our hands at making chocolate. The founder is kind and taught us so much. Not to mention... it was so delicious!”
Make Oaxacan chocolate from cocoa bean to drink, using traditional tools and techniques, with tastings, custom sugar, and cocoa toast.
“Super fun and informative workshop. We learned a lot about cacao’s history and production. We sampled different beans with different styles of production, washed vs fermented, sampled different ground powders, and then roasted and ground our own cacao, which we made into hot chocolate. We got to keep the remainder of our ground chocolate as a delicious souvenir. We would highly recommend this workshop and would do it again. We did it with our two kids, 12 and 8, and they enjoyed it immensely. The staff were super friendly, knowledgeable, and accommodating.”
Learn Oaxacan-style chocolate by hand at Teolab, make your own bars, taste what you crafted, and take home 150g.
“Tomas is a passionate, warm, patient and generous resource who shared his knowledge of chocolate making in a memorable way”
A 1-hour Oaxaca cacao workshop where you taste multiple chocolate styles and make your own ancestral drink in a warm, traditional setting.
“Martin was an excellent guide unexplained everything very clearly. He was also very pleasant and patient with my Spanish.”
Oaxaca cacao day from raw seeds to hot chocolate, with a Sierra Norte hike and mountain views included in a private 7–8 hour experience.
“Learning how to work with Cacao and making hot chocolate was great. The hike afterwards was absolutely magical. The mountains were amazing and our guide Margaux was the best.!”
Hands-on Oaxacan chocolate making in Oaxaca City: toast cacao, grind chocolate bars, then cook mole and sip hot chocolate. Small group.
“What a fun and educational class this was!! We heated up cocoa beans and made actual chocolate to make hot chocolate and chocolate ice cream . We also learned how to make a simple mole with chocolate and it was all hands on with the instructor guiding us . At the end of the class we were served our mole sauce over chicken and the chocolate ice cream for dessert . Dinner was served on a rooftop patio with twinkling lights . It was a phenomenal experience and we 100% recommend taking this class !!!”
Make Oaxacan-style take-home chocolate in a small, hands-on 2.5 hour class in Oaxaca City, including 150g of your own bar.
“Loved learned ng more about the history of cacao and the process of making chocolate! Thank you for being such a wonderful teacher!”
A guided Oaxaca coffee tasting in English: sample French Press, Chemex, and AeroPress, learn extraction flavor, and meet Oaxacan coffee culture.
“Charming and a lot of fun. Pablo's English was excellent, and he was personable and knowledgeable. I'd hoped to learn more about the growing of coffee, rather than the production, but I'm not sorry I did this.”
Art galleries meet cocoa tastings in Oaxaca on a 2.5-hour small-group walk. Meet artists, sample chocolate, learn cocoa culture.
“We loved it! The tour guides were locals with a great deal of knowledge of the local art scene and chocolatiers. The community workshops were a great example of collective action and innovation.”
Half-day hike in Oaxaca’s pine forests to Santa Catarina Ixtepeji with views and handmade hot chocolate at the mirador.
“I had a lovely hike, all the way to the mirador. Marianna, my guide was very kind and friendly. It was just the two of us the whole hike, and we talked a lot and admired the mushrooms together, it was a beautiful and authentic experience in which I was accompanied with an incredible person and a beautiful forest! She also made a delicious traditional Oaxaca hot chocolate at the top, which just added to the beautiful hike! We saw sooo many mushrooms and flowers, and very ancient ferns and trees!! It was peaceful and just what I needed! 100% recommendations !”
Taste Oaxacan cacao from bean to cup. Roast, peel, grind, choose sweetness, froth with a molinillo, then sip with a cocoa snack.
“This experience was such a pleasant surprise! I did not expect it to be such high quality. The place is SO nice and peaceful, everybody was super friendly and we got to know a lot about cacao (via information, tastings of the beans, ...). We booked the experience in which you even make your own chocolate (for drinking, not for eating). I loved every moment of it and would definitely recommend to friends and family! Thanks for everything :)”
Learn Oaxacan coffee through a guided 1-hour tasting in Centro. Choose 3 brewing styles and taste Oaxaca beans.
“Pablo was the best host ever and really went above and beyond to make this experience amazing. He is so knowledge about the various facets of coffee, and made it is so much fun to listen and learn. You can truly tell that he is in his element and so passionate about coffee. We would absolutely recommend the tasting.”
Oaxaca City art-and-cacao walk with small-group gallery stops, cocoa history tastings, and sweet samples. 2.5 hours, English, $59.79.
“Fantastic walk around town seeing art galleries and eating chocolates! Pablo was knowledge and worked hard to make sure the whole family mom, dad, and 2 teenagers really enjoyed the experience- definitely recommend!”
