Chocolate, Connection, and Collaboration: This local creation has it all.
A humble bar, made in homage to a local café’s roots.
Photos by Tyler Shane
If you’re looking for a little indulgence this holiday season for yourself or a family member, look no further than Café Corazón, located in Kansas City’s Westport. Café Corazón opened their doors with a mission to brighten the Kansas City coffee scene by paying homage to the coffee bean, one of Latin America’s most commonly produced crops. With Christmas just around the corner, another Latin crop is getting the spotlight at the café – the beloved cacao bean. While cacao originated in South America, as the crop traveled up to Mesoamerica it became highly revered and used to make the first “chocolate” drink, a bitter fermented concoction of ground cacao, chiles, vanilla, and other flavorings. Mesoamericans consumed this drink believing it could connect them to the divine. This drink would eventually inspire Europeans to add sugar and milk, creating chocolate as we know it today.
Due to the history of cacao, it is only fitting that Kansas City’s first Latinx coffee shop has paired up with local chocolatier Tyler Shane to create chocolate bars highlighting Indigenous and Latin flavors. Curtis Herrera and Miel Castagna-Herrera, the owners of the café, are known to highlight the work of Latinx and Indigenous people and therefore wanted to find a chocolatier with Latinx roots. Tyler Shane, with Native American and Spanish heritage from her father, fit the café’s needs and their partnership began.
The chocolate bars come in two flavors, Maíz and Mole Rojo, and are both 70% dark chocolate. Maíz pays tribute to one of Mexico’s indigenous crops as it includes Peruvian corn nuts (yes, you read that right) and lime to create a beautiful blend of crunchy texture and bright flavors. Mole Rojo is representative of the Mexican sauce that includes chiles and spices, as well as toasted peanuts and almonds. It presents the deep, complex flavor of traditional mole in chocolate bar form and the timing of these bars could not be more perfect as mole is commonly made during the holiday season.
To take this Latinx collaboration a step further, the graphic design on the packaging of these special chocolate bars is created by muralists Rodrigo Alvarez and Isaac Tapia. Their work can be seen around Kansas City metro; a classic example is the outside of the café building, adorned with their showstopping mural of Frida Kahlo.
Other offerings at Café Corazón. Photo by Anna Petrow
The Latinx/Indigenous inspired chocolate bars are selling quickly and have already had to be restocked. Given the successful launch there may be more chocolate coming out of this collaboration in the days ahead. By purchasing these chocolates, the buyer is not only supporting local goods and businesses, but also supporting Kansas City’s Latinx creators. This holiday season, do it the Latinx way and let your chocolate connect you to the divine.
