Sweet deal

The Taza chocolate factory was giving tours this weekend as part of open studios in Somerville, and walking around in there was like ... well, it was like being a kid in a candy store.

We had lots of samples of Taza's 60 percent, 70 percent, and 80 percent stone ground chocolate. We got to see the funky old bean roaster -- big, red, and round -- that looks like it escaped from the movie "Brazil," or from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." We saw the actual stones that grind the organic chocolate beans. And we even got to see a piece of the fruit that the cocoa beans grow in -- it was the size and shape of a Nerf football.

The factory isn't very big, so the tour is pretty quick, but it's interesting and informative and worth going. Taza opens its doors a few time a year, but you can always buy the chocolate any day.