The best and easiest way to feed a crowd for Cinco de Mayo – a coffee and chocolate rubbed pork shoulder, cooked for 8 hours in a slow cooker then stuffed into corn tortillas. Or as we’ve been calling it here at Taza Test Kitchen – Cinco in a slow cooker!

If you’re planning ahead, let the rub sit on the shoulder overnight. If not, even just a few minutes while you prepare the other ingredients works just fine. And while I love a good splash of beer in this recipe you can use just plain old stock and the recipe will come out great.

Serves 10

Ingredients:

For Coffee Chocolate Pork Tacos:

One 5 lb pork butt

Salt, to taste

1 package Taza Coffee Chocolate Mexicano, finely grated

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Vegetable oil

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

2 onions, finely chopped

3 cups chicken stock (or 2 cups stock + 1 cup light beer)

Corn tortillas

Sliced avocado, to garnish

Chopped cilantro, to garnish

Lime wedges, to garnish

Sliced scallions, to garnish

For Radish Slaw:

1 head cabbage, thinly sliced

1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced

1 jalapeño, thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lime

Drizzle of olive oil

Salt to taste

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

To Prepare:

Coffee Chocolate Pork Tacos:

1. Season pork butt with salt and let sit while you prepare the rub. In a bowl combine grated Taza Coffee Chocolate Mexicano, paprika, cinnamon and chili powder and mix until combined. Rub liberally all over pork roast, making sure to reserve any rub that falls to the side, and let pork sit.

2. Heat a large drizzle of vegetable oil in a skillet over high heat until shimmering, then add garlic, jalapeno and onions to the pan and cook until beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add stock and beer to the pan and scrape up any bits of browned onion that may be stuck to the skillet. Remove from heat.

3. Place onion and stock mixture in the bottom of a large slow cooker, then place pork butt on top of onions and cover with any remaining rub that may have fallen off the roast. Cook for 8 hours on the low setting.

4. Once the roast is done, let it rest until cool enough to handle, then remove it from the slow cooker and shred with a fork into bite sized chunks. Moisten the shredded pork with the cooking liquid and season with salt and pepper if desired.

5. When ready to serve, grill the tortillas and serve pork with garnishes and radish slaw if desired.

Radish Slaw:

Toss cabbage, radishes, and jalapeño together. Drizzle with lime juice and toss with olive oil and salt to taste. Let sit for 15 minutes, and when ready to serve toss with chopped cilantro and serve with pork tacos.