From Bean to Heart

Here at Cacao Calling I dig deep into the journey from bean to heart to help educate and inspire you.

Cacao beans are the primary ingredient in chocolate, but have you ever wondered where these beans actually come from and what makes Ceremonial Grade Cacao so different?

Ceremonial Grade Cacao is the purest form of chocolate we can come across, made from a single ingredient – 100% cacao beans. Known as the “food of the gods”, the cacao beans found in the cacao plant, Theobroma Cacao was first discovered centuries ago and has remained a staple in many cultures.

Cacao has always been a very powerful and important food, medicine and even currency. Many years ago cacao was seen as a gift from the gods and only people with high status were privileged enough to drink it. Cacao beans were also used as currency, so it was known that drinking cacao was like drinking pure gold!

Unfortunately, as time has gone on, the value and beauty of chocolate has diminished. Conventional cacao or cocoa powder and a lot of the ‘chocolate’ we see in shops today have been stripped of their natural goodness and compromised with fats, sugar, dairy and other artificial and processed ingredients, with very minimal pure cacao added! It is said that for anything on the shelves to be called ‘chocolate’, it only requires 20-30% of actual cacao and the rest can be made up of other ingredients! 

This is what makes Ceremonial Grade Cacao different!

Ceremonial Cacao from bean to heart is much more simple and pure, and is made in a traditional way with minimal processing, which means the beans still contain all or most of their natural compounds, full of nutrients! This means that we maximise its health benefits that support both physical and psychological well-being when drinking.

The cacao beans, which are technically seeds, grow inside pods surrounded by a white fleshy pulp known as Baba.
The beans are taken straight from the pod, fermented, lightly roasted or sun-dried, removed from their shells and then ground down into the ‘cacao liquor’ that becomes solid at cooler temperatures. Nothing is taken out or added during this process, which is necessary for cultivating their flavour and activating certain natural compounds.

Intention: from bean to heart, Ceremonial Cacao is cultivated with intention, and in alignment with the Cacao Spirit. This means the lands, the farmers, the process, and the finished cacao are treated with compassion, love, respect, and reverence for you to the enjoy and journey with.

In buying cacao this way, we are also supporting the Indigenous Community and keeping their farms growing and in business. Please use your discernment when choosing where to buy your cacao from.

Known for it’s mental, physical and spiritual benefits, there’s no surprise that this beautiful plant medicine is being shared far and wide!