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What Is Ceremonial Cacao?

Put simply, Ceremonial Grade Cacao is a sacred plant medicine from Peru well known for its heart-opening bliss-inducing qualities. Served as a hot drink.

But what makes it ceremonial grade and different to what you find in the supermarket?

While all of the world’s Cacao comes from Theobroma Cacao, a small evergreen tree, not all cacao is grown and produced equal. Within this family, there are many different Cacao varieties, each with varying qualities and therapeutic properties. Similar to coffee, Cacao is differentiated by the varying grades and calibers. We consider that Cacao needs to follow ancient traditions and high quality standards for it to be consider Ceremonial.

These are our quality standards:

The Cacao Is Full Bean And Pure Paste

The cacao is full bean and pure paste

Our Cacao paste (1kg block & drops) comes from naturally fermentedsun-dried and hand-peeled Cacao beans. These 100% pure, organic beans are then milled and beautifully blended in the Cacao’s own full-fat to produce an incredibly creamy 100% pure block. With nothing added and nothing removed, our Cacao is delivered to you in its purest form.

Non-Ceremonial Cacao - regular Cacao powder found in supermarkets has been processed to remove the cacao’s natural fat. To compensate for the lost fat content additives, fillers or sweetners are often added. 


The Paste Is Made From Premium, Hand-Picked, Single-Origin Criollo Cacao Beans

The components of Cacao differ dramatically depending on the variety. Ceremonial Cacao is made from the most premium and rare Cacao variety known as Criollo. This variation is deemed to have the highest medicinal properties of any Cacao on Earth and is famous for its luxurious, fragrant aroma and flavour. This plant, however, is very delicate and low yielding, requiring careful attention from our farmers and support from the jungle canopy to thrive. These factors associated with the Criollo variety do not lend themselves well to mass production and therefore, is not used for large-scale distribution. Our Cacao is produced on a small-scale. This ensures our farmers not only seek permission from each tree before individually hand-picking the pods but allows each bean to be inspected for imperfections and graded to select only the finest, guaranteeing the authenticity and purity of our Ceremonial Cacao.  

Non-Ceremonial Cacao - The majority of commercially produced Cacao lack aroma and have lower levels of bio-active compounds as they are a combination of higher yielding and more resistant Cacao varieties that contain less medicinal properties.


The Paste Is 100% Organic And Shade-Grown Under A Natural Agroforestry Canopy

Cacao pods are porous meaning they absorb the energy and aromas of surrounding plants. Neighbouring fruit trees, such as papaya or bananas, infuse their flavours into the Cacao, enhancing the profile and sensory experience when used in Ceremony. This agroforestry environment is where true Ceremonial Cacao comes from. Alongside the flavours of the jungle that surround our Cacao plants, the paste also contains the vibrations and energy of its environment, further enhancing the spiritual connection between the Amazonian spirit and the user. All our Cacao is strictly ‘shade-grown’ in this natural way to provide enhanced flavour, cleaner energetics and superior therapeutic benefit. It also promotes biodiversity and protects the jungle canopy.

Non Ceremonial Cacao - Today, the majority of Cacao is produced from mono-cropped trees in areas burnt out by farmers to provide mass cultivation for larger yields, completed at the expense of the Amazon jungle. Production often uses damaged or immature pods, resulting in wounded or weak Cacao that is pooled together to create a blend. Imperfections in flavour are often hidden by roasting the beans to intensify the chocolate flavour.

It Is Blessed By The Land’s Indigenous Owners, Produced With Respect To Their Traditional Customs

All our Cacao comes from indigenous groups. These groups have used this plant for its sacred medicinal properties in ceremonies for thousands of years. The blessing of the soil, trees, pods and paste throughout the production process by the ancestral owners of Cacao is a necessity and a practice we support. It is essential that reverence is upheld surrounding the culturally sensitive attributes of these peoples within these farming communities. We are honoured to be granted access to their sacred plant medicines. We ask and require their blessings in order to keep our Cacao energetically clean. The ceremony of Cacao begins at the time seeds are planted. Happy trees with happy farmers and a happy community provides pure, clean, happy, high-vibrational Cacao. Our assurance of cultural sensitivity surrounding the production and exploitation of Cacao is crucial and a significant difference between Ceremonial grade Cacao and standard Cacao paste. The intentions of the manufacturer determines the energetics of the final product.

Non Ceremonial Cacao – nowadays, most Cacao is manufactured through child-slave labour, farmer exploitation, comes from distressed trees and forced production against the law of nature or from Western companies who profit from the abuse of indigienous people. You can read more about the issues in the cacao industry here.

It Is Full Of Health Enhancing Bio Actives To Heal Your Body And Awaken Your Heart Chakra

In a biochemical analysis, our Ceremonial Cacao paste exhibited significantly higher levels of a number of key medicinal components compared to standard Cacao paste and other Cacao-based powders and products. Ceremonial grade Cacao is truly far more powerful as a plant medicine attributable to the several reasons outlined above. This results in more energy, bliss, happiness, joy, upliftment, satisfaction and awakening when Ceremonial Cacao is ingested over other Cacao products. It is undoubtedly pure and transformative as a natural medicine, varying vastly from regular Cacao powder and supermarket chocolate. If you want to learn more about the biochemistry of Ceremonial Cacao and its special properties click here.

 

 

When taking our Ceremonial Cacao, you receive not only the highest nutritional benefits, but also the emotional and spiritual communion. These properties make our Ceremonial Cacao a wonderful tool to include in your spiritual or wellness practice. It is a beautiful facilitator to pair with yoga, journaling, meditation, ecstatic dance, bush walking, art, or any other creative and wellness process that leads you to feel more connected and embodied to something greater than ourselves.