Description

Latin name: Theobroma cacao “Criollo Cacao”
Also Know As: Ceremonial Cacao, Criollo Cacao, Raw Cacao, Cacao Granulate, Cacao Wafers, Cacao Paste, Cacao Liquor

Wafers:

Origin: Peru
Supplier-ID: ST-3527Y

Chunks:

Origin: Peru
Supplier-ID: OR-4323Z

Theobroma cacao – Cacao Paste

Organic ceremonial grade Cacao Paste consist solely of stone-ground cacao beans. These cacao paste is raw and all-natural. The Cacao beans are not roasted before grinding, therefore the cacao optimally retains its nutritional value. It’s a single-origin cacao paste that only contains 100% the Criollo cacao beans from Peru. This bean is known as the ‘Queen of cacao’ because of its superior quality.

Our Cacao Paste is refined at 40 microns. The longer length of time that the cacao is refined reduces the quantity of microns in the cacao paste. Microns refers to the texture and “grittiness” of the paste used to produce chocolate.

The lower the level of microns (longer refining time) the smoother texture the cacao paste and resulting chocolate becomes. The higher level of microns results in a rougher grittier cacao paste and resulting chocolate.

After the cacao paste is refined to 40 micron level, the cacao paste is then put through the conching process. Conching reduces the level of acidity in the cacao paste. Which results in our cacao being a very smooth, soft and pleasant tasting cacao to work with in Ceremony’s.

Ceremonial Cacao, also known as “A gift from the gods”, is considered a sacred plant in the ancient Maya lands. The indigenous Maya people have been using Cacao for thousands as a plant medicine for the physical, mental and spiritual body. Still up today its amazing health and spiritual benefits are being honored worldwide.

The Benefits of Cocoa Paste

Cacao contains several minerals including calcium, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc. All of these minerals are found in greater quantities in cacao than either cocoa butter or cocoa liquor. Cacao solids also contain 230 mg of caffeine and 2057 mg of theobromine per 100g, which are mostly absent from the other products manufactured from the cacao bean.

The Difference Between Cacao and Cocoa

Cacao is the seed, also known as cacao beans, from which chocolate is made and cocoa is the ingredient in chocolate. Cacao will be seen by the chocolate industry and botanists as the raw unprocessed material of which cocoa is made. So cocoa refers to any of the processed and manufactured products while cacao refers to the beans that have not been roasted, defatted or added sugars.

Interesting read: Potential benefits of Cocoa

Additional information