Uncovering the Unique Qualities of Keith's Cacao: What Sets it Apart from the Rest?

For so long I drank "raw cacao", (you know, the stuff you can purchase in a powder form from your local supermarket or organic shop) as a treat, it was my hot chocolate and something I drank when I didn't feel like a coffee but had that hot drink craving.

It definitely filled the gap at that time and seemed to be a cup I looked forward to enjoying but it wasn't any more than a drink.

Then I discovered Ceremonial Cacao, and if you have read my other blogs, you will know that, at first the taste was...........well..........rather dissatisfying. I have since tried many, many different brands, makes and models of "Ceremonial Cacao", and I say it with "quotations " because there are some out there that claim to be something that they just quite frankly are not.

For a start many make they claim that they are "RAW" meaning they haven't been heated or heat treated. But let me tell you if you were lucky enough to have a beautiful Cacao pod from the Theobroma tree and you cracked it open to reveal the cacao beans, and you ate one, this would be raw and it doesn't taste like chocolate, in fact it has a rather tangy taste.

So, to get the cacao bean from its tangy taste to one that resembles chocolate as we know it, the beans must first be dried. They are then toasted or roasted to make it possible for them to be peeled (to remove the husk), and this process of heating quite obviously means that this product is no longer "raw."

The next thing I learnt to consider is the entire process from harvest to production to packaging and how ethical and intentional each company is.

While there are some companies that are mass producing cacao with machines and no intention other than financial, there are other companies that hire ex-criminals to help re-establish them in the community, giving them a step in the right direction, but potentially at the detriment to the energy of the cacao, and then there is Keith's Cacao.

I fell in love with Keith's Cacao for more reasons than I can talk about here but let me start with a few of the biggies and my favourites.

1. Keith has developed beautiful, personal relationships with the families who grow the Cacao (exactly as nature intended it under the canopy of the rainforest like it has grown for thousands of years), and while it's not technically "Fair Trade" which involves middlemen and red tape, it is direct trade which in my opinion is far superior and more personal.

2. Keith has employed local Guatemalan families to help in the processing of the highest quality product. Each individual bean is checked for quality by hand 3 times, and the beautiful women who roast the beans are able to work in their time around their families, they all love their jobs singing and bringing the energy of joy into the Cacao as they work. These beautiful families all have so much gratitude for Keith coming to their community with such genuine care for the locals.

3. Absolute minimal and I mean minimal processing is done with Keith's Cacao. Nothing is removed and nothing is added to this incredible plant medicine, so while it is not only the worlds original ceremonial cacao (which is quite a feat in itself) this also makes it the world's purest cacao.

4. And then I come to the intention behind Keith's Cacao, and it is nothing more than that of love, pure love. As Keith holds in his hand each block of cacao before it is shipped off around the world, he blesses it and talks to it, like someone talking to the love of their life. So, when you receive your cacao, you are quite literally drinking a cup full of love.

For me, having immersed myself and with continual education and interest in this incredible plant medicine there is just no other Cacao that compares in quality, ethics, purity and energy to that of Keith's Cacao.

My parting note would be to do some research and know what you are drinking, where it comes from and how ethical it is, especially because when you are working with powerful plant medicines and spirits, it's hugely important that the energy you are consuming is going to support you on your healing journey.

Cacao Blessings x