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We have a whole shelf of cacao in the shop now, and the question we get most is some version of "is this not just expensive hot chocolate?" It is a fair question. The short answer is that ceremonial cacao, cacao powder and the cocoa in the baking aisle all start as the same bean, and then go in very different directions. Once you know what happens along the way, it is pretty easy to pick the right one for what you want to do with it.
Cacao pods grow straight off the trunk of the tree, which still surprises people. Inside are the beans, wrapped in a sweet white pulp. The beans are fermented, dried and then either roasted or kept at low temperature, and ground into a thick paste. That paste is the starting point for everything else.
Ceremonial cacao is that paste, left whole. Nothing is taken out, so you get all the cacao butter, which is roughly half its weight, along with the solids. It usually comes as a block, discs, drops or pre shaved flakes, and it melts rather than dissolves. Cacao powder is what you get when most of the butter is pressed out and the remaining solids are ground fine. It is usually processed at lower temperatures, which is why it is sold as raw. Cocoa is made the same way but from beans roasted hotter, and often alkalised, which is what Dutch process means. That makes it darker, milder and easier to dissolve, and it knocks a fair bit of the natural polyphenols out.
Like ceremonial matcha, there is no legal definition, so it describes intent more than a grade. The better brands use it to mean whole bean paste from a known origin, often heirloom varieties like Criollo, minimally processed, and grown by small farming communities who are paid properly for it. The ones on our shelf can all tell you exactly where their cacao comes from, down to the region and in some cases the cooperative. That traceability is really what you are paying for.
You do not need to do anything spiritual with it, by the way. Plenty of our customers just like a rich, not very sweet drink in the afternoon that feels more grounding than a third coffee. That is a perfectly good reason.
Use about 20 to 30g of ceremonial cacao, which is two to three tablespoons of shavings or a small chunk off the block chopped fine. Warm around 200ml of water or milk in a small pot until it is steaming but not boiling, then add the cacao and whisk as it melts. A molinillo, the carved wooden whisk you roll between your palms, gives you a lovely froth, but a milk frother or a quick blitz in a blender does the job too. Add a pinch of cinnamon, a tiny pinch of salt or chilli, and a little maple or honey if you want it sweeter.
Made with water it is intense and slightly bitter, closer to a good dark chocolate. Made with oat or coconut milk it turns into the best hot chocolate you have had, just much less sugary than the powdered stuff. As the weather warms up, try it blended with ice, a frozen banana and a splash of milk.
If you want a drink, especially a daily ritual, buy ceremonial. It is the only one with the body and richness that comes from keeping the butter in. For smoothies, bliss balls, overnight oats and raw treats, cacao powder is the workhorse and much cheaper per serve. For baking, where you are heating it anyway and many recipes are written for it, ordinary cocoa is fine and often behaves better with baking soda. And cacao nibs, which are just crushed roasted beans, are great sprinkled on yoghurt or granola when you want crunch and a hit of chocolate without sugar.
Cacao contains a little caffeine, but its main stimulant is theobromine, which is milder and slower. A cup of ceremonial cacao gives most people a gentle, warm lift rather than a jolt, which is why it has become a favourite with people cutting back on coffee. We wrote more about that in what to drink when you are cutting back on coffee. Cacao is also a genuinely good source of magnesium, iron and polyphenols, though if you are specifically low in magnesium it is worth reading which magnesium is right for you rather than relying on your afternoon cup.
A few quick cautions. Ceremonial doses of cacao are strong, so if you are sensitive to stimulants, pregnant, or take antidepressants or blood pressure medication, start small and check with your GP first. And please keep all cacao well away from dogs and cats, as theobromine is toxic to them, and ceremonial cacao has far more of it than milk chocolate.
If you are trying ceremonial cacao for the first time, the little Soma 85g bar is the easiest way in, and the pre shaved Cacao Collective saves you chopping a block every morning. The full range sits under Cacao & Carob. We are at 936 Anzac Parade, Maroubra, open seven days, and happy to talk you through the different origins, because they really do taste different.
