Many people consider eating chocolate a “guilty pleasure.” But the reputation of chocolate as a junk food should more accurately be attributed to the harmful effects of commercial processing and refining techniques, and the other ingredients commonly added, most notably white sugar. All chocolate is made from the cacao (cocoa) bean, and cacao beans in their natural, unprocessed, unadulterated state are rich in nutrients and beneficial to health.

We offer a complete line of cacao products and get lots of calls from folks that aren’t really sure which cacao products they should try first. So here’s a quick explanation of each product:

Cacao Beans - Cacao grows as a pod which contains large seeds. Cacao beans are actually the seeds. The beans are covered by a paper-thin shell that should be removed before eating. You can eat the beans raw or you can roast them to bring out a richer flavor.

Cacao Nibs - When you remove the paper-thin shell from the cacao bean, the bean often breaks into small pieces. The small pieces are called nibs. Nibs are our most popular form of cacao because they are both raw and convenient.

Cacao Powder - Cacao Powder is made by removing the fat (butter) from the cacao bean. Once the butter is removed, you’re left with a hydroscopic powder that will dissolve easily in liquids. Our powder is made using a cold-press process to minimize nutrient loss.

Cacao Butter - Cocoa butter is the pale-yellow vegetable fat extracted from the cacao bean. Mix it with varying amounts of cocoa powder and sweetener (we recommend light agave nectar) to make solid pieces of chocolate.

Cacao Liquor - Cacao liquor (aka: cacao paste) is made when cacao beans are placed under pressure and the solid bean is turned to liquid at just over 100 degrees (F). Simply add sweetener (we recommend light agave nectar) to begin making high quality chocolate.