The concept of ceremonial cacao and the cacao ceremony are two notions we hear more and more often online, but they are rarely explained correctly.
For the Mayan and Aztec peoples, cocoa beans and, implicitly, chocolate represented a gift from the gods. They carefully cultivated cocoa trees and attributed numerous benefits to chocolate, both nutritional and, especially, spiritual. The most common method of consumption was the cocoa-based drink. The drink, an ancient version of what we understand today as hot chocolate, was served on special occasions such as births, weddings, commemorations, or victory celebrations.
The entire ritual of preparing and serving the drink was transformed into a ceremony, and the cacao used was made from ceremonial cocoa beans. Not every cocoa drink is a ceremony, and not every type of cacao is ceremonial cacao.
A ceremonial cacao such as VAI CACAO differs from commercial cacao types in several aspects:
The type of cacao used has a specialty flavor. There are numerous types of cacao trees in the world. Many varieties have been developed or artificially modified to produce more beans or to be more resistant to pests. This type of cacao is generally used for making low-cost or mass-market products. Specialty flavor cacao varieties represent less than 12% of global cacao production and are used for preparing ceremonial cacao.
The purity of this type of cacao must be 100%. It is not modified or mixed with products such as preservatives, emulsifiers, or sweeteners. If you want to sweeten a hot chocolate with ceremonial cacao, we recommend using a little honey or another natural sweetener.
It is obtained from a single source. There are several ceremonial cacao plantations around the world, mostly in Central America and the northern part of South America, but ceremonial cacao must be made using cocoa beans cultivated on a single plantation, not by mixing varieties.
The cocoa beans must be cultivated and harvested traditionally, in an archaic way, by farming families with a long tradition in the field who respect the needs of the soil and nature and operate ethically.
The preparation method must be as simple and traditional as possible to preserve the energy and integrity of the coffee. VAI CACAO ceremonial cacao is made by manual grinding of cocoa beans on stones.
Ceremonial cacao and VAI CACAO chocolate are made by a family of chocolatiers in Italy, using the highest quality cocoa beans cultivated by traditional farming families in Central and South America.
The 5 varieties of ceremonial cacao with different intense flavors are suitable for preparing drinks, as well as for desserts, cakes, glazes, or making smoothies or functional beverages.
VAI CACAO chocolate comes in a variety of flavors, with almonds, coconut flakes, rose petals & raspberries, myrtle berries, coffee beans, sea salt, lavender, cashews, or classic chocolate.
Our advice is to create your own personalized cacao ceremony in which you let yourself be carried away by the process of making the drink. Set your intentions and the things you want to celebrate by savoring it, and enjoy its health benefits! The drink can be prepared using water, plant-based milk, or regular milk.
We encourage you to enjoy a square of chocolate after your meal and prepare a hot or cold drink with ceremonial cacao daily.
Enjoy, ladies!
