Raw organic fair trade cacao paste - 100% ceremonial quality cacao

100% organic raw cacao paste - ceremonial grade, Nacional variety from Ecuador

The raw cacao paste is cacao and nothing else: cold-ground beans, no sugar, no lecithin, no milk. You use it like a very intense dark chocolate bar - melted, grated, cut into chips - and it is also the classic base for ceremonial cacao. We have been working with Rrraw Cacao Factory for years, using Nacional variety beans bought directly in Ecuador.

In practical terms, you can melt it to make a chocolate mousse, cut it into chips to add to cakes with a rich cacao flavour, grate it into a smoothie, and why not try it in your savoury dishes: it also works as a spice! Some call it cocoa mass or cocoa liquor, others simply talk about raw chocolate at 100%. It is the same product.

🍫How much raw cacao paste per day?

It is the question we get asked most often, and curiously almost nobody answers it with figures. So here is our guide, built from the composition values published by the USDA FoodData Central for unsweetened cacao: approximately 1,297 mg of theobromine, 80 mg of caffeine and 327 mg of magnesium per 100 g.

- 5 to 10 g per day - daily use. One or two squares grated into a porridge, a smoothie, a plant-based yoghurt. That is roughly 65 to 130 mg of theobromine and 4 to 8 mg of caffeine, which is considerably less than a coffee. This is the level I recommend for starting out, and the one I follow myself most of the time.

- 10 to 20 g - sustained use. A hot cacao drink, a raw dessert, a morning preparation. Around 130 to 260 mg of theobromine and 8 to 16 mg of caffeine. Noticeable for people who are reactive to stimulants, especially late in the day.

- 25 to 40 g - ceremonial use. This is the range generally used for a cup of ceremonial cacao, i.e. 325 to 520 mg of theobromine. Keep it for occasional use, in the morning or early afternoon, and not every day.

There you go. These levels are not prescriptions. They are reference points. Everyone at their own pace, and sensitivity to theobromine varies a great deal from one person to another. If you are starting out, start low.

🍫 Why "raw" makes a difference

The word "raw" is everywhere these days, often for not much. Here, it rests on a measurable threshold. A study published in 2010 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (DOI 10.1021/jf102391q) tracked the degradation of epicatechin, the main flavanol in cacao, at each stage of bean processing. The result: the loss begins as soon as the bean exceeds 70 °C, and alkalisation - the so-called "Dutch" process used in industry - destroys up to 98 %.

Conventional cacao roasting is done between 120 and 150 °C. Stone-mill grinding, on the other hand, is done cold. That is the whole difference, and it is not cosmetic.

Another thing: the taste. An unroasted bean does not develop the toasted notes we are used to. It keeps its primary aromas - fruity, floral, sometimes slightly tangy. The first time, it is disconcerting. Then there is no going back.

Because there is a difference between Chocolate and Raw Cacao, watch this short video from the founder of Rrraw:

🍫 From bean to paste: how it is made

Made in the workshop in Paris: the raw cacao beans are shelled to keep only the nibs. The raw cacao nibs are then ground very finely, cold, in a stone mill for 3 days, with just a little cocoa butter. Thanks to this process without roasting or cooking, all the aromatic power of the raw cacao is preserved.

Three days of milling. For an industrial bar, count a few hours. This long time is what gives the smoothness on the palate without having to add anything at all.

Discover Eric's interview with Sébastien, former head of production at Rrraw chocolates, who explains everything there is to know!

🍫 The Nacional variety, and why this choice

 The beans used are of the Nacional variety, bought directly from a cooperative in Ecuador with the SPP label. Nacional remains uncommon - it is estimated at around 2% of world production - and it has floral notes of jasmine and orange blossom, which makes it particularly interesting.
You should know that there are mainly 3 varieties of beans:

- Forastero: the most widely grown in the world, its yield is high and it is very resistant to disease. It has little aroma, however, and a pronounced bitterness. This is the one used in industrial chocolates.

- Trinitario: a hybrid of the other 2 varieties, it accounts for roughly 10/15% of world production. It is characterised by its cocoa butter content and much more developed aromas.

- Criollo: the noblest variety, its yield is low and global warming disrupts its production, which makes it exceptional. It has a powerful, fine and aromatic taste. Very low in acidity and almost without bitterness, criollo is the most interesting from an aromatic point of view. Criollo is also interesting for its fruity secondary aromas that linger on the palate, with notes of nuts, caramel and even blueberries! (it is the one closest to Nacional in terms of quality)

For us, beyond the quality of the final product, choosing a little-known variety also means helping small producers, preserving the ancestral know-how of local populations and helping this original, ancient variety to thrive.

Ceremonial cacao: what it really is

A ceremonial cacao - also called ceremony cacao - is a pure cacao, unroasted, not defatted and unsweetened, drunk as a hot beverage during a cacao ceremony or a meditative moment. Four criteria, not one more. Everything else - the golden packaging, the "activated" claims, the prices per gram - is marketing, not definition.

Let us go through these four criteria one by one, because this is where 90% of the products sold under this name fall short:

- Whole cacao. The whole bean is ground, cocoa butter included. So it is never powder, which is defatted cacao. A paste, a mass, a cacao "liquor": yes. A powder: no.

- Unroasted or very lightly heated. This is the criterion most often betrayed. See the 70 °C threshold above.

- No additives. No sugar, no lecithin, no flavouring, no milk. 100% cacao.

- Bean traceability. Variety, origin, cooperative. If the seller cannot name them, the "sacred" dimension of the product remains a story you are being told.

People also talk about sacred cacao, ritual cacao or ceremonial cacao: these are variants of the same term, with no technical distinction between them.

Our paste meets all four criteria. It is not a product designed for cacao ceremonies - it is a raw cacao which, by its very nature, suits that use. The nuance matters: we are not selling a ritual, we are selling an honest raw material.

🍫 Ceremonial cacao and raw cacao: what is the difference?

Frankly, this is the number one point of confusion, and I understand why: nobody takes the time to explain it.

"Raw cacao" describes a process. "Ceremonial cacao" describes a use. A raw cacao is a cacao whose bean has not exceeded the temperature threshold that degrades its compounds. A ceremonial cacao is a cacao drunk in a ritual context. The two terms are not on the same level, and that is why they partially overlap without being the same thing.

In practice: every quality ceremonial cacao is a raw cacao in paste form, but not every raw cacao is intended for ceremonial use. Whole raw cacao beans , for example, are raw without being suited to preparing a cup.

And then there is a commercial aspect that is often forgotten: the name "ceremonial" is not protected by any specification. No label, no control. Any cacao can claim it. It is precisely for this reason that we prefer to talk about what the product is - a 100% raw cacao paste of the Nacional variety - rather than what it might allow you to do.

🍫 Cacao in history: where the ritual comes from

The Olmecs (1500-400 BC) consumed the cacao bean ground into a hot drink with other spices, chilli and herbs. Over time, the Maya (600 BC) and the Aztecs (400 AD) intensified the cultivation of the cacao tree; the bean became sacred and was used in religious rituals. The first name of the cacao tree is in fact "Theobroma", meaning "food of the Gods" in Greek.

A symbol of abundance, the cacao drink remained a privilege for the upper classes and soldiers. The bean also became a currency of exchange at that time.

Arriving at the Spanish court in 1528, Europeans added sugar, vanilla and cinnamon to the cacao drink to reduce its bitterness. In the 17th century, cacao consumption gradually spread throughout Europe; roasting then became essential for preserving the beans, and little by little cacao became the chocolate we all know today.

Today, our knowledge and techniques allow us to skip the roasting step and preserve cacao without any food safety issue. But until then, the way chocolate was made had never been questioned. We are proud to offer you the products of one of the pioneers of raw cacao in France: Rrraw Cacao Factory.

A word of honesty along the way. The contemporary ceremonies practised in Europe are not a faithful reconstruction of a Mesoamerican ritual - the archaeological sources do not allow that level of detail. They are modern practices, inspired, sometimes passed down by Central American lineages, sometimes reconstructed. That takes nothing away from them. It is worth saying clearly.

🍫 Preparing a cup of ceremonial cacao

The protocol for a cacao ceremony comes down to five steps. Allow ten minutes.

1. Weigh your cacao. 25 to 40 g per person depending on your sensitivity. If it is your first time, stay at 20-25 g. Grate or finely chop the pieces: the paste will melt faster and more evenly.

2. Heat the liquid without boiling it. 200 to 250 ml of water, plant milk or a mix of both. Aim for 65 to 70 °C - the temperature of a green tea, when the steam rises but no bubbles form. Beyond that, you start to degrade the flavanols. A kitchen thermometer settles the matter in three seconds.

3. Pour over the cacao and whisk. Pour the hot liquid over the grated paste, let it melt for thirty seconds, then emulsify with a whisk or a milk frother. The emulsion matters: it completely changes the texture on the palate.

4. Season if you wish. A pinch of salt, a touch of cinnamon, mild chilli or vanilla. To sweeten, a little maple syrup or date powder. Always add after emulsifying, never before.

5. Drink slowly. It is a banal thing to write, but it is the only truly "ceremonial" step. A cup made with 30 g of cacao is drunk over fifteen to twenty minutes, not in three gulps.

For lighter everyday use, the raw cacao powder is better suited to the morning cup: less fatty, quicker to prepare.

🍫 What you should know before you start

You will often read that cacao contains phenylethylamine, the "love molecule", and that this is what explains the particular state felt during a ceremony. Let us be precise, because the pharmacological reality is more sober.

PEA is indeed present in chocolate, at levels of around 0.4 to 6.6 µg/g. But it is very largely broken down by monoamine oxidase as soon as it passes through the gut and liver. In other words: very little ingested PEA reaches the central nervous system in active form. This is not an opinion, it is basic pharmacokinetics.

We would rather tell you this than sell you a chemistry that does not exist.

Watch a video of our conversation on this subject with Yasmine from the Paris shop Rrraw Cacao Factory!