Ceremonial cacao is usually 100% cacao, unsweetened, melted into water and drunk slowly. Drinking chocolate is chocolate melted into milk or water, usually lightly sweetened, and drunk for the pleasure of it. Bantu Chocolate makes the second: single-estate chocolate for a slow cup, without the ceremony.
Both are warm cacao drinks made from the whole bean, fat and all, which is what separates them from hot cocoa made with powder. The differences are in sweetness, preparation and purpose. Both descend from cacao drinks first prepared in the Amazon more than 5,000 years ago (Science News), and later in Mesoamerica.
The difference in one table
| Ceremonial cacao | Drinking chocolate | |
|---|---|---|
| Made from | 100% cacao paste | Chocolate, usually 50% to 75% cacao |
| Sweetened | Usually not | Usually, lightly |
| Liquid | Traditionally water | Usually milk, or plant milk |
| Texture | Thick, earthy | Rich, silky |
| Preparation | Melted slowly, often with spices | Melted into warm milk and whisked |
| Purpose | Ritual, meditation, intention | Pleasure, a slow moment |
What is each made from?
Ceremonial cacao is generally sold as 100% cacao paste: roasted beans ground until smooth and set into a block, with nothing added. In France, only a product made exclusively of cacao paste may be sold as “pâte de cacao” (DGCCRF). Read more in is ceremonial cacao the same as 100% cacao paste?
Drinking chocolate starts from finished chocolate, where a sweetener and sometimes a little extra cocoa butter have already joined the cacao. That makes it smoother, and easy to love from the very first cup.
How is each prepared?
Ceremonial cacao is usually chopped, melted into hot water, sometimes with cinnamon or chilli, and whisked until it froths.
Drinking chocolate is melted into milk warmed just until it steams, then whisked until glossy. Our method is in can you make hot chocolate with a chocolate bar?
Which should you choose?
Choose ceremonial cacao if you want an unsweetened, intense cup and a practice built around it. Choose drinking chocolate if you want something rich and comforting that asks nothing of you except a few quiet minutes.
We make chocolate for the second kind of moment. Noire 73%, our darkest single-estate bar, melts into a deep, silky cup. Read where ceremonial cacao comes from in is ceremonial cacao bean-to-bar?, or how we make room for a slow cup in cacao without the ceremony.
FAQs
Ceremonial Cacao and Drinking Chocolate
Ceremonial cacao is usually unsweetened 100% cacao prepared with water for ritual use. Drinking chocolate is chocolate melted into milk or water, usually lightly sweetened, and drunk for pleasure.
Yes, many people do, though traditional preparations use water.
Ceremonial cacao, which is usually 100% cacao. The cacao content of drinking chocolate depends on the chocolate used, typically between 50% and 75%.
Yes, a small amount, alongside theobromine. Both occur naturally in the cacao bean.
It can be. A slow cup, made by hand at the same moment each day, is a ritual of its own.
Written by Bantu Chocolate.
