— Combining cacao with adaptogens, or how to make the best of both worlds!
Herbal Cacao is the second brand to be featured in our Cacao Guide with blends. Again, they earned their entry because those blends were designed with a purpose going beyond the culinary aspect.
Cacao’s catalyst ability is still to be explored and the specific adaptogens that were chosen by Sharon are so intriguing that they make up the perfect matter for a study.
Read on to find out more about these synergies!
"We were curious to know how these carefully picked adaptogens would influence our experience, compared to plain cacao."
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Terroir
ORIGIN COUNTRY
BELIZE
REGION
TOLEDO & SOUTH STANN CREEK – SOUTHERN BELIZE
POST-HARVEST HANDLER
MAYA MOUNTAIN CACAO
HARVEST YEAR
2023
BEANS VARIETY
[DNA-ANALYZED] – Amelonado + Upper Amazon Forastero (80%), Nacional + Criollo (20%)
SPECIAL INTRODUCTION
Herbal Cacao offers a range of six ceremonial cacao discs — all different in taste & effects — made from their Belizean and Guatemalan cacao basis. We shared our complete « profiling » article, covering the usual info & details, only for their pure Belizean version at the moment.
We’ll stick to the ‘effects’ section for the two other blends that are based on this cacao, as the added inclusions obviously modify the taste, smell, texture etc…
We were curious to know how these carefully picked adaptogens would influence our experience, compared to plain cacao. To stay as objective as possible, we didn’t investigate on their actual effects & benefits until we’d had carried out our tastings and wrote down our feedbacks.
This article is designed to shed a light on cacao’s powerful catalyst ability.
Immune Support | Chaga & Belizean Cacao
— { Chaga, Ceylon Cinnamon, Cayenne Pepper, Vanilla powder } —
→ Strong | Profound | Meditative
And we thought the plain version was intense… This blend embarked us on a proper journey. We were actually quite surprised by its intensity. Although it felt familiar at first as we were used to its plain basis, we understood rather quickly that this one was taking things up a notch.
The first big difference we noticed was how it affected our vision. We had an even sharper focus, edges were sharper, backgrounds blurrier and there was an actual difference in our sensitivity to light! Objects in our focus looked more exposed, vivid, which reminded us of effects experienced through psylocibin mushrooms.
Besides, we could feel a strong grounding force, pulling us from the inside, which we had to get accustomed to. It took us some time to understand we were actually missing out on the experience as we were speaking, trying to grasp what was happening.
Once we did and decided to let go, we closed our eyes and abandoned ourselves in the effects, getting the closer we could to a meditative state. And so it happened.
With our eyes closed we could feel an acute sensation of inner movement, following the flow of our breath — like a firmly rooted tree swaying in the wind.
A truly enjoyable feeling that went along with a great clarity on what was happening on the inside. For a moment we lost track of time and just sat there, content.
A memorable experience, one that imposed total presence as we felt things move in deep layers.
And that’s without even thinking of the other benefits of a Chaga intake. If you’d like to know more about its history, compounds and health benefits, I invite you to read the brand’s extensive article on the matter.
Pasión | Mucuna & Belizean Cacao
— { Mucuna Pruriens, Rose petals, Vanilla powder } —
Intense | Active | Focus ⟵
To us, this blend felt much closer to its plain version than the Chaga discussed above.
We experimented with it several times, while coming back to the ‘Natural’ in between tests, so we could really be able to identify a difference in effects, if there was any.
Our answer is yes, we experienced a slight difference.
We spotted it in the posture it puts us in, which is, compared to the pure Belize, slightly more active and forward. We could also feel a higher bloodflow and heartbeat.
This blend then harbors all the perks of its pure cacao base except that, rather than inviting us to slow-down, it gets us in a mood where we’re looking for a pace, a rhythm, something to get into quite profoundly.
A subtle yet very interesting twist if one still wants to access the Belize effects but is looking for another kind of support, whether it is for a specific practice, craft or activity.
Read more about Herbal Cacao
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