Guatemala

— On-site sourcing and traditional craft, the recipe for a consistently potent cacao paste.

There is a certain feeling that emanates from products made by hand. One that surely emanates from the blocks of Keith’s Cacao, which we’ll try to translate into words.

Discover its terroir below, and go through our tasting notes and effects feedback to learn more about this beautiful cacao!

Cacao Guide

Keith's Cacao

"Our outer shells were sinking whilst our inner selves were floating. That’s the most acurate description we could come up with, as we both agreed on this enjoyable duality."

N.B. : This article contains an affiliate link and a 5% discount code available for a first purchase. These advantages are here to compensate the time and work we put in our project. Yet, we’re dedicated to staying objective in our analyses.
Enjoy them if you want to try new cacaos while supporting us 🙂

Terroir

ORIGIN COUNTRY

GUATEMALA

REGIONS

Varying, around the country’s Pacific coast

POST-HARVEST HANDLER

Fermented & dried on-farms

HARVEST YEAR

2021

BEANS VARIETY

[Mix] Native (Criollo) + natural hybrids (Acriollado)

STORY & INFORMATION

Keith has always sourced his beans with the intention of finding the most potent ones, those that once turned into a drink will allow for a pure inner journey.

From buying beans on local markets, to trading directly with farmers, the brand’s sourcing is constantly varrying as Keith prefers to follow an intuitive approach. This variation doesn’t prevent from making the end product consistent, especially regarding active compounds concentration.

As cacao is so sensitive to weather changes and post harvest techniques, there can be quite a difference between two dried beans coming from the same tree but from different harvests.

Keith believed in his ability to pick the ‘right’ ones, and given the potency of the cacao we were given to taste, we can only acknowledge his experience.

The selected beans are fermented and dried on-farms, and then delivered to Keith’s Cacao ‘taller’, where they’ll follow what can be called a traditional cacao paste making process.
From here, sacks are dispatched to the 20+ families he works with, in the Kaqchikel Mayan community, where he’s established.

Women in those families will take care of roasting beans by hand on a wood-fired stove. A proper craft that demands practice and dexterity. Giving beans the slightest possible roast will allow for the cleaning of residual bacterias from fermenting and drying, while enhancing cacao’s flavours and its compounds’ availability.

Roasting as well allows for an easier husk removal, which is also done by hand. During hand-peeling, beans are checked for defects and therefore manually sorted, which participates in the purity of the end product.
They are now ready to be grinded and slowly turned into a paste, once collected back in the taller. When the paste is ready, it is poured in individual bags, sealed, and dries at room temperature. No tempering here, as revealed by the white patterns on each block.

Details

IN HANDS

COLOR – Brown
SMELL – Yellow fruit (sweet plum), lemon syrup, chocolate truffle, light dairy (yoghurt)
SHAPE – Block

IN CUPS

COLOR – Caramel
SMELL – Hot chocolate, madeleine, kaki
FOAM – Light beige w/ orange hues

Tasting notes

Aromas:

With little acidity, a sweet walnut note hits our taste buds at first. Followed by a tangerine aroma, ending on a light buttery note (croissant).

Remarks:

The drink results in an overall chocolatey profile, sometimes bearing a hint of bitterness according to the batches.

Edit:

After experimenting with several batches of this cacao, we were able to identify enough differences in taste to mention a recurring inconsistency.

Effects experienced

→ Potent | Blissful | Deep

Little did we know about how potent this drink would be.
Romane and I set off for an inner journey, feeling physically enveloped in a warm and dense embrace.

Our outer shells were sinking whilst our inner selves were floating. That’s the most acurate description we could come up with, as we both agreed on this enjoyable duality.

A deep feeling of peace and calmness filled us, followed after a while by a simple but rooted joy. I think it might be called bliss.

Need I say more ? Keith’s Cacao isn’t to be described, it is to be experienced. It surely embarked us on one of the most beautiful journey cacao has offered us yet.

We hope you enjoyed this content! If you’d like to try Keith’s Cacao, feel free to use our 5% discount code: CACAOINSIGHTS, available on your first order.