Ora Cacao

— “Connected to the source” is a fitting baseline for Ora Cacao. Pointing at the land where their cacao grows, or at the source of being. We invite you to dive into their world and discover their story, as well as those of their potent ceremonial cacaos.

Ora Cacao is a US-based brand, their office and facility—or should we call it ‘cacao forge‘—are located in Graton, California.
It was founded by Jonas Ketterle back in 2014 and was then named Firefly Chocolate.

Cacao Guide

Ora Cacao

"A well balanced blend of fine chocolate-making mentality and ceremonial cacao awareness is a vibrant attempt at bringing out the best of both worlds!"

N.B. : This article contains an affiliate link leading to a 10% discount 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 🙂

From fine chocolate to ceremonial cacao

Before entering the realm of ceremonial cacao, the brand offered a range of fine chocolate bars.

As a matter of fact, Jonas is still referred to as « the chocolate maker » at Ora’s but isn‘t making bean-to-bar anymore. Instead he channeled his energy into developing a broad assortment of ceremonial cacaos, offering a set of origins that only leaves hints and clues to the chocolate-connoisseurs of his past undertaking.

For the record: fine chocolate is a proper niche in the industry where artisans take chocolate making to the highest level, working from bean to bar, respecting a proper ethos.
Most of the chocolate we eat— even artisanally-made bonbons—is actually made using industrially prefabricated couverture chocolate. Whereas bean-to-bar is about a minimal and artisanal process respecting anything and anybody involved in the product, from the land where the trees grow, to the end-customer enjoying his piece of chocolate.

Maya Mountain from Belize, Kokoa Kamili from Tanzania, Arhuaco from Colombia… All those names sounded familiar to us, being fine chocolate enthusiasts, and we were happily surprised to find them written on a ceremonial cacao package.

Ora Cacao is then the first brand (and not the last) we encountered which takes care of processing cacao beans into pure paste by itself. A bean-to-cup tunnel derived from the bean-to-bar philosophy.

One big difference though is that a fine chocolate maker would generally process beans being focused on making the most of their aromas, without regard for preserving their active compounds.

And this is where Ora’s difference lies. A well balanced blend of fine chocolate-making mentality and ceremonial cacao awareness is a vibrant attempt at bringing out the best of both worlds!

Those fine beans are made available to export through the collaborative work of farmers, cooperatives, post-harvest facilitators (for fermentation and drying) and sourcing specialists such as Uncommon Cacao.

Although there are a few links to this chain, it’s important for us to mention that it doesn’t refrain Jonas from creating a true relationship with the people involved, down to the ones who farm the beans he’s using.

He personally visits farms in each country (sometimes accompanied with other members of the chain) to properly connect with the spirit, culture and traditions originating the wonderful cacao he’s able to craft. On top of that, he, through Ora, invests in a variety of projects destined to feed a virtuous circle of empowerment of the farmers and stewardship of cacao trees.

Ora's cacao journey

Jonas first encountered traditional cacao in 2012 in Oaxaca, Mexico. A pivotal moment that would lead him a few years later in creating his own company.

Being invovled with farms and cooperatives that actually grow and handle the beans he transforms has been a staple since day 1.

Starting up with a Belizean cacao, he grew his range up to 4 different origins gradually adding Colombia, Guatemala and Tanzania to the list.

Now the presence of this last origin might surprise you as it surprised us the first time we found out about it, so we invite you to read the insightful article he wrote about the first African ceremionial cacao to satisfy your curiosity.

During our interview, Jonas shared the exciting news that he’s in the process of adding 2 new origins to the range!

Ora’s offer is completed with « enhanced cacaos», carefully curated blends where each origin gets paired up with relevant ingredients — such as spices, powdered roots or plants… — regarding their taste and energetic profile.

For instance, the « Oaxacan Spice » is a modern interpretation of ancient Mayan cacao drinks, known for their high use of and taste for spices. Cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne are therefore mixed with Guatemalean beans, resulting in a flavor-explosing drink.

Other interesting blends invite rose petals, maca or even medicinal mushrooms to the party, allowing an easy preparation of drinks carrying an intricate identity.

Speaking of medicinal mushrooms, Ora Cacao recently added to their shop a range of 3 different blends, each one designed to support health in a specific sphere.

What's next

Now it’s time to explore the 4 of Ora’s beautiful cacaos and try to understand each of their profiles.

We’ll gather our feedbacks in a series of articles, preceding Jonas’s interview, in the hope to collect and share beautiful insights. We believe that getting to know about cacao this personally allows for more depth in our connection with it when we drink it, and are happy to be able to share all of this.

Jonas was the first person to answer us when we reached out to brands while Cacao Insights was still only an idea. He immediately took some time to share a piece of his story with us, to support our project and to fuel the study by sending out cacao. All that turned into a big piece of motivation and we’re grateful for it and for our connection!

If you’d like to experiment with Ora’s beautifiul range of cacaos, enjoy 10% off your first order by clicking this link.

And as a final word, an abstract of Ora Cacao’s mission, in their own terms :

« We make the very best ceremonial cacao that is pure, accessible, and easy to use. Our products and services are our sacred activism in response to a consumptive and exploitative chocolate industry. We leverage our access and privilege for healing on the local and global scale, by pushing the envelope with a track record of truth telling, strong partnerships, and impeccable quality to back us up. »