INGREDIENTS
DIRECT SOURCE, HEIRLOOM, WILD FORAGED
DIRECT SOURCE, HEIRLOOM, WILD FORAGED
HIGHEST QUALITY STANDARDS
Our commitment is to provide you with the highest quality cacao, herbs, and superfoods this planet has to offer. We work directly with our farmers whenever possible and select only the purest of ingredients.
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The Cacao Beans
We work directly with our cacao farmers to import the finest heirloom cacao beans from the jungle of the Cusco region in Peru.
Varietal
Our chocolate is made from the heirloom "Chuncho" cacao variety, native to Southern Peru. This traditional variety produces premium cacao beans with high fat content, excellent aromas and balanced flavors. Most trees are full sized, non-dwarf trees, which increases the difficulty of harvest but produces higher quality beans.
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Location
Remote, virtually inaccessible valleys hidden behind the Andean Mountains, offering untapped potential.
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Elevation
Altitudes ranging from 200 meters (650 ft) all the way up to 1500 meters (5000 ft).
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Soil
Excellent rich, loamy soil yields mineral-rich and flavorful beans.
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Growth
Abundance of partial shade-grown cacao trees cultivated in diverse forest ecosystems. Diverse ecosystems provide ideal environments for "midges" (small flies which pollinate cacao trees).
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Water
Farms fed by rainfall and crystalline Andean springs and streams.
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Cultivation
Traditional farming practices, unspoiled by pesticides and herbicides, far from man-made contamination.
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Harvesting
Small-scale farms (average size of about 2.5 hectares, or 6 acres) enable growers to harvest only ripe cacao pods.
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Native Habitat
Scientists believe cacao originally developed in the understory of the Amazon jungle.
The Sweeteners
Organic Coconut Sugar, Single Farm Maple Sugar, Peruvian Whole Cane Sugar (Panela), Herbs/Fruit Powders.
Coconut Sugar
We use organic whole coconut sugar from Big Tree Farms, a vertically integrated company that directly sources coconut sugar from farms in Indonesia.
Maple Sugar
We source maple sugar from a few farms in the Northeast United States. We mostly work with Ethan and Annina from Republic of Vermont - a pristine sugarbush in the Green Mountain state.​ We also source maple sugar from Crosstown Maple in the Hudson Valley of New York State.
Panela Sugar
We imported unrefined cane sugar from the organically certified CEPRESA cooperative who works in Northern Peru. We imported lots of specialty panela sugar from two Peruvian farmers, Nolberto Diaz and Alejandro Reyes.
Herbs/Fruit Powders
Herbs and fruit powders can sometimes be just as sweet if not sweeter than crystalized sugars! When it makes sense we use full leaf stevia to sweeten our chocolates. We also will use fruit powders like lucuma, monkfruit, and others to provide a balanced sweet taste without the need for adding any crystalized sugars.
Herbs + Superfoods
We source most of our herbs from Andrea and Matthias at Healing Spirits Herb Farm in the Finger Lakes of New York. Their certified organic herbs and medicinal mushrooms are cultivated and wild-harvested on 30 acres of mixed woodlands teaming with tremendous diversity of wildlife - we even saw a majestic bald eagle fly over the barn the first time we visited!
With love, intention, and blessings, Andrea and Matthias grow a tremendous diversity of medicinal plants - flowers, leaves, roots, herbs,
All the herbs are processed on site - drying in solar powered greenhouse.
Healing Spirits also wild-forages for medicinal plants in the forest of their properties, collecting beautiful plants and mushrooms from the woods.
Sustainable solar power panels supplies the electricity needs for drying and processing all the herbs and mushrooms grown at Healing Spirits.
Wild-Foraged
When possible, we choose to incorporate wild foods into our chocolates. These foods have more nutritional value and have the pure vibration of the forests and mountains from which they are collected. This year we harvested Wild Maine Blueberries beneath the sacred Mount Katahdin.
