Jungle Cacao Peru: Not just any cacao brand
High quality, delicious organically grown ceremonial cacao straight from southern Peruvian Amazon to you; straight from the growers and makers to you. No middle men.
Taking cacao out of Nestle’s hands.
For detailed information about our cacao and the numerous physical, mental, emotional and energetic benefits of cacao, download the information sheet.
Jungle Cacao Peru is for people who want to know exactly where their cacao has come from
It’s for people who love delicious, organic ceremonial cacao and want to enjoy it on a deeper and more special level than eating chocolate
It’s for people who believe that knowing where our food comes from and how it is produced is an important step in changing the way food and all products are made and how they get to us
Jungle Cacao Peru brings the power of cacao and the spirit of the Amazon – the planet’s lungs – to the world during a time of immense global upheaval. The world is pretty fucked right now as we move through a change humanity has never seen before: and cacao is a wonderful soothing, nutritious and heart-supporting – and delicious – companion to have
We want to share our cacao with other nature-loving, plant medicine-appreciating, flavour-discerning, mystery and truth seeking humans
“This cacao is very different from all others I tried in my life. It has softer and deeper flavor and doesn’t give me “jitters”. I also use a lot less quantity-wise when I prepare a ceremonial cup. It is strong!”
“This cacao is literally like medicine for me. I’ve been using it for a long time and it’s been transformative. I drink cacao on my own and with friends and find it helps lift me and access creative energy. I buy from Caroline because of how much love and attention she gives to the process and I’ve loved watching her journey.”
The jungle where our cacao is grown, harvested and turned into cacao is pristine, isolated, wild and sometimes downright dangerous. It is not put-in-a
box-able. It is so much more than what can be captured by the cacao "scene" or by a cacao “brand”.
Cacao grows how it will, held by the jungle, in line with how nature wants it to. And that is how we aim to allow this cacao project, Jungle Cacao Peru, to grow, too: in unexpected ways; not remaining the same. This is very different to the concept of a brand that we have come to know in consumerism, which is based on consistency.
Jungle Cacao Peru isn’t just about sharing the awesomeness of cacao direct from the farm straight to the people (free of industrialisation and dodgy value chains), but changing how business in general is done. Not just making “sustainability” a buzz word and virtue signal, but actually making change.
Visit the shop to buy our cacao
“This heavy block of pure cacao feels like a powerhouse of vitality. Not only is this medicine chock-full of richness, but it also feels sweet to know how well cared for and tended to the plants are by Caroline (and her team). I have delved into various cacao options out there and this one feels exceptional.”
The story
In March 2020, on a trip to the jungle from the UK, Caroline met Rómulo – a cacao farmer from the community of Lucerna, 100km from Puerto Maldonado, Peru. The two became friends, fell in love and defied differences in age, culture and language to be together. Thank you, cacao and your heart opening magic.
Caroline decided to live with Rómulo in Lucerna and began learning how to farm and make cacao. It was a challenging and uncomfortable time adapting to hard work in a hot, humid and insect-ridden jungle (where she was the only outsider) but it created Jungle Cacao Peru, which has been sharing its pure, organically grown cacao paste with people all over the world and within Peru since 2020.
Previously coca and coffee growers, they moved across the vast country to start life anew as cacao growers. They are hard working, skilled and dedicated farmers that have in a short space of time set up their cacao farms from scratch and gathered the expertise to farm high quality and delicious cacao.
At the moment, most of the cacao that is harvested and turned into fermented and dried cacao beans is sold onto a cooperative that then sells the beans to Nestle and other factories making candy bars and using cacao as a raw material, treating it as nothing more than a commodity and crop.
The portion of the harvest that goes into making Jungle Cacao Peru’s pure cacao paste is still very small – but we want to change this, so that we are able to use more and more of the total available harvest to make cacao paste that is bought and enjoyed by people who love, honour and respect cacao.
This is what we mean by “taking cacao out of Nestle’s hands”. That said, we do not wish to compete with Nestle on scale: this would simply be continuing the status quo of business as usual, which has been so damaging to the planet and its people.
While Caroline and Rómulo are no longer together, Jungle Cacao Peru still continues, collaborating with the families of Lucerna, who have become neighbours and friends after years living and working together in the community.
Situated in the “low jungle” of southern Peru, not too far from the border with Brazil, Lucerna is a community of less than 100 people (cacao growers and their families) who originate from the “high jungle” region of Pichari, over 1000 km due west from Lucerna.
Every step, from the cacao being planted to being harvested, fermented, dried and processed into cacao and then arriving to you is accounted for. This is unlike a lot of cacao businesses, where cacao is bought wholesale and then passes between various vendors – being re-branded several times over – before eventually arriving at the people who consume it.
“I love your cacao more than any of the various others I have tried over the years.
Not only do I love supporting your business and what you stand for, but your cacao has also inspired some deep soul transformations within myself.
The only downfall is that I can no longer drink any other cacao;
Nothing compares to the flavour, texture, and overall experience of drinking Jungle Cacao.”
How Jungle Cacao Peru gets from the tree to you
The organically certified cacao farm is tended by the Arrochea-Perez family year round: this includes cutting back the continual jungle growth between the trees and pruning the trees. Other than that, nature does the rest
Once a month during the cacao harvest season (roughly January to June), the ripe cacao fruits are harvested by the family, a team of neighbours and Caroline.
This involves cutting the ripe cacao fruit (those that are already tinged with yellow) from the trees and then cutting the fruits open to empty them of the white fruit-encased cacao beans.
The white pulp is collected and put into large vats to be fermented. Fermentation takes around 8 days (depending on how hot the weather is) and the cacao needs to be moved between vats every day to ensure heat is evenly dispersed so that fermentation is even.
Once the beans are fermented (they’ll be brown inside when split open), the beans are transferred to the drying table until dry to a humidity of 7% (again, weather dependent). This usually takes 5-7 days, with the beans being turned every few hours to dry out evenly.
Caroline looks after the fermentation and drying process, adding in a shit ton of love and intention, as well as blood, sweat and tears!
… and then gets the dried cacao beans from Lucerna to Puerto Maldonado where Luis at EcoDely toasts, peels and turns the beans into cacao paste using the machines at his facility
The dried beans are first roasted in batches at 115oC for 25 minutes (to add flavour and to make it easier to shell) and then shelled. This processes cacao nibs.
The nibs are roughly milled and then refined to a degree of 60 micras. This makes our cacao smooth when made as a drink.
We do not temper our cacao: hence its marbled appearance.
The paste is boxed up and then travels to Lima, where Jano coordinates pick up by DHL to the UK or USA
We then send your orders from either the USA or UK via local mail to where you are
Cacao is a product of nature and so there will be variations from harvest to harvest
due to the distinct weather and climatic conditions at each harvest
Got any questions about how our cacao is made or how the business is run? Email us: blackgold@junglecacaoperu.com
Check out our products here
“This is genuinely one of the tastiest cacaos I’ve ever had! Lots of subtle fruity tones, naturally quite sweet, deep delicious dark chocolatiness. Plus I know I’m buying it from the person who made it, that loves cacao deeply❤️”
What is ceremonial cacao paste?
Cacao is the tree that chocolate comes from, and cacao paste is chocolate in its pure and raw form. It is classed as a superfood and contains many, many beneficial compounds that support physical, mental, emotional and energetic health.
Cacao paste is classed as ceremonial when its use is intended for ceremonial or ritualistic intentions, where the consumer sees cacao as a sacred plant, to be treated with reverence. It also points to the intention with which the cacao has been grown and made.
Cacao as a plant medicine
Cacao is well-known for creating a positive mood-uplifting sensation. It is a powerful plant medicine that can create the right internal conditions within us to access aspects of our consciousness that we might not be in touch with in our day to day lives. Even though it can uplift our mood, don’t think that cacao doesn’t have the potential to be a seriously potent medicine.
Your experience of cacao will be very personal to you. If you haven’t tried cacao before, try smaller doses until you are comfortable with how it interacts with you.
That said, cacao is not psychedelic and will not alter your state to a point that you can not drive (a few people do wonder about this).
Cacao Ceremony
What is a cacao ceremony? Ceremonial cacao culture originates in Ecuador and with the Mayas, who revered cacao as a sacred plant. They used the cacao drink in rituals and celebrations – with the preparation of the cacao drink being a ceremony and ritual in itself – and used cacao beans as a currency, so valued it was.
In the modern world, we are very used to living a life that has us rushed off our feet, always thinking about the next thing we have to do, eating lunch on the fly or while watching a screen.
The preparation and drinking of your cacao can be a wonderful way to bring a more ceremonial (aka intentional and devotional) mindset into your life, if it isn’t there already.
A ceremony or ritual can be anything: it doesn’t need to follow a set of instructions and you don’t need certain plants or inebriants.
It is a contained piece of space and time to enter that specific type of awareness and presence that we often lack in the day to day. One of quietness, heightened awareness and perception and connection to nature/the universe.
Coming together consciously with other humans and sharing what’s on our hearts is also so integral to our human nature. It dissolves barriers and judgments and fears. It holds and nourishes and supports. It strengthens bonds. It opens up the world and wisdom within.
Cacao is a perfect candidate for these kind of nourishing and connective community gatherings – including online gatherings – because:
1) Sharing food and drink has been used for thousands of generations to bring people together, no matter what culture you’re from
2) Cacao opens the heart and aids connection with self and others
3) Cacao loves to be shared
4) Cacao both is the occasion and supports the occasion
How you choose to enjoy your cacao is up to you, but here are some ideas from us based on how we’ve been connecting with cacao over the years (NB: we don’t follow the Mayan lineage or claim to do so).
And if you’d like to join us for a cacao circle on each new and full moon, sign up here.
What happens in a Jungle Cacao Peru cacao circle?
The cacao circles I offer are very down to earth and simple: they are a space for us to come together and connect with ourselves and others in community more deeply – and of course, to connect with awareness and reverence with the beautiful medicine of cacao.
(I do not follow or pretend to follow a specific lineage, hence why I call these cacao circles and not cacao ceremonies.
My knowledge of cacao is based on my experiences in the jungle learning from cacao growers and through my own personal connection with cacao since 2020.)
We begin with a short, grounding meditation to bring us into the space and into ourselves.
Next, we connect with cacao in stillness and silence, setting any intentions if we so wish.
I then open up the space for us to share, or not share, whatever we would like to.
Depending on time and numbers in the group, I will put on a music mix and we can use this time and space however we feel: whether we can to dance, journal, rest, draw, or whatever else. This is your time to be with cacao and yourself how you want to.
We close the space with another short meditation together.
How to make cacao
Storing your cacao:
Store your cacao as you would anything precious. We recommend a sealable glass container. You only need to store the cacao in the fridge if your storage area is 30oC or more.
Making your cacao:
Make your cacao in a small saucepan on a stove top bringing as much awareness to the process and not rushing. Be careful not to let the cacao boil over and keep your attention on the cacao until it is done. Serve in a special cup.
Drinking your cacao:
Set aside some quiet, still time to drink your cacao, savouring it. You can set an intention or say a prayer of gratitude if you pray. You can also combine the drinking of your cacao with another activity or practice like meditation, dance, journaling, painting, a walk in nature – be creative.
“Jungle Cacao has a strong brooding flavour that is distinct and deeply warming. It goes straight to the heart and talks lovingly to the body.. I bloody love it!”