What Is Cacao or Cocoa?

Long enjoyed for its invigorating properties, and grown in tropical areas, cacao is the raw, unprocessed form of chocolate. Beans (actually seeds) grow on trees, nestled in pods, and they’re covered in a white pulp. You can crack open these pods, ferment and roast the beans, then grind them down into a liquid aka chocolate liquor. When the liquor is mixed with cocoa butter, which is the fat that also comes from the cocoa bean, some sugar, lecithin (to bind together) and vanilla and you get chocolate. This how real chocolate is made.

Raw cacao benefits a wide range of cardiovascular …read more