Foundry Drinking Chocolate is delicious made with water, milk or the plant based milk of your choice.

Packaging note: this pouch has plain black and white labels that are not removable, which mean the pouch cannot be home composted. 

Net weight: 250g or 1kg

Ingredients: Cacao Beans 

Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Soy Free and Vegan.

Making tips: We recommend using a milk warmer/frother, a coffee machine steam wand or a stick blender. The Milk Frother from Kmart is our favourite, you can see it here.

Is your cacao "Ceremonial Grade"?

This is a tricky one, as the accepted definition of Ceremonial Cacao keeps evolving.

In past years it has been taken to mean the cacao has been blessed at origin by a religious leader, therefore "permitting" it to be used for a cacao ceremony. However more recently awareness has grown that there historically has not been a cacao ceremony in many ancient South American cultures, and that it was a more recent Western innovation.

We eat and drink 100% cacao regularly ourselves, and enjoy the heart warming feeling we get from it, and the chance to slow down, connect and mindfully contemplate. Plus we make the chocolate we consume ourselves and are grateful for how is has been grown, sourced and carefully made into chocolate.

The description of a "Ceremonial Grade" cacao that resonates the best with us is:
- It is important the cacao is grown within its natural environment, using responsible farming techniques.
- The beans must be ethically sourced and fairly traded.
- The cacao must be minimally processed, i.e. no cacao butter removed or extra cacao butter added.
- The cacao is not over-roasted, as happens with industrial cacao preparation.
- The cacao must be grown wth care and respect, and made with intention and respect.
- The cacao is crafted in small batches into chocolate, with no added sugar, with a focus on flavour and intention.

Origin Information:

Located on the lush and remote Malekula Island, the small group of famers from Pinalum Village have been specialising in fine flavour cacao since 2015.

Organised by the tireless Olivier Fernadez from Gaston Cacao and managed by local villager Lily Buktan, this well run operation is challenging the traditional supply chain model that drives commodity prices down. With their work, the price that farmers individually get in hand is up to two to three times above the previous market practice.

When Olivier visits Pinalum, it’s a journey to get there. He loads his dirt bike onto the overnight ferry from Port Vila, then it’s a 30 minute ride along coral, gravel and sand roads, which get very muddy during the rainy season. Once at the village it’s incredibly lush, close to the coast, and surrounded by palm trees. After the days work it's a social time, sharing food by the fire and drinking kava.

At Pinalum the boss is Lily. She oversees the fermentation and drying station, and works with her extended family to do the fermentation, drying, packing, storage and payroll.

Since Olivier started working with the farmers in 2015, he has deconstructed the traditional industrial model, and works to pay the famers as much as possible for growing fine flavour cacao. This involved building fermentation stations, drying stations and training individual farmers. Side projects have been developed to provide basic water and electricity services.