Stories
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Cacao and Your Menstrual Cycle
by Julia Chocolate and women often seem inseparable, especially when it comes to period cravings. Did you know that both women and men undergo a hormonal cycle? For men this...
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Anandamide - the BLISS molecule in cacao
Another powerful compound in cacao is Anandamide. After its discovery it was named after the Sanskrit word ‘Ananda’ which means bliss or divine joy. You can probably already guess some...
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Phenethylamine - the LOVE molecule in cacao
Cacao is filled with unique compounds. This one definitely deserves some special attention. Its scientific name is phenethylamine or phenylethylamine, also called PEA, but even better known as the ‘love...
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Heavy Metals in Cacao
Cacao takes up nutrients and elements from the soil. Also toxic heavy metals that naturally occur in nature. This is why we test our cacao on heavy metals like cadmium...
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Kakaw Winter Practice ❄️
How can you live in harmony with the seasonal cycles? We share with you the qualities of winter and a breathing practice to connect with winter time.
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Cacao & psilocybin: an ancient ceremonial combination
Going into ceremony has had important value in our lives. The ceremonies we have experienced have guided important decisions, marked points of transformation, and have given insights that helped with...
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Farm biodiversity in Peru
These intelligent eco-networks only work if the whole system including birds, insects, squirrels, plants, and fungi are part of it. Managing a farm in this natural way (without using chemicals,...
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How Pure Kakaw started 5 years ago
Looking back, we see a big change of people becoming more familiar with traditional cacao drinks. More and more people care about knowing the source of their cacao products, and...
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Spice up your creativity with cacao
Creativity is a big part of our lives and we experiment with different ways to nourish it, channel it, and express it. In our creative sessions we fell in love...
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Alta Verapaz - The people behind your cacao from Guatemala
Farming and preparing cacao is a lot of work and this needs many skilled people in the whole process. The hard work on the land is done by men. The more...
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Language from the heart - NVC
Listening and talking from the heart is not always easy, but worth practicing. It also helps being true to ourselves and support us in living from the heart in general....
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Gratefulness ritual with Beronica
This ritual was powerful because of its simplicity. It goes straight to the core of all virtues: gratefulness. Taking a moment to stand still, become aware of the gifts we...
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Beronica, maestra de cacao
Beronica is a real cacao warrior. She learned working with cacao and the dynamics of growing food from her grandmother (abuela) from a young age. She now applies all this...
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Cacao protects your heart and blood vessels agains stress
Cacao is full of healthy compounds and extremely rich in healthy flavanols. It literally protects our heart and blood vessels and is advised in a healthy diet.
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Shaping your own ceremony
In a ceremony we bow to our inner self. We honour the life that flows through us and to which directions it leads us. The benefits of a ceremony or...
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The Power of Rituals
Through Pure Kakaw we love to learn and share about living our life to its fullest potential. Rituals are part of life, in many forms, and can support us in...
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Hike to Machu Picchu (good memories)
There is much less known of cacao used by the Incas and natives of Peru compared to the Aztec and Maya cultures. But there was definitely cacao. The rare Chuncho...
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Presenting our new cacao origin: CUSCO, PERU!
At the core of Pure Kakaw lies sourcing special cacaos from special farms. And we’re excited to share cacao from a new origin: Peru! To be more specific, the Quelloúno...
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Differences in effects between coffee and cacao
Both coffee and cacao are stimulating drinks but the way they interact with our body is not the same. This is because of the difference between the alkaloids caffeine (coffee)...
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Why we choose agroforestry for the best cacao quality
Although we're not living on a cacao farm, we do want to source from places that we love to be and actually want to live! The farms we partner with...
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Pure Kakaw in Happinez Magazine
The whole Pure Kakaw project symbolizes working form the heart for us. We fell in love with this whole food and it took us on journey. Through Pure Kakaw we...
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Neuro-food: feeding your brain
When we think about health, we mostly think about our body. We know much less about how our brain functions, let alone how to care for it. By keeping our...
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Nadi Shodhana breathing exercise
Our breath is always with us and using it is very powerful. We love to combine breath with cacao to arrive in the 'now' with a calm mind. In this...
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Making traditional cacao drinks
Before hand whisks, the cacao was poured from one vase into another vase until foam appeared and the drink was mixed well. The Mayas and Aztecs where known for thick...