Numinous Cacao · Recipes
On Ritual and
Resourcing.
Conscious or unconscious, we all have our daily rituals. These repeated choices reveal our values, and become the patterns that shape our lives.
Whether your body is queuing up in the drive-thru for that morning commute caffeine fix, or lighting a candle before meditation, we are making choices to resource and nourish our living matter.
These repeated choices reveal our values, and become the patterns that shape our lives.
Many of us are searching for deeper, more meaningful patterns as we notice that our usual habits no longer nourish us as they once did. Ritual doesn't need to be overly serious, but becoming more intentional about our routines can profoundly shift our embodied experience. Simply noticing how we regularly resource ourselves is a powerful start.
We are an inseparable part of
a radically alive ecosystem.
In relation with each thing we taste, touch and experience. The patterns we weave with our conscious rituals are strong only insofar as integrity is upheld in the singular elements we thoughtfully incorporate. Cacao, traditionally traded as an extractive commodity, is in its highest form both a plant medicine and an ecstatic delight, and deserves to be regarded with reverence.
This is true not only in the cacao circle held thousands of miles from its subject's homeland, but along each step of a complex supply network. When cacao is of high quality stock and is cultivated for its highest potential, picked at the peak of ripeness, fermented and dried with meticulous attention to detail, packed and transported with care, stored and processed thoughtfully, when each of these steps is aligned in equitable trade and reciprocal relationship with land, it nourishes body and spirit.
Our partner in Honduras, Efren Maradiaga of Atucún Heritage Cacao, passionately cultivates true Criollo cacao trees and teaches smallholder farmers to cultivate and process them with the highest attention to quality, and has catalyzed a community of producers who care deeply about the land and the quality of their harvests. We work closely with Atucún to buy traceable, farm direct, organically grown Honduran cacaos. Devotion at the source is reflected in the rich complexity of Numinous drinking cacao.
Rather than relying on ambiguous terms like “ceremonial grade,” we choose to focus on traceable sourcing and exquisite quality cacao. Indigenous cultures working with cacao are diverse, and while there’s no singular traditional “cacao ceremony,” there is deep reverence for cacao as a nourishing plant ally which adapted and spread alongside humanity. Our intent is care — from cultivation practices to your personal ritual experience.
We experience both spiritual and physical nourishment from this beautiful plant. Unlike coffee’s quick caffeine spike, cacao offers a complex blend of theobromine, gentle caffeine, supportive flavonoids and antioxidants and necessary minerals, all delivered in the perfect package for our bodies: good fat. All for a sustained, heart-opening nourishment.
And, it’s not that serious. Cacao is chocolate, and chocolate is yummy. It’s delicious, and delightful, and it feels good. That’s enough for us.
Dosage is personal,
but here is a place to start.
Numinous ritual drinking cacao is 100% pure. We enjoy sipping it mixed in hot water alone, but there are no rules. A spoonful of local raw honey or maple syrup beautifully complements cacao’s natural richness. Below are our gram weight guidelines for enjoying cacao in six ounces of hot water.
A gentle dose. For those sensitive to stimulants or new to cacao, we recommend playing with just a little at first.
Ideal for a radically enlivening daily morning ritual. We most often enjoy around 20–25g.
For a deeper, intentional experience. A higher dose moves us from ritual into ceremony, and is often paired with meditation, breathwork, or movement practice. Work up to this slowly if you’re new to cacao.
How to prepare your
cacao.
You can’t get it wrong. Your cacao ritual is yours to play with and create, finding what feels best along the way. The playful, lightly held ritual is often the most supportive.
Weigh or Dose
Simply weigh your cacao or intuitively dose. For most people, 20–25g is a beautiful daily morning amount. If you’re new to cacao, start around 15g and feel your way up.
Feel free to add extras if you like — a touch of cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, maca, ashwagandha, or functional mushroom powders all play nicely with cacao’s earthy depth. A pinch of sea salt can pull up sweetness and decrease bitterness perception.
Add Your Liquid
Add your hot liquid — ideally just under boiling to preserve nutrients. 190°F is our rough target.
Hot water is our default and we love it. Feel free to exchange it for coconut milk, heated just under a simmer, for something richer and more grounding.
Infuse & Blend
Give it a couple of minutes to infuse, luxuriating in slow deep breaths, then incorporate with an immersion blender or whisk.
That short wait is part of the practice — a pause built into the morning before anything else gets your attention.
Hold the Space
Sometimes in a more intentional space, we like to incorporate practices like intention setting, deep breaths, silence and stillness, journaling, ecstatic dancing, wisdom reading, or weird animal movements.
None of this is required. The cacao works whether or not you light a candle. But if you’re going to slow down anyway, you might as well slow all the way down. A moment of gratitude works wonders.
Cacao as a
foundation.
Ritual cacao is a beautiful base. Its richness carries other flavors gracefully, and its fat content helps the body absorb fat-soluble compounds from whatever you pair it with. These are some of our favorite additions — none of them required, all of them worth exploring.
A pinch shifts the perception of bitterness and pulls up cacao’s natural sweetness. It’s one of those additions that sounds counterintuitive until you try it once.
Start with just a tiny pinch — it goes a long way.Warming, familiar, naturally sweet. Cinnamon has its own blood sugar-regulating properties and pairs beautifully with cacao’s earthiness.
A spoonful of local raw honey or maple syrup beautifully complements cacao’s natural richness without overpowering it. Unrefined sweeteners also carry their own minerals.
Anti-inflammatory, earthy, and better absorbed with fat — which cacao provides. A small amount of black pepper enhances turmeric absorption further.
Pair with a pinch of black pepper for best absorption.An Andean root with adaptogenic properties. Earthy, slightly nutty, and supportive of energy and hormonal balance. A natural companion to cacao.
Lion’s mane for cognition. Reishi for calm. Chaga for antioxidant support. Mushroom powders blend easily into cacao and the fat content aids bioavailability.
An Ayurvedic adaptogen supporting the body’s stress response. Slightly bitter, slightly earthy — it fades into cacao’s depth without much fuss.
Start with a small amount; the flavor intensifies.Warming and stimulating in its own right. Fresh ginger, dried ginger, or ginger powder all work. Good for digestion and circulation, and lovely in cooler months.
Exchange your hot water for coconut milk heated just under a simmer. It makes the drink richer, creamier, and more satiating — a beautiful option for those who want something more substantial.
Just a squeeze of lemon or orange juice can create a distinctive bright playfulness in the cup, while decreasing bitterness perception. Cacao’s natural iron is more bioavailable when delivered with vitamin C.
The playful, lightly held ritual
is often the most supportive.
There’s a tendency, when we start caring about a practice, to make it heavy — to load it with expectation and obligation until it stops feeling like a gift and starts feeling like a chore. Cacao doesn’t need that from you.
Your cacao ritual is yours to play with and create.
Some days the ritual is elaborate and slow. Other days it’s a quick cup between meetings, barely a pause before the rest of the morning. Both are worth doing. The repetition itself is the thing — the daily returning to something that nourishes you, even briefly, even imperfectly.
Cacao has been part of daily life for people across thousands of years and dozens of cultures. It doesn’t require ceremony to do its work. It requires only that you show up for it, and let it do what it does.
Numinous ritual drinking cacao is 100% cacao paste, farm-traceable, minimally processed, and stone ground. No additives, no emulsifiers, no preservatives. Just cacao, exactly as it should be.