If you're reading this, chances are you or a loved one have brought ceremonial cacao home for a heart-opening experience. Below are a few ideas on how to prepare this cacao. However, I encourage you to trust your intuition as you prep, and create your own medicine experience. Below is a recipe for a ceremonial sitting for the full medicine effect, and a recipe for a more casual cup of cacao to enjoy the flavor and experience, with less of a medicine effect. Enjoy with love, care, and truth. Please keep in mind that if combined with caffeine and some SSRIs cacao may cause a headache; stay hydrated throughout your experience.

x sami

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NOTEWORTHY: In all of the heritages of cacao I have worked with it's paramount that the cacao is not overheated or burned. For this reason, when the cacao is being prepped, it's never put on heat itself. Instead, water or milk is heated, then put into a blender with the cacao, so the cacao melts without being damaged. If you do not have a blender and must put the cacao over heat to melt it, I recommend starting with a conductor such as coconut oil, butter or ghee (the latter two being extremely beneficial for anemic or copper deficient humans, as the combination increases mineral absorption from the cacao itself), melt that over low heat, then turn the heat off or very low, and slowly stir the cacao in until they're combined, then over low heat slowly adding your milk or water with expediency so the heat doesn't damage the cacao.

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Ceremonial Recipe:

3 tbsp. Mayan Ceremonial Cacao

1 cup Water

1 pinch cayenne (optional)

1 pinch cinnamon (optional)

Sweetener (I recommend honey or maple syrup) to taste*

*keep in mind while adding sweetener, that cacao is meant to be a bitter medicine ceremonially, and traditionally (and ayurvedically) bitter is known as the medicine of the heart

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Instructions: Put cacao in a blender with sweetener of choice, and spices of choice. Bring water to a simmer, then add to blender. Blend until smooth. Serve hot. 

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Casual Cacao Recipe:

1 tbsp. Mayan Ceremonial Cacao

1 cup Water

1 pinch cayenne (optional)

1 pinch cinnamon (optional)

1 tbsp honey or 1 large medjool date (my personal fave)

1 tbsp raw unsalted cashews or unsalted raw almond butter (I recommend trader joes brand raw almond butter, with the red label)

1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 dash salt

added adaptogens (optional, but I recommend shiitake, chaga, ashwagandha, or valerian)

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Instructions: Add all ingredients except water into blender. If using the raw cashews and date, consider putting them in the water to simmer so they soften a bit. Bring water to a simmer. Add water to blender. Blend until smooth. Serve hot.

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Some additions I LOVE: rosemary, rose powder, marshmallow root, dried lavender, turmeric, using chai tea rather than water, using mint tea rather than water, mint leaves, peppermint oil, clove, white pepper, ginger

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