Your cacao should be quite thick and frothy if prepared correctly. We highly recommend using a hand-held stick blender, or a nutribullet, (but always be careful not to put very very hot liquid in a nutribullet or it may explode!). Make sure you blend for at least fifteen seconds.

If you don’t have any blending tools at all, you can simply place the cacao in a mug, add a little very hot water, and stir to melt the cacao into a paste. Gradually add more water and the other ingredients, stirring continuously.  BUT in general, we highly recommend using a blender of some description. Woolies and Kmart both have affordable stick blenders that work perfectly with cacao.

If the cacao is too bitter for you, add more milk, or more sweetener, and/or try adding a pinch of salt, a surprisingly effective way of rounding out bitterness (and you can read more about this in this post)

If you’d like to experiment with the flavour, consider adding some spices. Try cinnamon, sea salt, cardamon, vanilla, ginger, turmeric, anise, and/or nutmeg - and also have a read of this recent Instagram post).

We love our cacao thick and rich, and DEFINITELY not at all watery!

If you’ve added too much liquid and your cacao has a watery consistency, try adding a bit more cacao and blending it again.

How to stop your cacao cooling down too quickly? Add boiling water to your cup to warm it up first for a few minutes while you prepare your cacao. When your cacao is ready, remove the boiling water, add your cacao to your warmed mug, and voila!!

We have a few more tips for keeping your cacao warm in this post.

Never let cacao come to a boil as this changes its molecular structure and the way our bodies are able to absorb its nutrients. If using boiled water in your cacao per the ‘Express Method’, let it cool for at least 5 minutes before adding to your cacao.

If making cacao for a group, always use the stove top method. Place all ingredients in a saucepan on low heat, stirring continuously. When the cacao has completely melted, use a hand-held blender to combine and froth. Remember, do not allow the cacao to come to a boil, and if using honey, keep the heat very low.

Here is the recipe and method I like to use when I prepare cacao for ceremonies:

Ingredients:

• 45g cacao per person

• 110 ml hot water per person

• 40 ml good quality oat milk per person

• Sweetener to taste - I usually use honey. I start out with about 8ml per person. Less honey is needed if you're using the Karkar Island cacao, but you might want to add a bit more if you're using the Balinese. Again, it kind of depends on your group.

• I love to add cardamom, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper and a little sea salt - again all to taste.

Instructions:

1. Put the cacao in a large pot. Add enough liquid to cover the cacao, turn the stove onto low heat, and stir.

2. Once the cacao has softened into a more liquidy paste, add the rest of the liquid, stirring continuously and keep the heat pretty low - its really really important the cacao doesn't come to a boil - then the butter might split from the solids and that isn't a pleasant experience.

3. Add your spices and sweetener.

4. Blend thoroughly with a handheld stick blender. This makes a massive difference, if you want it to be delicious.

Some cacao facilitators are quite strict, almost dogmatic when it comes to preparing cacao. So some people would say no sweetener, and no blending, for example. There's no real historical reference for this (cacao ceremonies are a completely new phenomenon) so I say we can take a bit of creative license :)