There's something about a warm cup of cacao held in both hands.
It asks you to slow down - to sip, to stay a while. People have been gathering around cacao for thousands of years, and to me, it's still one of the most beautiful rituals we have. You can hold one in your own kitchen tonight.
A cacao ceremony is a simple ritual: warm cacao, sipped slowly and with intention, often around a question you're willing to hold. Modern ceremonies are inspired by Mesoamerican traditions, in which cacao was sacred and shared at life's turning points. At home, all you need is good cacao, a quiet hour, and your full attention.
Where Cacao Ceremonies Come From
Picture someone grinding cacao by hand at dusk, in a rhythm that sounds a lot like a heartbeat.
To the Maya, cacao was a gift from the gods, and it was there at life's great thresholds. It was shared at feasts and betrothals, offered back to the gods, and placed in tombs.
Cacao drinkers across Mesoamerica spiced their cups with chili and wild vanilla, and I like to imagine they spoke their intentions over the vessel before anyone drank.
That's the heart of it, really. The cup holds whatever you bring to it - your longing, your gratitude, your willingness to soften.
What a Cacao Ceremony Feels Like
If you're picturing incense, chanting, and someone telling you how to breathe, you're welcome to all of it. But a cacao ceremony can be much simpler. At its best, it feels like coming home to a kitchen table where everyone is finally telling the truth.
You sit. You hold the cup. Someone asks, what is alive in your heart tonight? And often, something softens. The walls you didn't know you were holding up start to lower on their own, because the ritual made it feel safe.
There may be a little chemistry in this tenderness, too. Cacao carries theobromine, a gentle stimulant; phenylethylamine, popularly linked with falling in love; and traces of anandamide, named for the Sanskrit word for bliss. Still, what I love most is the part no list of compounds can hold - the warmth in your chest, the tear that surprises you, the laughter that follows.
How to Hold a Cacao Ceremony at Home
No facilitator or singing bowl required. Just a quiet evening, a little willingness, and good cacao. And if you love a bit of cosmic timing, a new moon is a lovely night for it.
Dim the lights. Put your phone somewhere you can't reach it. Light whatever you light when you want the air to feel different.
Sit for a moment with one question - nothing you have to answer, just something to keep you company. What am I not letting myself feel? Or simply, I'm here. I'm open.
Break two or three pieces of Chocolat de Joie into a small pot with warm water or oat milk. Warm it gently, never letting it boil, and stir slowly. If you like, add a pinch of cayenne or cinnamon - cacao has been spiced for a very long time, and it wakes the whole cup up.
Drink it the way you'd listen to someone you love - slowly, with your whole body. Let the first sip coat your tongue and notice the layers: the bitterness, the depth, the way it opens into something almost floral. Cacao in ceremony is a conversation, and it'll tell you things if you stay quiet enough to hear them.
Then sit with whatever comes, for twenty minutes or thirty. You might want to write. You might want to cry, or laugh at something you can't quite name. Let it all come.
When you feel complete, say thank you - to the plant, and to yourself. That's the whole ceremony.
Sharing a Cacao Ceremony With Friends
Cacao has always been meant for sharing. For the Maya it was communal by nature, a way of saying, let's be tender together.
So invite someone over - two people, maybe three. Make the cacao together; there's ceremony in preparing something with your hands for someone you care about. Offer a prompt, like what is your heart asking for right now? Then do the simplest, rarest thing of all - actually listen.
You may find that sharing a cup makes honesty a little easier. The cup becomes a permission slip that says, here, tenderness is safe.
A gentle note on safety. Chocolat de Joie contains kanna and blue lotus, so tell your guests what's in the cup before you pour. Kanna acts on serotonin, so it isn't for anyone taking SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, or other serotonergic medication, and anyone on prescription medication should ask their doctor first. Anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding should skip kanna and blue lotus altogether. For anyone sitting this one out, a cup of plain cacao is every bit as much a ceremony.
Why We Made Chocolat de Joie
To me, preparing something beautiful, taking it in with your full attention, and letting yourself feel what it stirs - that's ceremony enough.
We made Chocolat de Joie with Deer Jade for moments exactly like this. It's a vegan chocolate with blue lotus, kanna, and rose petals in single-origin cacao from Manabí, Ecuador. That's the country where archaeologists found the oldest known traces of cacao use, left by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture of the upper Amazon more than 5,000 years ago.
A little portal back to your own senses.
So pour a cup, light something lovely, and come sit with us.
xo, Nana 🍫
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you do a cacao ceremony at home?
Set aside a quiet hour and warm your cacao gently, without letting it boil. Sip it slowly while you hold a simple question or intention. Afterward, sit with whatever comes - write or talk if you like - and close by saying thank you.
What do you say during a cacao ceremony?
There's no script. Many people begin by naming an intention or asking a simple question, like "What is alive in my heart tonight?", and end by giving thanks. Your own words are always enough.
Does cacao have caffeine?
A little. Cacao has a small amount of caffeine and more theobromine, a gentler stimulant, so if you're sensitive to either, hold your ceremony earlier in the evening.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is for information only and is not medical advice. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.