PNM Cacao Powder Organic Raw Unsweetened Cocoa (2 Pack 16 Oz)

Pure Naturals Miracles say their cacao is made from the “Highest Quality Arriba Cacao fromEcuador” & “ Made with the best Arriba Nacional, Criollo cocoa powder from Ecuador”Seeing I hadn’t reviewed this cacao powder & reading other reviews because there’s no point inmy saying the same things others have already said repeatedly, I realized that I just wasn’t sure ifeverything said was true. So, I left Amazon and did a few hours of research of my own: cacao powder,raw cacoa powder, arriba nacional, arriba nacional crillo, arriba nacional ecuador…… I learned a lot.All chocolate starts as a seed, in a pod, on the Theobroma cacao tree, which means “cacao, the foodof the gods!” It grows under the umbrella of taller trees which protect it from direct sun. The treesbloom yr round, producing pods which are filled with seeds which are the (cacao) beans.Cocoa has been cultivated in Ecuador since the 17th century. In the late 18th century & early 19thcentury when buyers from Europe went to Equador to buy cacao & asked locals where they couldfind the really good (Nacional) cacao, they were told “arriba… río arriba”, which means “up the river”.This is where “Arriba” came from. In Ecuador, Nacional cacao is a symbol of quality and greatorganoleptic (sensual- as in aroma and flavor) richness. It was the main export up to the 1920s whendiseases struck, destroying crops everywhere. Then the 1997-98 El Niño wiped out most of theNacional crop. Arriba Nacional became almost extinct—however, some heirloom Nacional survived,were nurtured and resurrected w/help from the Ecuadorian gov. and Int’l, worldwide, developmentfunding, growers’ cooperatives of small family farms formed and worked to preserve the ArribaNacional cacao.Nacional Cacao is one of the first cacaos declared to be an heirloom variety by the Heirloom CacaoPreservation Initiative (HCP), who’s goal is Identifying and mapping fine-flavored beans and recognizinggrowers who produce the highest-quality beans. Today Nacional cacao, exclusive to Ecuador, is consideredto be among the world’s finest. It’s grown in mineral-rich volcanic soil at a high elevation in the ArribaNacional forest of Ecuador.The cacao is grown and processed organically thanks to the Cacaolands project. The cacao is monitoredto ensure total control of the channeling system, to safeguard the environment, to develop sustainableagriculture and provide a fair & livable income for the farmers.The strong floral aroma these trees develop is unique to the Nacional cacao & is called the "Arriba"flavor.Please note…it can be confusing…especially when marketers are intermixing & using terms like"Nacional" and "Arriba" for the lessor quality CCN-51— an increasingly prevalent hybrid of massmarket quality and flavor. Arriba can mean chocolate products made from not only Nacional butalso this hybrid. CCN-51 has a high-yield, 3-4 times per hectare more than Nacional, has a high cocoabutter content, is disease resistance, has a more bitter flavor and is the workhorse of cacao.Other Natural Cacao varitieties are:Forastero— Spanish for 'foreigner' or 'stranger' originally from the Amazon basin and domesticatedlater than Criollo. Forastero cacao is generally a strong, vigorous plant that grows quickly. It producesa lot of fruit, accounting for over 80% of the world's cacao and is grown mainly in Africa and Asia. Itwas unclear from all I read if Forastero is one & the same as CCN-51 or not.Trinitario- This is a naturally occurring hybrid of Criollo and Forastero cacao dating back to the 1700’s. It’s the result of natural cross-pollination between Forastero trees and the few Criollo trees thatsurvived a natural disaster in the early 18th century. It was developed in Trinidad. Trinitario cacaohas the delicate flavor and intense aroma of the Criollo, combined with the strong, vigorous plantgrowth & fruit production of the Forastero bean. Grown mainly in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, theWest Indies and South America, it represents about 10-15% of the world's total production.This raw cacao powder is of the Criollo variety. The ancient Criollo variety of Nacional cacaowas saved from extinction and is sourced from the native-born heirloom species. Crillio means"native" or "'of local origin". It is believed to be the first cacao variety to be cultivated inpre-Columbian times. It’s known for it's complex, powerful flavors that can be fruity or spicy,intense aroma and lacking the bitterness found in other varieties. It’s susceptible to disease, yieldsfewer fruit pods, and thus beans, and ripens later. It accounts for approx. 5% of the world crop ofcacao. The Criollo variety is considered worldwide to have the finest floral aroma and flavor profile.Bottom line: Based on all I learned, I’d say when Pure Naturals Miracles says it’s certified organic rawcacao powder is “the best Arriba Nacional, Criollo cocoa powder from Ecuador; our premium cacao is100% pure, raw and unroasted, natural, non alkalized, organic and packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.”——they aren’t kidding. It’s the real deal—no sugar added, no nutrients lost in repeatedheatings to roast or process removing the butter. I’m on my third order of this cacao. I use it: to makecocoa, put it in fruit & vegetable smoothies. have added it to the cook variety of pudding mix & for baking.It may cost more, but old sayings get to be that way for a reason—they’re true.All too often, you really do get what you pay for.

The cocao was fresh and delicious. Dissolving took a little longer than I had expected but that could have been because the liquid was not hot enough. I would definitely recommend this product.

So far, my favorite out of three sources for ceremonial cacao

Buscando en Amazon

I use this everyday with my morning coffee. Mmm, mocha

I compared all 4 brands: Navitas, PNM (Pure Natural Miracles), Divine Organics and Trader Joe’s.Now let me start saying that they are all USDA Organics, but Trader Joe’s cação powder is roasted as it does not state otherwise. Navitas states that it is Unroasted, while Divine Organic states that it is raw and unroasted, and PNM states that it’s just raw. Just for everyone’s information, raw does not truly mean raw but it means Unroasted instead. In order to make cacao into powder, the beans undergo fermentation and can easily achieve temperatures warm enough, it’s not like they take the beans out of the cacao pod and grind it into powder right away, so again raw = Unroasted as far as cacao powder goes.Now I’ll compare the Flavor, how well they blend, of the powder as powder, mixed in milk, and chocolate making. This list goes from worst to best:4th (The Worst) -Trader Joe’s Organic cacaoI love Trader Joe’s and I’ve been drinking their cacao for a long time, but after comparing it to all other 3, Trader Joe’s tasted horrible, like cardboard, and you can tell it’s the cheapest of all. It is also roasted so it’s not the fairest comparison to all other 3 that are Unroasted.3rd - Divine Organics: I kept comparing this to Pure Natural Miracles and there is a difference. Divine Organics has a more powdery feel to it, maybe due to the lack of fat that PNM has, and it also had a more ‘earthy’ taste to it. That earthy taste is what made it fall into the 3rd place, but it is still good, I paid a great price on sale (half the price of PNM).2nd best - PNM (Pure Natural Miracles): I wish I had liked this more for the price, I did not think it had much taste to it at all! I could taste it directly as a powder, but mixed in milk or in chocolate making, I found myself putting higher amounts of this cacao without achieving much flavor, so I just think it is a bit overpriced. Compared to Divine Organics, I found PNM to have a bit of a “capuccino” taste, idk why. It mixed better but note the higher fat content. I just really wish it had more taste to it like you seem to get from the reviews.1st (the best): Navitas: Now this was a funny powder. It semelled amazing (like chocolate) but it’s daid that it is Unroasted at the same time, so it makes you wonder.. also there isn’t the fat content (like in PNM) so Navitas took the longest time to blend in milk but once t did, it just melted and it was the smoothest of all, with the least powdery feel to it! It was also creamy just eating the powder by itself. The best thing was the flavor itself, there is something about this powder that tastes unique, the most chocolate taste of all (again weird considering it states in the back label to be Unroasted). Idk IF or What they do to this cacao powder but it tasted the best which in the end makes it worth paying the price. Between PNM and Navitas, Navitas has a lot more flavor to it.Ps: they all have some cadmium and lead levels. Divine Organics and Navitas has a CA Prep warning in the back label, which I appreciate knowing as they ALL have amounts of it. Trader Joe’s does not have in the label but in CA it had the CA prep on the market shells, but that’s only in CA and the sign won’t be in other states within the US. PNM does not have any warnings but they have amounts of it as well. LowHeavyMetals.org offers a grading system of A++ (excellent) to F (fail) that ranks foods and supplements according to their heavy metal content. Both Navitas as Pure Natural Miracles are graded as “B”, and so does most cacao powders, but some can be graded as C! So in the end, moderation is key - as it seems that almost everything is a source of radiation, heavy metals and lead to cancer these days!

I did my homework and found this to be the healthiest cocoa powder and it’s organic!! I have it on auto order and mix it with protein powder, yogurt, chia seeds, fruit and walnuts for an amazing breakfast or snack!!

I add it to my ginger tea. I love this brand. Will order again.

Hard to find a source of good quality raw cacao . This product is it. Finally can enjoy a cup of coffee enriched with creamy cacao powder! It is not only full of flavonoids, which act as natural antioxidants but also an aphrodisiac because it contains anandamide, a substance that induces euphoria and also contains phenylethylamine which is a mood enhancer.

The shipping cost a fortune. But it is the most delicious cacao I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. And I'm not a chocoholic. Makes divine hot cocoa. Will likely bite the shipping bullet and buy again now that I'm ruined for lesser cocoa,

I have been using the powder in my protein smoothies. No problem blending and provides a delicious chocolatey flavour. Great with coconut milk, ice cubes, maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon/nutmeg/allspice.

just to say that i love this product, have baked with it & it's great ,i'm glad that i found it thru amazon & will be buying this again when i'm just about to run out. it's worth the money to purchase this product.

High quality product. Don't need to use much. Smells nice. I used it in my smoothie and it tasted great.