JOURNAL

At the turn of the most recent century, Ecuador’s legendary cacao variety – "Ancient Nacional" – was feared to be extinct. To’ak and its rainforest conservation partner Third Millennium Alliance (TMA) have embarked on a project to pull this legendary cacao variety back from the brink of extinction. And it's working. 

Unbeknownst to most consumers, almost all cacao powders are de-oiled, and many are processed with alkalizing chemicals. One of the only cacao powders on the market that is 100% unadulterated is "T.cacao Everyday" 100% Organic Cacao Powder by To'ak.

In 2015 we analyzed the DNA of 47 cacao trees in Piedra de Plata, Ecuador,, in partnership with the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund (HCP). We collected the leaf samples under the direction of Freddy Amores, the director of cacao research at Ecuador’s leading agricultural institute (INIAP). The genetic analysis was performed by Dr. Lyndel Meinhardt and Dr. Dapeng Zhang at the USDA-ARS genetic lab in Maryland. Photos of the cacao pods from the sample trees were taken by Carl Schweizer.

Aged chocolate is a new phenomenon that To'ak has been pioneering since 2013. The process is grounded in the science of flavor extraction, and draws heavily from long-standing practices in both the wine and whisky traditions. Here's a closer look at why we do it and how it works.

The best way to truly understand cacao is to live with the trees, to raise them from seed, like babies, and tend to them over their course of their lives. This is the very first step in the process of making chocolate from tree to bar. Here's how we do it in Ecuador.