Traditional Cacao Preparation in Oaxaca, Mexico

Traditional Cacao Preparation in Oaxaca, Mexico

While the term "ceremonial cacao" is a modern one, it only exists because of the thousands of years of indigenous regard for cacao as something sacred. We're proud to be offering Mitla ceremonial cacao, which is grown in Chiapas, Mexico, and prepared in Oaxaca (pronounced wah-hah-cah).

Mitla after the archaeology site (originally called Mictlán) which was a ceremonial site for the ancient Zapotec culture.

In the video below, Soledad, Candelaria, and Adriana demonstrate how Mitla ceremonial cacao is prepared in Oaxaca, Mexico.

They live in a small village east of Oaxaca City called Tlacolula de Matamoros, which is also known for artisanal traditions of mezcal and black mole (pronounced moh-ley). The people there preserve their Zapotec indigenous culture through dress, recipes, and traditional gatherings.

This model of preparing cacao with traditional methods in the same country where it grows sends an average of 17x the "fair trade" rate back to the source. Thank you for "voting with your dollar" and supporting Oaxacan traditions!