START HERE! Ceremonial Cacao Starter Packs
Not sure which variety to choose? Or never tried whole bean cacao before, as opposed to cacao powder?
Try 85g bags* of two, three, four or all five of our award-winning varieties (subject to seasonal availability) so you can let your taste buds decide which one is for you. You’ll be sampling some of the highest quality single origin cacao in the world, in its purest form.
Our international award-winning range includes (subject to seasonal availability)
- Our best selling Karkar Island Ceremonial Cacao
- Our potent and bold Mexican Ceremonial Cacao
- Our premium homegrown Daintree Ceremonial Cacao
- Our smoky and unique Solomon Islands Ceremonial Cacao
- Our brand new powerful yet smooth Peruvian Ceremonial Cacao
*An 85g bag contains 3-7 serves, depending on your chosen dose!
Cacao Contains Caffeine: Soma Cacao contains between 17 - 45mg caffeine per standard 25g serve (the equivalent of a cup of weak black tea). For more info, visit this page.
Note: There's a small chance your cacao may melt during transit. Rest assured, it's still perfectly fine—just let it solidify at room temperature (or in the fridge if it's hot) and chop it up. Many brands sell cacao this way; we simply shave it for your convenience. :)
The Mayans called cacao “the food of the gods”. Along with its rich history of ritualistic and medicinal use, cacao’s crown jewel is theobromine: a gentle, long lasting stimulant that energises us like caffeine, without punishing us with brain-fog and jittery hands later in the day. It’s also rich in essential minerals and produces mood-boosting bioactive compounds - dopamine, serotonin, anandamide (the 'bliss molecule') and P.E.A, an antidepressant also known as the 'love drug'.
For more health benefits including scientific sources, visit our cacao benefits page.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2-3 Tbs Soma Cacao
- 110 mL hot water
- 50 mL milk (we like oat milk)
- 1-2 tsps sweetener (honey, coconut sugar, or maple syrup work great)
METHOD:
Blend all ingredients together using a blender, milk-frother, or whisk. Inhale, sip slowly, and savour!
Cacao powder (or cocoa powder) has undergone intensive processing to extract cacao butter from the paste. This leaves the cacao chalkier and more insipid, and also reduces the fat content, which is vital for the transmission of the neuro-active substances. Studies have proven the widely used method to produce cocoa powder (dutch-processing) significantly decreases the levels of compounds with positive physiological effects.
Our cacao contains the entire cacao bean (excluding the husk/shell). We add nothing, we take nothing away, maintaining the highest concentration of antioxidants, essential minerals, and bliss-inducing compounds.
As an energy source cacao feels more gentle, long-lasting and smooth, while coffee is intense, fast-acting and short-lived. This is because caffeine is a nervous system stimulant, and it produces cortisol, the stress hormone, which can lead to the jitters and anxiety. By contrast, cacao's active ingredient, theobromine, reduces cortisol. This helps us to relax. Cacao also stimulates the cardiovascular system, and opens our blood vessels. This helps blood flow more freely, sends more oxygen through the body, and lowers our blood pressure. We’ve elaborated on this in a recent blog post.
Ceremonial Cacao refers to a premium, pure cacao that is ethically sourced from small family-run sustainable farms.
Ceremonial cacao is made from a single ingredient, whole cacao beans, with nothing added or removed. This is what distinguishes is from cacao powder: a product that has the highly prized cacao butter removed.
Our cacao is minimally processed to retain the highest concentration of antioxidants, bliss-inducing compounds and essential minerals.
Our sourcing methods disrupt the commodity cacao supply chain, which notoriously cuts corners and is notoriously corrupt.
Buy It With
Buy It With
$59.95
$69.95
Customer Reviews
I researched for a very long time after my supplier started charging huge amounts for shipping. I went back and forth and finally landed here. I got the taster pack and have loved the Peruvian and Mexican blends the most (am rebuying) and thoroughly enjoyed trying the others. A wonderful business that is easy to deal with, order from and has very high quality ingredients. Thank you!!!
So far I’ve really enjoyed all the cacao and it’s helped me look forward to getting out of bed in the morning. I like all of the three types and have been rotating them so it’s fun to take note of the flavour differences.
Loved this product. So easy to make and the taste is wonderful - I’m using it as a mid-afternoon drink to stave off that slump and sugar craving time.
Will definitely purchase more.
Soma Cacao is pure lush. It’s rich, smooth, and makes slowing down feel so easy. It's my new fave self-love ritual!
We have been moving through each pack slowly to get a feel for each variety. The cacao is truly remarkable, I've never tasted anything so soothing, rich and decadent. The tasting packs are a fantastic way to explore the range. Highly recommended!
Sometimes you just connect. You sip …and taste something so delicious, it needs little additions. And, your life changes forever. That’s what happened for me when I tried the delicious silky Soma cacao. Thank you 😊
I decided to try this since I was looking for an alternative as a "reward" drink for the end of the workday... trying to cut back on alcohol, and the 0% stuff wasn't doing it for me. I wanted something that actually felt luxurious and indulgent. Soma cacao fit the bill wonderfully. Now my husband really loves it too, and we have a little ritual of each of us having a little cup before bedtime (it relaxes / calms rather than acting like caffeine; but then again we have non-standard reactions to caffeine like a lot of ADHD folk - IYKYK).
It was really fun going through the pack to figure out our favourites, they're all so different! The variety in tastes is also very welcome in our household since sometimes it's a Mexican day, sometimes it's a Peruvian one. If you're on the fence... I know it's expensive, but it's worth it.
I got the 3 x 85g starter pack, to try as a replacement for my morning coffee. It worked out to $49 including discounts and shipping, or around $5 per 25g serve (closer to $3.50 per serve when bought in bulk). Comparing this to coffee, I can get a kilo of high-quality fairtrade coffee beans for $50 and make an espresso at home for under $1. This could potentially become cost prohibitive for those looking to replace one or more coffees per day.
As far as the effects go, it's fairly similar to a weak coffee, which makes sense as the cocao has about half the caffeine (42.5mg) of a typical espresso (~80mg). I didn't find that the 250mg theobromine resulted in any noticeable long-lasting energy or focus, it was still very obvious that the caffeine and sugar were wearing off over the course of an hour or two. Taste-wise, the Daintree and Karkar Island were quite nice, with a similar taste to cocoa powder, though personally I still much prefer the taste of coffee. But the Solomon Island was genuinely undrinkable – what was described as 'tobacco notes' actually tasted like I'd just emptied an entire pouch of tobacco into my mouth. Suffice to say this one went straight in the bin.
Finally, it's worth addressing the health claims made about the other compounds present in cocao, particularly the idea that the phenylethylamine (PEA) and anandamide (the so-called "bliss molecule") present in raw cocao have mood-boosting properties. Even the sources Soma themselves cite to simply don't support this position. In one article they cite to a review (Nehlig, 2013) that actually states that concentrations of biogenic amines such phenylethylamine in cocao "are irrelevant in healthy subjects".
Many of the health claims relate to how supposedly dangerous caffeine is, specifically citing cardiovascular health, sleep quality and fertility as areas of concern. However, even if you accept these risks are real and outweight the well-documented health benefits of caffeine, it would then follow you'd also have to avoid Soma's products, since – and this bears repeating – raw cocao also contains a substantial amount of caffeine.
So yeah, it's worth a try if you're looking for a coffee alternative and don't mind taking up a more expensive habit. But you should be aware some of the health claims made about raw cocao are, in my opinion, exaggerated and potentially misleading.
Hi Dane,
Thanks very much for taking the time to share such a detailed and thoughtful review. Though I'm particularly saddened that our health claims and it seems our brand in general have left a bad taste in your mouth.
I'd like to try to address your various concerns in turn:
1. You're right that ceremonial cacao can work out to be more expensive than coffee, especially when comparing home espresso to single serves of cacao. Part of the difference comes down to the sourcing and processing. We work directly with small-scale farmers using traditional fermentation and sun-drying methods, cacao harvesting is EXTREMELY labour intensive, moreso than coffee. Cheap cacao products are out there - because the industry is rife with corruption. We of course understand that price is a real consideration. But we would argue it is entirely worth it given you're not just getting a caffeine hit - but a combination of essential minerals, and antioxidants as well - it packs a lot more punch than a cup of coffee from a nutritional stand point.
2. In terms of the effects, yes exactly - cacao has a much gentler stimulant profile compared to coffee. For some people, the combination of theobromine and caffeine offers a smoother, longer-lasting lift; for others, especially if they're used to higher caffeine doses, it can feel milder (or if you're really over-stimulated - you can almost feel nothing at all). We never claim that it mimics the sharp jolt of espresso, but to offer a different kind of support — more steady and subtle. For me personally, I'd rather feel calm and at easy than have that jolt of caffeine feeling - but that's a personal preference.
And yes, you're completely correct that cacao also contains caffeine (and we highly that on our website). For people looking to avoid caffeine altogether, we wouldn’t recommend ceremonial cacao - it’s more suited to those wanting to reduce their intake, not eliminate it.
3. Regarding the Solomon Islands cacao, thanks for your honest feedback there too. The “tobacco notes” are naturally occurring from the terroir and fermentation, and we know it’s not for everyone. Some people love its boldness, others (like yourself) find it overwhelming. Taste is very personal. We try to make it very clear that the Solomons is SMOKY, and won't be for everyone. We're not trying to choose cacaos that will be right for everyone - that's part of the fun. We've chosen 5 unique, exciting origins, that are also doing good things for the cacao industry and the communities involved.
4. On the health claims... it’s true that isolated compounds like PEA and anandamide in cacao aren’t present in large enough quantities to be SOLELY responsible for the mood effects. However, it's overly simplistic and frankly incorrect to dismiss their role altogether. Research (including Nehlig 2013 that you mention) points out that the effects of cacao are more likely the result of a complex synergy between multiple bioactive compounds, rather than one molecule acting in isolation. Cacao also affects endocannabinoid metabolism and nitric oxide pathways, which can contribute to the uplifting experience many people report - even if it's difficult to reduce this to a single molecule or mechanism. We're careful not to make exaggerated claims, but there’s a growing body of evidence that cacao as a whole food does have meaningful physiological effects.
Anyway - people who choose to come back again and again and again to Soma are doing so predominantly for their personal experience than just reading that it's good for you (if we did things just because we know it's good for us we'd all be alot healthier!!). People predominantly drink Soma because they love the taste, the experience, and... it makes them feel good.
Thanks again for giving Soma a try. I do repect the thoughtful way you engaged with it and the information we provide as well. If you ever have more feedback, questions, or even just want to chat cacao, feel free to reach out - you can email me directly at rose@somacacao.com.au.
Kind regards,
Rose Cousens | Founder | Soma Cacao Australia
Purchased the starter pack and have only tried 2 so far. Enjoying the soothing taste. Highly recommend. Will be a returning customer for sure.
Truly exceptional pure cacao. And such a treat to be able to taste and compare the flavours from 5 places across the world. Thank you for providing this Soma!