Heat
Warm enough to melt, never hot enough to burn the most fragile aromas.
Guide · Experiencing · Chapter 02 / 10
Preparing cacao
Water, heat, the whisk: the gesture that turns a piece of cacao into a cup.
Preparing cacao is not making hot chocolate.
It means opening up a paste or a bar in water, patiently: gentle heat, a whisk, and your attention resting on the texture. The ritual often begins right there, in the gesture, before any sharing.
The gesture
Grate, melt,
emulsify
Grate or break the cacao. Heat the water without going above 65 °C, then add the cacao little by little. Whisk, or use a frother, until the texture is even.
Foam forms on the surface. Take the time to smell what rises from the cup before the first sip.
Matter
What the atelier has already decided
A pure cacao paste, a bar, a ceremonial format: preparation reveals what the processing has respected or erased. If the terroir can be read in the dry matter, it can be read in the cup as well, provided you don't cover it with sugar or spices.
Going further
The gesture of the molinillo
The molinillo is a turned wooden whisk that you roll between your palms. The Journal gives it a story of its own: its shape, its movement, and where ours come from, in Mexico and Colombia.
Practice
Three points of attention
Agitation
Emulsify to an even texture: the foam carries the aroma.
Restraint
Taste it plain first. Spices and milk can come later, because you want them rather than to correct anything.
The ritual begins before the cup: in the soil, the pod, the fermentation, the fire, the grinding.Volume 1, MOOJO
Before you prepare, find the right amount.
Doses & formats