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How is Chocolate connective?
This venture is born in the Jungle.
Beginning in the bedrock of the forests' root system, temporarily ushered by the symphony of jungle sounds - a creature rests dormant, ticking with anticipation. Before long, a great serpent begins to rise, igniting the trees around it, revealing hundreds of its colourful eggs.
These eggs, or gourd like fruits, are Cacao.
Rooted in ancient indigenous mythology, complex rainforest ecosystems, and the marriage between land & people, Cacao invites us to walk the road back home.
Our chocolate is about
re-connection to the heart & nature.
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With Cacao as an ally, our mission is to infuse your being with what is wild & pure
Cacao's natural habitat is virgin rainforest.
It has been this way for thousands of years.
The jungle is a place of regeneration and vitality.
With each bite, or sip, we invite you to bask in the opportunity to connect to this primordial setting.
Taste the qualities of ancient medicine and be transported to a time and place of epic harmony.
Cacao is the medicine of the Heart.
Complex chemical properties make cacao the perfect medicine for the Heart. Through our cardiovascular
and respiratory systems, it works to expand our breath and calm our nervous system, subtly suggesting a
shift in consciousness. We believe it contributes to qualities of joy, ease, compassion, and unification.
Rich in luxurious fats, antioxidants, and magnesium,
it is comprised of many elements that make it
a excellent whole food and medicine.
Across cultures, the Dragon (or serpent) is a central mythological creature. It is commonly associated to qualities of creativity, life force, luck and abundance. In mythology & story, it remains to be one of the oldest symbols of all time. The Maya & Aztec of Central America revered this symbol as well and characterised it as a `Feathered Serpent`, or `Quetzalcoatl`- in their language. They associated it to the Cacao Tree so much so that they believed that the underground of the tree was its dwelling place. The serpent, believed to connect the Earth to the Sky, was the keeper and protector of this plant, fostering this forest treasure whilst infusing the tree's fruits with vital spirit.
As storytellers and lovers of ancient-ness, we love honouring this story and reviving Cacao's mystical presence through what we offer as Dragon Chocolate.
Why Dragons?
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our story
As a young adult, Giulia and her family moved to Belize, Central America to create an off-grid, wholistic lifestyle retreat centre at the base of the majestic Maya Mountains. To help supplement her abilities to create an off grid system from the ground up, she signed up for a Permaculture certification course in the thick of the rainforest in Southern Belize. She studied along-side a young man named Marco, a third generation Mayan Cacao farmer. Upon connecting further, and visiting his Cacao grove to help harvest ripe fruits, her initiation into the deep world of Cacao began. The trees ushered her, the broad leaves and nearby stream seduced her, the rainbow colored fruits ignited her, and the clay floor of the traditional home where the fire hearth burned, felt oddly familiar.
On Sam’s first visit to Belize, it was apparent that there were many opportunities for him to entangle into the scene there. One of the reasons was Cacao. As an outdoor guide and wanderer of wild landscapes, Sam had known Cacao as a form of excellent sustenance. A food that naturally preserves well, nourishes the body, and fuels the heart and mind. To meet the ecosystem of a long-loved companion–was intriguing. Sometimes, places claim you in a way, and ask you to stay a little longer.
So as the Jungle embraced both of them, the story began to evolve. In the winter of 2017, Sam and Giulia set off to the jungles of Colombia to come closer to the botanical roots of Cacao, being South America. This experience, combined with international workshops, one-on-one apprenticeships with various US based craft chocolate makers, and countless hours of late night chocolate alchemy, resulted in the launch of Dragon Chocolate in the spring of 2018 in New York City... of all places.
Since then, the Dragons (and their 2 young hatchlings) have returned to Belize and have made it their primary home. It is on the winding Hummingbird Highway, nestled into their retreat centre grounds, that Dragons produce their solar-powered, jungle-infused, organic Belizean Cacao medicine.
Answering to their calling from the ancient rocks, sands, and soaring altitudes, they currently are splitting their time between Belize and Santa Fe,
New Mexico.
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