A friend recently mentioned that she placed an order for CrioBru and asked if I had tried it. While I have not tried that brand, I have had 100% pure ground roasted cacao beans brewed in a French press just like coffee in the distant past. I thought I would give it a try since I haven’t had it in years. Then again, I find great joy in experimenting with cacao beans and chocolate.
Rather than buy ground cacao beans for brewing, I thought I would make my own. I had a third of a bag of Terrasoul Superfoods Raw Organic Criollo Cacao Beans that were given to me to try, a French press, and a bean grinder so I was set with all the supplies I needed to brew up a cup.
When I shared my desire to create our own brewing cacao with my husband, he was up for the experiment. In fact, he brought out all the supplies and ground up the beans for me. Foodandnutrition.org had an article on brewing cacao and gave the following directions for brewing “the perfect cup”. Click here for a link to the article.
Add 2 tablespoons of ground cacao beans in a French press
Add 1 cup of boiling water
Stir briefly
Steep for 5 to 7 minutes
If you are expecting something along the lines of a hot chocolate drink, you may be disappointed as brewed cacao beans is more like a tea. Since it has theobromine, it has a mild stimulating effect. I am pretty sensitive to caffeine, so I am not much of a coffee drinker. Fortunately, the brewed cacao was just mildly stimulating for me. It didn’t cause me to feel jittery or like I’m experiencing tachycardia like I do when I drink espresso. Perhaps I am rather unusual in that respect.
Like tea or coffee, it can be consumed with or without milk or sugar and served hot or cold. It’s a matter of preference. I find that I like it without anything added. But that shouldn’t be surprising, as I love the taste of cacao beans right out of the bag.
I am excited to try this with different cacao beans and experience the various flavors captured in beans from different parts of the world. Have you ground and brewed your own cacao beans? If so, I would be delighted to hear your thoughts about you experience!
P.S. Brewed cacao is a great compliment to homemade banana bread made with cacao nibs!
Brewing Ground Cacao Beans
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