Cacao Tea! What's your take on it?

The Indian Craft Chocolate Festival held in Mumbai 18-19 Feb, saw some of the best craft chocolate makers under one roof. It was incredible. It saw an exchange of ideas among chocolate makers and one got to really interact with people who have known and loved craft chocolate.

The festival also conducted several workshops & talks hosted by craft chocolate makers.. I too had a talk on the Science of Bean to Bar chocolate making. This particular blog is not regarding that but rather a question one of the participants asked me during Q&A.

"Cacao Tea! What's your take on it?" I thought for a second and replied "I hate it". Now I know there are some who enjoy a nice hot cup of cacao tea (as is or with spices) but let us pull the layers of marketing and see what is really happening here.

For those who don't know, cacao tea or tisane is basically made from the husks that are separated out in the winnowing process. It is NOT a by product.. it's a WASTE product. Now, I won't lie to you, I have tried to add spices to the husks and consume it as a tea, I didn't enjoy it all. Many chocolate makers across the world are marketing this "tea" as beverage rich with antioxidants that clam you down. This is a marketing tool but I think it lacks merit. 

Think I'm wrong?.. just read some of the reviews of it on Amazon. You will be shocked.

Cacao gives us chocolate.. lets stick to it and the expertise that come with making it. It's tea is probably not worth the time, money or the credibility of your brand.