Embue Cacao Review (Updated): Good Sourcing, Still Selective Math
Embue Cacao has expanded to offering Dominican Republic and Ugandan cacao while quietly no longer offering Guatemalan cacao. Allulose is no longer an ingredient in their chocolate.
Maya Moon Cacao: Indigenous-Owned, Community-Driven, and Worth the Price
Maya Moon Cacao was founded by Maura and Elizabet Sacach, Kaqchikel Maya sisters from San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala. Unlike most cacao companies covered on this site, Maya Moon is run by indigenous founders who are culturally and regionally connected to the cacao they sell. Maura handles e-commerce and brand partnerships from the U.S., while Elizabet, known affectionately as “Mama Cacao,” runs the workshop in Guatemala where all roasting, hand-peeling, and stone-grinding takes place.
Dave’s Sweet Tooth Toffee: A Michigan Success Story Worth Rooting For
Dave’s Sweet Tooth Toffee didn’t launch with a PR firm, a seed round, or a Shopify influencer deal. It started with a retired Detroit firefighter making almond toffee in his kitchen, packing it into mason jars, and handing it out to guys at the engine house. That’s it. That’s the whole origin story.
Cacao Laboratory: A Small Brand Doing Supply Chain Differently
The ceremonial cacao market is full of brands that use the right language without doing the right work. “Direct trade,” “heirloom,” “ceremonial-grade”: these are labels that cost nothing to print on a bag. Backing them up is another matter entirely, and that’s where Cacao Laboratory steps up.
PERC Coffee: A Vibrant Atlanta Coffee Roaster
The Deep Dive Verdict ✅ Who’s behind this? Founded in 2010 by Philip Brown as a one-man operation in Savannah,
Mushroom Coffee: Benefits or a Fad?
As a coffee enthusiast, I have avoided the mushroom coffee trend for a plethora of reasons. Questionable sourcing, fad companies cropping up, and misleading advertising were all reasons I did not partake in beverage. After a deep dive, I’ve changed my mind.
Health Benefits of Drinking Brewing Cacao
Health Benefits of Drinking Brewed Cacao Brewing cacao is blowing up in popularity and for good reason. It’s exceptionally healthy,
Best Quality Chocolate to Buy (Updated 2025)
Read about companies I’ve spent countless hours researching so you don’t have to. Many of them will be family owned or small businesses that lack the resources to rapidly grow. If you want good quality, ethical chocolate, start here.
“Healthiest Chocolate” on Google is a Scam
Trust Issues with Top Google Results One of the driving motivators for creating this blog was this very example I’m
Hydrangea Coffee Roasters
Hydrangea Coffee Roasters Hydrangea Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster out of Berkeley, California. Their artwork is unique and
Buying High Quality Cocoa Powder is Challenging
Looking at the top listings for “organic cacao powder” in Amazon, do you have any idea which are good? There’s lots of buzzwords and lots of healthy looking packaging. The results are going to surprise you. Click to find out which I have vetted to be a good purchase.
Best Cocoa Powders to Buy in 2026
A highly curated and consistently updated list of recommended cocoa powders that I have personally researched and meet my rigorous standards.
How to buy a good cocoa powder.
Every cocoa powder company is going to tell you how organic they are and what sets them apart from the other hundreds of cocoa powders. Let’s see what DOES make them different.
Cocoa vs Cacao: Everyone Gets It WRONG!
Yup, I said it. Everyone gets this wrong ranging from dietitians, culinary experts, industry insiders, and consumers. I have seen a couple instances of articles getting it correctly, but it’s quite rare. There is no uniformity on what consists of cocoa and cacao, and you’ll hear so many different answers that you’ll walk away worse off than when you started.
Captain’s Chocolate: From Costa Rica to Wisconsin
Captain’s Chocolate is a micro-business that ethically sources their chocolate from Costa Rica, which is quite rare from my research, as oppose to Peru, Ecuador, and African countries. They test their product and post the results, which can be seen here. They are probably the smallest business I’ll be reviewing. This is the first chocolate company I’ve seen that contains no lead.
Deep Dive
Embue Cacao: Good Intentions, Mixed Execution
Embue Cacao checks a lot of boxes that matter. Direct-trade sourcing from Guatemalan Q’eqchi’ farming communities, 1% For the Planet membership, a partnership with a legitimate reforestation nonprofit, and bean-to-bar processing done in-house in Vermont. On paper, this is exactly the kind of small-batch company that Consumer Deep Dive exists to highlight.
Deep Dive
Hu Chocolate: Behind The Chocolate
Hu Chocolate is one of the best examples of a terrible company that hits all the trending buzzwords in organic chocolate and renders their meanings useless (just look at that packaging). They test high in heavy metals and will not publicly post their results, they greenwash their customers about it, and there’s no mention of how and where they source their chocolate from. Hu Chocolate was started by wealthy owners that wanted to own a business and they landed on chocolate. That’s about as deep as it goes.
Heavy Metal In Chocolate: Is it Safe?
Chocolate has gotten a bad reputation over the past couple of years, and deservedly so, about the concern of heavy
Jouvay Chocolate: L.A. Burdick’s New Grenadian Company
Jouvay Chocolate is a very small company founded by Larry and Paula Burdick of the famous chocolate company, L.A. Burdick. Ethically sourced and handcrafted from Grenada, it’s hard to beat the story of Jouvay.
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Is Teapigs Tea Good?
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