PICK MY BRAIN
I have been working with cacao in Costa Rica since 2009. This is an opportunity to go indepth with complex questions about Cacao, chocolate and farming in Costa Rica and the world of chocolate. You will have my full attention and the experience that comes with 26 years of living and working in Costa Rica.
I am also offering this service to those who would like helpful tips and information on moving to Costa Rica or hope to offer retreat services here.
$50/hour by phone or in person, can combine it with a tasting session also.
Contact me via whats app to arrange:
+506 8383-5910
about
Juliet Davey
MamaCacao
as
My passion is 10 million years old, was used as a currency, is a superfood, has worldwide fame, is used for ritual and healing and has been consumed for 5,000 years. It comes from a tree which grows around me on this vibrant, jungle-dense hillside in Costa Rica and is one of the most loved foods in the world.
The cacao tree; Theobroma Cacao, translates as “food of the gods”. If ever a food deserves to be considered divine it is this.
My chocolate-making process starts on the farm with the trees. Once harvested the precious cacao pods are carefully fermented, dried and delicately roasted. The beans are then ground into a warm, flowing, shiny paste over two days and eventually alchemised into bars.
It was impossible to find any decent chocolate here when I first came to Costa Rica in the late 90s. Trees grew in the region but the only chocolate available imported, cheap and unhealthy. I was determined to satiate my own need for great tasting chocolate so I started making rustic chocolate truffles in 2009 from trees my friend found growing wild on his farm. I sold at the local farmer’s market, to bakeries, hotels and coffee shops.
Little did I know that this passion would become my calling. 11 years later and I am more invested than ever in this path that I have chosen. These days I am better known as Mamá Cacao – the name of my brand. I make small batches of fine chocolate bars as well as a range of truffles, cacao drinks and artisanal cacao crafts. But that is just a small part of my working day.
Alongside chocolate-making, I now guide cacao farm tours, run retreats, offer cacao education, hold workshops & curate chocolate-themed events.
Through unethical business practices adopted by industrial chocolate companies, the business of cacao has historically had dark associations with child labour, slavery and environmental degradation. Whilst, we cannot undo the past we can work together towards a better present and future: I am committed to paying farmers more than a fair wage for cacao, empowering women in agriculture, preserving rare tree genetics, reforestation, healthy & environmentally-kind farming practices and supporting and sustaining Costa Rican cacao culture and traditions.
“There is nothing better than a friend,
unless it is a friend with chocolate.”
- Linda Grayson -
our cacao beans
Directly sourced from the producers
From the 20+ years of living and traveling around the beautiful landscape of Costa Rica I've developed many relationships and knowledge of the best cacao for making fine chocolate. This is no easy task, because of the many challenges related to properly growing cacao, the post-harvest processing, storage and transportation of these magical beans. Working so closely with the producers allows for direct feedback and support for their skilled efforts and in the end makes for amazing chocolate.
