Cacao paste is a complete, whole bean form of cacao. It retains all the nutritional goodness and spiritual integrity of the cacao bean. Also known as cacao liquor, cacao paste is simply the complete bean that has been fermented, husked, roasted, ground, and solidified to form into a block of cacao. Nothing added, nothing removed. Because of this wholistic process - involving no separation - the cacao maintains the energetics and vibration of oneness and unity.

In contrast, cacao butter and cacao powder are not whole bean products. They are products derived from the cacao bean paste via an extraction and separation process. Cacao butter is created by extracting the cacao fats from the cacao paste using a high-pressure hydraulic press.  The force of the press heats the paste to very high temperatures. The substance remaining once the butter is removed is known as cacao powder. Both products – cacao butter and cacao powder - are less aligned vibrationally, as they’ve undergone a separation process and no longer contain the unified whole expression, and full nutritional value, of the cacao bean.