Nibbed
barista hot cacao
Nibbed Hot Cacao
Healthy, Calming, Coffee Alternative with Functional Benefits
Driven by customer demand, we're thrilled to introduce Nibbed Organic Hot Cacao for Baristas. Customers have increasingly requested a healthy hot cacao option when they visit cafes.
Nibbed Hot Cacao offers a sophisticated alternative to overly sweet hot chocolate, perfect for those who don't drink coffee or are looking for a more balanced morning or afternoon pick-me-up.
Why Cafes Love
Barista Organic Hot Cacao
- Unique Offering: Expand your menu with a healthy, trendy option for customers seeking an alternative to coffee, matcha, or sugary hot chocolate.
- Easy Preparation: Pre-grated cacao in convenient 500g pouches ensures effortless scooping and portion control for busy baristas.
- Not cocoa powder! It’s 100% pure cacao, retaining the cacao butter - making it rich, dark and full of flavour.
- Packed with health benefits including energy, mood, focus & stress relief
How To Make
what you'll need
20g Nibbed Cacao
(around 2.5tbsp)
+
3oz (80ml) Oat milk
(coconut milk also works well)
+
3.5 oz (100ml) Hot water
+
Optional extras
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp chilli flakes
For best results
How To Make Barista Hot Cacao
- Put all the ingredients into milk jug
- Steam everything together in the jug, ensure the temperature reaches at least 80°C so that the cacao melts and mixes entirely into the milk
- Pour into cup
Hot Tips
Not to replace hot choc on your menu - it’s a different drink: we suggest calling it ‘Nibbed Hot Cacao’.
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Hot cacao is not a sweet drink aimed at kids - it’s dark and rich and enjoyed mostly by adults for its taste and health benefits.
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Offer sweetener like maple syrup or honey so the customer can choose to sweeten if they wish.
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The reason we suggest half oat milk / half water is so that it doesn’t taste too milky, and the taste of the cacao is richer and stands out.
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It’s crucial that the cacao melts and blends/ froths well into the liquid, hence why we suggest at least 80°C temp and to steam in the jug together. Otherwise there will be unmelted cacao bits.
It's actually good for you
Benefits of Drinking Pure Hot Cacao
Sustained Energy: Provides a natural boost thanks to Theobromine, a gentler stimulant than caffeine.
Stress Relief: Rich in magnesium, which helps regulate stress hormones and promotes relaxation.
Gut Health: Packed with fibre (30%!), aiding digestion and promoting gut health.
Focus & Clarity: High in antioxidants (flavonoids) and neurotransmitter compounds that can help to improve cognitive function and memory.
Mood Booster: Contains natural mood enhancers like PEA (the "love chemical") and Anandamide (the "bliss chemical").
Radiant Skin: Rich in antioxidants to fight free radicals and support a healthy glow.
Improved Circulation: Theobromine helps pump blood, promoting overall heart health
Please see more info on health benefits and why cacao is so great on our learn page.
How is Hot Cacao a Coffee Alternative?
We all know coffee packs a punch thanks to caffeine, a stimulant that fires up your nervous system. That's why too much can lead to the jitters.
But did you know cacao has its own stimulant called theobromine? Unlike caffeine, theobromine is gentler on your system. It acts as a cardiovascular stimulant, helping blood flow to your heart – hence the nickname "heart-opener" for cacao. Theobromine provides a calmer, steadier energy boost compared to coffee's intense jolt followed by a crash.
FAQ
This is not thin, sugary cocoa powder! Our hot cacao uses pure, minimally processed organic cacao (that we have made from bean to bar). Unlike cocoa powder (which often has added sugar and loses its richness during processing),
Nibbed Hot Cacao is packed with flavour and healthy fats. This keeps the natural creaminess you crave, so your drink won't be watery or bland.
Cacao is the purest form of chocolate, it's the OG superfood. It's been somewhat abused over the years to be made into super sweet, overly-processed chocolate. But in its purest form, cacao is highly nutritious and so good for us! We're bringing it back to its roots, and serving it up just like the Aztecs and Mayans used to enjoy it - as a hot cacao drink.
Based in Galway's BIA Innovator Campus, we're passionate organic, bean-to-bar cacao producers. We meticulously control every step of the process, from the raw cacao bean to the finished product, ensuring the highest quality and flavour in every bar.
We source organic cacao beans from social enterprises in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, where we pay a high farm-gate price to ensure everyone in the supply chain is paid fairly.
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We're Lisa & Anna (female founders and an aunt-niece duo). Read more about how we started here.
Our cacao beans have been tested and they have 0.22% caffeine, which is less than a decaf coffee.
The main stimulant in cacao is Theobromine. Read more about why we're calling 'cacao the new coffee' here.
Like a rich, dark hot chocolate.
For some it will taste quite bitter. This depends on where your tastebuds sit on the sweet-bitter spectrum.
If you're used to eating very sweet things, you add sweetener to tea/coffee and you don't tend to eat bitter foods then you will probably find cacao very bitter.
But if you're used to eating dark chocolate and not too much sweet stuff, you're more than likely going to find the cacao quite smooth and not too bitter at all.
If you do have a sweeter tooth, we'd recommend adding sweetener to your hot cacao or making it with all oat milk as that's naturally quite sweet.
But we do advise not to add too much sweetener. We, as a culture, need to stop sugarcoating everything (in our opinion :b)
Want to Serve Nibbed at your Café?
Fill out the form with info about your café / restaurant and we'll get in touch with you.