Blue Lily USDA Organic Cacao Powder -2 lb (907g), Cocoa Chocolate Substitute, Unsweetened Cocoa Powder from Superior Criollo Beans, Perfect for Keto, Baking & Ice Cream, Vegan, Gluten Free & Non GMO

Chocolate liqueur is pretty expensive and the quality varies wildly from brand to brand. Couple years ago started making my own version of orange liqueur for the same reason. With experience my stuff now turns out better than Grand Marnier or Cointreau, and $17 per liter instead of $50 a liter. Why do it? Because I love orange chocolate coffee.At first, used a packet of Swiss Miss Dark Choc Sensation and a splash of orange liqueur, add some creamer then fill 20 ounces of hot coffee. Mmmmmmmmm. But then, success with the orange stuff got me to thinking... can I make something better than Swiss Miss DCS? Started with a survey of hot cocoa recipes around the 'net. Basic idea: cocoa powder, confectioner sugar, salt and powdered milk. I don't use the milk, since I'm putting 1/2 + 1/2 into the coffee anyway.First attempt was with Hershey's Cocoa powder. No sir, the "dutch" processing leaves it with a chalky mouthfeel and a chemically taste. Next tried a half-pound bag of cocoa from Navitas. Not bad, a step up, but had to keep adjusting the sugar level upwards to overcome bitterness.Did some research on different subspecies of the cacao tree, which led me to criollo cacao, then Amazon, bless its little heart, led me to this Blue Lily powder. It's organic yeah blah blah, but what made me buy it was that's it's made from criollo choco beans. Your whole life, you've been eating chocolate made from forastero cacao beans. Those are like 90% of the global crop. About 2% of the Earth's cacao is this stuff, criollo cacao. Only grows in cacao's native range near the Andes mountains, yields are lower than the commercial subspecies, criollo is just a tougher tree to cultivate.So it's not cheap. Why pay more for criollo? It's like velvet chocolate. It's like you could make a velvet hat out of chocolate and eat it. I'd eat my hat all day. This one is $18.49 for 2 pounds, similar ones are $11 for one pound. Trust me, if you buy 1 pound of this stuff, you'll wish you'd bought more, so just spring for the 2-pounder in the first place. And the zip-lock at the top actually works, unlike some other packaging "solutions."Most cocoa recipes call for 60% sugar and 40% cocoa. With the Navitas cocoa I could get to 50%-50% before it's too bitter. But this Blue Lily stuff? Man oh man, the batch I'm using now is 40% sugar and 60% cocoa, and I think I could push it higher next batch. It blends in better so there's no chocosludge at the bottom of the coffee, and simply no bitterness at all.So now, the project is to find out how to make chocolate liqueur. If I can just add that to my orange liqueur, then won't have to monkey around making cocoa mix at all. With this supremely amazing cocoa powder, don't think I can fail. Found a book from 1898 with eight different recipes for cocoa extracts and liqueurs. One of them calls for cacao nibs, but the other 7 use cocoa powder, and now it's 100% certain which cocoa powder I'm going to use to try making them.

This cocao powder taste delicious. I only use it for my smoothie. I haven’t baked with it. The only reason I buy it is to put in my smoothie. I have tried a lot and this one is the best. I have liked the other ones but this one tops the cake and the price is great. I will be purchasing again.

Nice dark raw cacao powder that is tied for my favorite with Divine Organics brand. It taste a little different then Divine organics, just a bit more deep. ```i love the fine powder that dissolves readily in my raw smoothies and raw dark chocolate recipe~(using coconut oil and raw honey). I like that my purchase helps support a small business. The price is great. It is hard to reseal the ziplock bag, but I find this true of any raw cacao powder so I just pour it in a glass jar and store in the freezer.I am curious to try some of their other products.

This tastes great, not the very best one I have ever had for raw/organic cacao powders...but, pretty close. It is a fair price for a good quality product. I would definitely recommend it!

In a cup I add hot water, 1 or2 tablespoon of cacao and a teaspoon coconut butter.. delicious..

This is my 4th time ordering the 2lb bag of criollo specific powder. I am very satisfied w the aroma and taste profile. I either use this in my morning smoothie or I use a nonspecific bean variety. I don't just use this as my only cocoa but like it in my cocoa inventory. Remember, organic is what your cells want and this way of farming is not damaging our ecosystem with pesticides and herbicides. Buy organic, not from Chn they r fraudulent, as often as possible because health is your most precious asset or grow what you can yourself

High quality cacao with a smooth texture, flavorful, and a gentle, not overpowering bitterness. I really like your chart comparing Lilly to other products. I like fair trade, non alkalized, organic, tested cocoa. Not many live up to all- and you are reasonably priced!! Lilly has become my favorite cocoa on Amazon hands down!

If this is your first cacao powder, this product is priced right and has a mild taste of dark chocolate with hints of coffee. The chocolate flavor is light and ever-so-slightly bitter as cocoa generally is. I use cacao powder to make agave sweetened coconut oil chocolate bars and Blue Lily's product mixes easily and smoothly. However, if you're the curious type and cost is not a determining factor, you might be interested in the following results. In a side-by-side comparison to a more expensive cacao powder such as Fine Natural's Best Cacao Powder at $17.94 per lb, Blue Lily's product scores much lower in the area of depth and richness of chocolate flavor, as well as the sweet characteristics that definitely shine through in the more expensive brand. Now granted I've only tried four brands: Viva Labs (bitter but acceptable), Morning Pep (awful and did not mix well), Fine Natural's (the best so far) and Blue Lily (good but not great). Personally, I think I'll continue to buy a more expensive product from now on as this product lacks the complexities I'm looking for.