Today I would like to tell you a story. It is about a Peruvian cocoa bean. Or better yet: It is telling you its story itself...

Immerse yourself in the journey of the cocoa bean from the tree to the workshop and into your cup. 

 The Beginning of a Journey

The Ripening of the Cocoa Bean

What is happening here? Hello?!

CRACK!

Out of the shell

My beloved fruit shell takes a blow. CRACK! And another one. Suddenly I see light! Stop, I can see? Apparently so! Oh my god, and I thought I was born without eyesight. Fascinating! Woooooooow.....

It is getting brighter and brighter around me. And suddenly I see it - the jungle! So incredibly green and lush. Boy, oh boy!

Ah, so that's what humans look like. Ha, I thought they would be bigger, with all the noise they always make here in the jungle. One of them is holding me and my pod family in his hand. In the other, he has a knife - I wonder what he wants with that? Hopefully only something good! That was my last thought. Then I fainted.

Into the mouth

Quite a lot of change in a very short time for such a fine bean as I am. You see, I belong to a very rare variety that does not exist anywhere else in the world. I am primarily characterized by my fair complexion and a very fine "flavor profile."

Experts say it is a wild dance of pecan, cherry, and raspberry. And at the same time, I am so low in acid that I also cut a fine figure in an alkaline diet.

But back to my adventure!

While unconscious, I underwent quite a journey, or so I was told afterwards. It's a shame I couldn't experience it consciously. First, the climate-friendly transport through the jungle. Afterward, the fermentation and the voyage across the Atlantic. The latter was probably quite boring, so it was likely not so bad to sleep through it.

It wasn't until the port of Amsterdam that I came to my senses. Awakened by the shouts of euphoric dockworkers. I find myself in a gigantically large, translucent sack. Surrounded by countless other sacks, full of lovingly grown cocoa beans, just like me.

Arrival at the Cocoa Workshop

I realize the purpose of this journey. The old, wise beans have often told of the prophecy that befalls only the tastiest cocoa beans. The legend says that those which shine the most beautifully and taste the richest find their way across the "big pond." Furthermore, they said, these chosen beans are brought to a very special place. The workshop.

I can still remember exactly that this last word—The Workshop—was always pronounced extremely dramatically by the old and wise. Almost reverently.

Nice fairy tale, I used to think... Was this now to be my fate? Am I one of the chosen ones? But am I not just a perfectly normal, not-that-special bean? One of many! Do I even deserve this glory? And what if I disappoint someone? If I am underqualified?

1,000 thoughts race through my bean head. One worse than the other, and none of them remotely helpful. Eventually, after I had examined every doubt from every angle six times over, it became clear to me that my mental drivel was in no way contributing to my situation.

The fact was: I am on my way to a very special place. The Shangri-La of cocoa beans. Somewhere in the depths of Lower Franconia, as the legend says. And what can I do about it?

Absolutely nothing. Nada. Niente. So what to do? Well then exactly that: Nothing at all.

The second transformation

So I now spend the rest of my odyssey in professional nothingness. Called Wu Wei by the ancient Chinese. The art of non-doing in English. Easier said than done, for anyone who has ever tried to do nothing for a longer period of time quickly realizes how unusual and impossible that is. How deep the patterns of doing and making are ingrained within us. After all, there is always something to do. Always an expectation to live up to. If not one's own, then at least someone else's.

After the first, biological transformation through fermentation and drying, I am now experiencing my second transformation. That of my mind. Becoming aware of my inner world, my thoughts and feelings.

A world unto itself, with mountains of emotion and valleys of calm. Filled by lakes of tears and forests of love. Here and there a bird of ecstasy chirps, echoing all the way to the fields of hope, where fruits of gratitude are harvested anew every year. Sown in trust for tomorrow and grown in devotion to the moment. On my journey through Holland and Germany, a deep understanding comes over me. For myself, my fellow beans, and the whole world in its complexity. With the ultimate realization that it took this incredibly unlikely chain of circumstances to bring me to this unique point in the history of the cocoa bean. This conclusion gave me the courage to accept the rest of my adventure with my shell held high and an open heart core. By doing so, giving the course of things the chance to turn this oh-so-short bean life into a firework of uniqueness. All signs point to letting go, and it is in this feeling that I reach my destination - The Workshop.

What the elders forgot to mention was this suspiciously cheerful guy who greeted me and my bean family.

He had that "Oh yeah, you’re finally here!" look on his face. That puts me on edge, and that's okay. I’ve learned to manage my emotions.

Woohoo.... We were treated to some welcoming words and beautiful, rhythmic music. Every now and then, the mysterious stranger would even perform a dance for us. I could have done without it, but it certainly didn't bother me either.

After a short while, I noticed that more and more of my siblings were being taken out of their lovely, warm jute sack. Rumors were circulating about a gentle roasting, which I would soon experience myself in my own shell.

And what an aroma! It reminded me a little of the film Chocolat with Johnny Depp. Just a little less French. The roasting turns out to be just 20 minutes of hanging out in some properly hot air.

The homogenization of the cocoa beans

Afterward, the process of so-called homogenization began. Becoming one was the order of the day. Out of the shell and from coarse to fine. Until I found myself in a liquid, smooth, and above all, delicious mass. I like to call it the universe or cocoa consciousness. Within this mass, there was no form. No you and I, just being. Very calming and somehow cool. It was clear to me that I (=the universe) couldn't remain liquid forever. Everything is in a state of flux—including my state of being. And so it happened that I found my temporary form at a crisp 7°C. In the shape of sacred geometry.

Blessed with the talent to bring the consciousness that I now embody to people, I was ready.

• Ready to taste.
• Ready to impact.
• Ready to nourish.
• Ready to merge.

I knew it could take at most a week before I reached the very person who needed me, appreciated me, and required help with their own personal transformation.

And that is exactly how it would be. But the story of human transformation is quite different. And not for today. Only one thing I can say in advance—whether bean or human—there is no better time to be on this planet than now. And above all, there is no better time to grasp this exactly than NOW. Therefore, I, cocoa bean, invite you, human, to feel this.

Perhaps with a delicious and consciousness-raising cocoa drink of your choice.

In chocolatey love,

Your Peruvian cocoa bean