Process
Washed, not fermented.
Why THRUM
The reason is in the cup.
100% washed Oaxacan cacao, selected for a dark, full-bodied drink. Nothing added to sweeten or flavor the base. The only proof that matters is whether you want another cup.
The short facts
Origin
San Felipe de León, Oaxaca.
Base
100% cacao.
Flavor
Vivid, herbal, full-bodied.
The short answer
This cacao was never trying to become a chocolate bar.
Most cacao is fermented to develop the flavors people expect in a bar.
THRUM’s cacao takes a different path. It is cacao lavado: washed rather than fermented, from Oaxaca, where cacao has been drunk for centuries.
That leaves a more vivid, herbal, astringent bean. Too bold for a bar. In this lot, those qualities turn into depth and unusually full body in the cup.
We chose it for the cup, not because “unfermented” makes a good story.
Why it is rare
A small harvest from backyard gardens.
Oaxaca’s cacao harvest is small, and much of it comes from backyard gardens rather than plantations.
THRUM’s current cacao comes from San Felipe de León, a village in the Sierra Norte, where growers organize to fill orders together.
That sourcing matters because the cup depends on this cacao, not on a generic commodity profile.
The part a cheaper bag cannot answer
You’re not just buying cacao. You’re buying this cup.
A commodity bag stops at the ingredient. THRUM makes choices all the way to the drink.
Source: a specific washed Oaxacan cacao, chosen for drinking.
Roast: tuned to this cacao, not borrowed from a chocolate-bar profile.
Texture: refined into thin shatter that melts into a smooth cup.
Recipe: one method, adaptable for home and café.
Starting recipes
One cacao. A cup that has to work twice.
Home: break off cacao, fill the mug with hot water or milk, and froth. Make it stronger or lighter until it is yours.
Café: start around 24–25 g per drink, or batch before service and pour to order. Liquid, sweetness, milk and service style are set at the tasting.
The home cup and café cup should taste like the same cacao. The exact recipe can flex by bar, but the identity of the cup cannot.
Preparation notes →Loyalty
Cacao is the category. THRUM has to earn being the cup you want.
We do not expect you to stay because the packaging is prettier or the origin story sounds noble.
THRUM has to taste recognizably good. It has to be easy to make again. The café cup and the home cup have to taste like the same cacao. And the sourcing has to stay disciplined enough that you trust what arrives next.
If another cacao does that better for you, buy it.
Our job is to make that a difficult decision.
100% cacao
Nothing hiding in the formula.
No sugar. No flavoring. No mushroom blend. No functional powder trying to become the reason you drink it.
Make it dark. Add milk. Sweeten it, add espresso, spice it. The base stays cacao.
The proof
The proof still has to be the cup.
Taste it, then decide whether the source, process, numbers and craft matter to you.
Source-lot lab data will live here when the lab name, test date and report are on file.