Holiday Tour Day 17: The Chocolate Taoist and Chocopunto
The Tao of Cacao
The best things in life often come in small packages. Chocolate truffles in a little box. A hug from a friend when you’re down. Or a short phrase with deep roots, like this one:
The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.
This quote is attributed to Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher credited with writing the Tao Te Ching, “The Way and Its Power,” in 500 BC which formed the foundation for the practice and philosophy of taoism (or daoism).
Today’s Tour stop is short, but chocolatey sweet, and with lots to ponder.
Lao Tzu once said, “Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”
Especially for those of us who write or create, these three words pack so much meaning. Simplicity means following a single or a primary thread, writing less but with more meaning. Patience is a bucket of water we’ve all spilled, most likely numerous times! And yet, like water, it is one of those values in life we all need more of, for ourselves and for one another. The same can be said of compassion, twin sister to empathy. If you cannot flow along with a river, do not expect to be able to swim.
Today’s pairing is simple, but meaningful.
TCM Holiday Tour Day 17 pairing:
THE CHOCOLATE TAOIST and CHOCOPUNTO
Most of you know Diamond-Michael from his Substack Great Books, Great Minds, and his café-inspired posts on Notes. There is another side to Diamond-Michael… hidden in his very name is a prism that splits the light of Substack into a spectrum of multicolored rays. And one of those rays is colored chocolate.
But it’s not the kind of chocolate you eat—this is the Tao of Cacao, the poetic interplay of a philosophy of life based on simplicity and harmony, with the rich complexity and abundance of a 10-million-year-old proto tree and its fruit.
And Diamond-Michael is the Chocolate Taoist. He doesn’t know it yet but he has just sparked the beginning of this rather unexpected fusion I’ll be exploring in 2024.
Please welcome
and .
The Cacao Muse: Pleasure to have you with us Diamond-Michael. Tell us about all the work you do on Substack.
Diamond-Michael Scott: Great Books, Great Minds and my other affiliated Substacks are all driven by my inner mission of igniting a new world of community, connection, and conversation, one book at a time.
It just so happens that one of my Substacks is entitled “The Chocolate Taoist,” which is a chronicle of my posts leading up to my book being published next year, on the impact that philosophical Taoism has had on my life. This book, however, has nothing to do with chocolate per se. Rather, it’s a play on words that highlights my journey as a Black Taoist.
Birgitte: When I first connected with you here on Substack, your Chocolate Taoist newsletter caught my eye even before Great Books, Great Minds. I’ve always resonated on a deep level with the Tao. The idea that all humans and all living things should exist in balance with the universe is a profoundly appealing, and honestly, logical one. This would of course suggest that all wars are illogical, but I digress…
TCM: What manner of chocolate do you prefer?
Diamond-Michael: Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares—I am a sucker for these largely because I’m a fan of the high quality beans Ghirardelli uses to produce them. They are perfectly fermented and naturally dried in a way that gives them their quality taste.
Birgitte: I used to love these as well, once upon a time. Sadly, when you flip it over to read the ingredients, it’s suddenly a lot less appetizing. You can certainly have high quality beans, but when you blend them with things that take away from their inherent flavor and are not good for your body, you lose more than just flavor.
Birgitte: Typically, the first ingredient in a list is the one most copious. Seeing sugar first in this list gives me pause—in effect, there is more sugar in this square than any other ingredient. Now the oils and syrups. Peppermint oil is to be expected; it is a mint square after all, but palm oil, tapioca syrup, and corn syrup have no role to play in high quality chocolate. And water? I’ve never seen water listed as an ingredient in a chocolate bar. What are they trying to dilute? I was relieved not to see TBHQ or PGPR listed; those are some of the worst offenders—for more information on these two and more, here’s a breakdown of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of chocolate ingredients.
More importantly however, in my estimation and humble opinion, Ghirardelli is not following the principle of the Tao of Cacao. Their ingredients are out of balance with the human body and with each other, there are too many, and they are too complex.
I’d love to have you try a bar of Chocopunto by Mabel. This bar has three ingredients. Three. Cacao paste, cacao butter, and sugar. That’s it. No lecithin, no oils, no syrups, no gums, nothing else. That’s the way it should be!
As far as dark chocolate goes, this is on the low side in terms of percentage, but what I find interesting is that even with the low percentage, it still tastes like dark chocolate. That tells you something about the punch that cacao packs.
Chocolate: Chocopunto Dark Chocolate
Percentage: 62%
Origin: Dominican Republic
Ingredients: Organic cacao bean paste, cane sugar, organic cacao butter
Price: $varies1
Tasting Notes: Well balanced cacao-butter-sugar blend, and a richer taste than the 55% which I also tried. Overall, the bar expresses nutty and floral overtones. A little light on the intensity that I personally love, but that will be perfect for those who like milk chocolate. This bar is like a milk chocolate without the milk.
TCM: If you had the power to do so, what would you change about the chocolate industry?
Diamond-Michael: Greater attention given to addressing child labor, human trafficking, and slavery practices on farms of Western Africa and Brazil that supply cocoa to international giants such as Hershey’s, Mars, and Nestlé, as well as many smaller chocolate companies.
Birgitte: Amen to that, brother. The first step to change is awareness. The second is intention, and the third is action. If there is one thing I hope to accomplish through this Tour, is to inspire chocolate lovers to take those three steps.
We close with a quote from Diamond-Michael’s recent reflection on the year 2023:
“From this eastern philosophical lens, we learn the importance of harmony, balance, and acceptance in navigating life's storms. As we bring our plane in for a landing, marking the end of a challenging year, these philosophies remind us to embrace the journey, learn from our experiences, and prepare for a smoother flight ahead.”
COMING UP! DAY 18 of the TCM HOLIDAY TOUR
What happens when a waitress, florist, actress, singer, dancer, director, choreographer, specialty food store manager, cooking class instructor, personal chef, Victoria’s Secret retail associate, Segway tour guide, theater camp counselor, farmstand worker, hardware store clerk, church office administrator, and theater box office manager walk into a bar?
Only one person walks out.
But it’s not what you think.
Tune in tomorrow for the next stop on our Holiday Tour to find out what happened to all these people.
At this writing, the chocopunto.com website is down for maintenance. Some resellers have $11 on their websites for past sales of Chocopunto bars, but I don’t want to quote third-party prices here if they are not current.
"Tao of Cacao" has a really cool ring to it!
Not to throw clod water on chocolate lovers, but as Birgitte points out, watch the ingredients. That Ghirardelli bar has palm oil ingredient which has led to massive forest loss and habitat destruction, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia where forests are clear-cut destroying the homes of orangutans. These forests provide crucial carbon dioxide traps. I'm a crunchy peanut butter lover and can't find it without palm oil locally. Otherwise, enjoy your indulgence!