How one block of cacao brought me to Lake Atitlán

Lake Atitlán and one of its volcanoes under a cloudy sky — Lake Atitlán, Guatemala.

Hawaiʻi, then Austin

Sometimes one small moment can change the direction of your story. That’s what happened to me. My life began to change, almost magically, when my first block of cacao came into my hands. I bought it on Maui from a wonderful person who, without knowing it, played an important part in everything that followed. The label read Lake Atitlán, Guatemala.

From that moment, my life turned in a new direction. A trip took me to Austin, and instead of flying home, I flew to Guatemala, to the lake.

Our own block today, wrapped and sealed at the lake.
Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

Even before I decided to go, I felt that this place meant something important to me. That happens only a few times in a life.

When I arrived, the lake, the community and everyone around me met me with so much support and acceptance. I felt I belonged there. The connection with the place and its people came easily, and it felt wonderful. That’s how the story that led me to cacao began.

The highlands around the lake, early in the morning.
Learning

We started by trying and learning on our own, one batch after another. Midway, I went to a farm near Lanquín, in Alta Verapaz, that has worked with cacao for a long time, together with many Maya families. They showed me very traditional ways of making cacao, and I’m endlessly happy that I got to touch them. That farm is where I learned; it is not where our beans come from.

The traditional way, on a stone metate, at the farm near Lanquín where I learned. Shared with permission. We grind ours in a melanger.
With gratitude

I’m deeply grateful to the people who keep the traditional way alive, working with cacao together with Maya families. I was lucky to be there, to work beside them and to see how they relate to cacao, how they do it all, and how authentic it is.

Sorting the beans together at the farm near Lanquín where I learned. Shared with permission.
Alpar and Katya

ALPAKA is two names folded into one: Alpar and Katya. We met at the lake, became close friends, and the cacao project grew out of that friendship — friendship, curiosity, and a shared love of making things with our hands.

At the pot in our workshop.
Why Guatemala

We chose Guatemala with our hearts first. It also carries a deeper meaning: Guatemala is part of the historic heartland of Mesoamerican cacao traditions, where people have grown, shared and honoured cacao for thousands of years. We try to work in a way that respects that history, and we write about it carefully in a short history of cacao.

Young cacao trees in a shaded nursery in Guatemala.
From the lake to your cup

We buy fermented, dried cacao beans from Guatemala and do the rest ourselves, in small batches at our workshop by the lake: sorting, roasting, winnowing, grinding and pouring. I live in Hawaiʻi: the finished blocks travel from Lake Atitlán to Pāhoa on the Big Island, where I ship them across the US.

Blended with hot water: a cup to share.