Good Karma, Chocolate & Ceremonial Cacao Drink Recipe with Matthew Jonas & David Foerstner

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Matthew Jonas and David Foerstner, co-founders of Good Karma Chocolate. Good Karma offers small batch bean-to-bar chocolate, drinking cacao, cacao blend-ins, and plenty of positive vibes.

"Dave and I share a passion for all things dark chocolate," Jonas explains. "Most of the [bean-to-bar and cacao] brands out there are very serious, and we thought, when you get a chance to taste really good chocolate in your life, that is a moment of joy."

Jonas said that while they are serious about how they make it - and are ethical in its production - they also want people to feel good when they eat it, to really enjoy the experience.

Jonas had been seeking an alternative to drinking coffee, when, two years ago, he discovered drinking cacao. He didn't like the products that were commercially available, so Jonas bought some beans and began experimenting. Then, he reached out to Foerstner, a food scientist and founder of Food Forward Consulting, to see if he wanted to partner on making a cacao drinking product.

"I think your exact words were, 'You need to talk me out of doing this chocolate,'" Foerstner recalls. His reply, "I'm the wrong guy to talk you out of things. … I'm the guy that makes you do things or helps you do things."

Foerstner said he'd do it on one condition: "I've always wanted to make chocolate."

Matthew Jonas and David Foerstner talk about Good Karma Chocolate's origin story, their mission, and their recipe for making - and customizing - ceremonial drinking cacao, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcast. Jonas also shares the parallels he has found between the chocolate and the Jewish communities.

"This idea of … trying to make a better impact on the world, leave it better than I found it, I take that from my experience of … choosing to become active in my Judaism," he says.

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