We have been dying to try, "Cheerful Buddha's: Cacao Bliss Hot Chocolate." Always on the look out for foods and drinks offering health benefits in addition to (hopefully) being tasty, we opted for Cheerful Buddha's adaptogenic mushroom hot chocolate. Intrigued to explore whether we felt any benefits and whether it was worth the money.
Mushrooms are making a name for themselves in the wonderful world of superfood nutrition. Although they have been around for centuries, fungi finds itself in fashionable company alongside other adaptogens such as ashwagandha and turmeric, all of whom are enjoying their 5-minutes of fame!
Proven to offer a host of benefits, mushroom are rightly deemed a super food: "a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being." Source: Oxford Dictionary. We have tried other adaptogenic mushrooms, including the Dirtea brand, but this is the first time trying out a mushroom infused hot chocolate containing lion's mane and chaga.
Price: at £12.99 per pot, and supposedly containing approximately 20 servings, this stuff isn't cheap! Yet comparative to other mushroom hot chocolates, it's about mid-range. It's roughly 64 pence per serving however, 1 tablespoon is 15ml, and the pot contains 150 grams, therefore it's more like 10 servings, at £1.28 if we've done our mathematics correctly!
Taste: the taste is rich with an undertone of cinnamon. We all agreed that the overall taste was good, and even those who aren't partial to cinnamon felt the addition didn't overpower the taste. We mixed our cacao bliss with oat milk and maple syrup, which elevated the drink and made it that bit more extra! We recommend adding a healthy sweetener to offset an otherwise slightly bitter, earthy taste.
Nutrients: as hot chocolates go, this is a healthier option as it doesn't glucose syrup, any added sugar or sweetener, all of which are commonly found in hot chocolate powders. If you aren't aware of the difference between cacao and cocoa, then think of cacao as the brown bread of the chocolate beans, leaving cocoa the white bread (and we all know what that means!)
Cacao contains more nutrients including fibre, than their processed sister, cocoa. Cacao is rich in antioxidants, flavonoids and minerals including iron, magnesium and maganese to name a few. Because of these benefits, cacao bliss is a really nutritious option for a healthy hot tipple. Considering many of us lack essential minerals in our diet, then this hot chocolate might go some way to increase our stores!
Impact: we were unanimous that just one cup of Cheerful Buddha cacao bliss, made us feel energised. While those of us feeling particularly low in energy the day we tried it, felt the drink had worked "like coffee" but without the dreaded caffeine low.
Do we recommend it: We recognise this couldn't be the drink of choice for most families and individuals as the price is comparatively high. However, we do recommend it either as a treat for oneself (self care rules around here!) or as a gift for your hot chocolate loving bestie because it's delicious, the packaging is really cute and who doesn't like a delicious and healthy hot choccie!!
Explore Cheerful Buddha's site here!