Drinking cacao changed Matthew Jonas’ life! So much so, he created Good Karma Chocolate with food scientist David Foerstner.
Good Karma Chocolate offers 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 told the Journal. “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.
“When you buy Good Karma, you also know that farmers are getting paid a living wage and the earth is being taken care of, and you’re putting organic products into your system,” Jonas said. “So it’s creating good karma for you and for the world.”
As single-origin chocolate makers, they order the beans, hand roast them and then process, grind and make bars from one origin bean. The three different bars they currently offer are from India, Madagascar and Columbia.
Each bar of chocolate includes little seeds of good karma wisdom; these are quotes from a wide range of people, from the Dalai Lama and Dolly Parton to Anne Frank.
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, however. “They were instant products and heavily flavored and not good,” he said.
So Jonas bought some beans and started experimenting. Then, he reached out to Foerstner, who is also founder and technical director 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 told the Journal. Foerstner replied, “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.”
Foerstner, who had been a foodie and cooked since he was a kid, got into food science by accident. He had a temp job in Nestle’s research and development department more than 30 years ago. They quickly realized he was a super-taster – a person with a higher than average number of taste buds, who could keenly identify flavors and ingredients – so they mentored him on all aspects of food science from chemistry and microbiology to engineering and manufacturing for three and a half years.
“I was trained by the biggest food company in the world,” said Foerstner, who is also founder of Food Forward Consulting. “I was good at it. I liked it … so I stayed with it.”
Foerstner, who went to art school and has a degree in fine art photography, said food science is like traditional darkroom photography. It is all about the process: measurements, trials and writing things down.
“But for food it’s creative, it’s visual and it’s technical,” he said.
Jonas is a serial entrepreneur, who started a marketing company with two partners in the early 2000s, where they worked with the other biggest candy company in the world, M and M Mars.
“They were our client for many years, so I’ve been on the creative and strategy side of things,” Jonas said.
But the real impetus: spreading the word about the benefits of cacao.
“I finally found a drink that I could drink every day,” Jonas said. “It gave me what I needed from what coffee used to do, but it was just so much healthier for me and made me feel a lot better.”
Good Karma’s recipe for drinking cacao is below.
Although Jonas was born a Jew, he did not embrace Judaism until later in life.
“I grew up in a household which was Jewish-affiliated, but not even lox and bagel Jews,” he said. “I chose to be Jewish, when I got married, and when I was going to have a baby, and I wanted to raise her Jewish; I wanted to give her what I didn’t have, which was some foundation.”
Jonas is now married to celebrity chef Katie Chin, and their teen twins have been raised with both their cultures. Jonas and all three of his kids are b’nai mitzvah.
“The first synagogue that I was really a part of was this really robust and vibrant place, and it had so much energy and enthusiasm,” he said. “This chocolate community is a little bit like that – even at the chocolate salons, where you meet other chocolate makers – we’re all passionate about … it.”
He added, “This idea of community and 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.”
Learn more at GoodKarmaCacao.com and follow@GoodKarmaChocolate on Instagram.
For the full conversation, and more matzah brei variations, check out the episode of Taste Buds with Deb at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.
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For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:
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Ceremonial Cacao Drink
Serves: 1
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
A warm, uplifting beverage made from Good Karma Organic 100% Cacao. This ceremonial drink blends rich cacao with aromatic spices and optional sweetness, creating a nourishing ritual to start your day or center your mind.
Ingredients
4–6 squares Good Karma Organic 100% Cacao (or 0.7–1 oz Good Karma Ceremonial Cacao)
½–1 teaspoon Good Karma Ceremonial Spice Blend (Chai or pumpkin spice taste great too)
1 cup water or milk of your choice (almond, oat, dairy, etc.)
Honey or preferred sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the water or milk until hot but not boiling.
- In a mug, add the cacao and spice blend.
- Pour in the hot liquid and stir or froth until smooth and creamy. (A wand frother works beautifully.)
- Sweeten to taste, if desired.
- For a richer version, top with additional warm milk or your favorite creamy beverage.
Optional Alternative
Add 2–6 squares of Cacao to your morning coffee for an extra rich and chocolatey start to the day.
Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.
