From the time it came to my attention in 2017, Maya nut was an obsession for a year until I learned everything that was available to learn. Between the internet and a group of anthropologists focused on Maya culture who I came to know through their work in Belize, the knowledge went from zero to overload quickly. I ordered large quantities of organic roasted, ground Maya nut and tested so many recipes that I can confirm it is a versatile ingredient to savory dishes and deserts, in addition to being a superfood.

I tested it as a beverage as well, thinking of it primarily in terms of its high potassium content, which endurance athletes would appreciate. In this context I mixed it into the blender with fruits and nuts and sometimes yogurt. Good stuff. But I am not an endurance athlete, so I mostly used it in cooking. A variation on mole sauce might have been the best of all the savory dishes, and baked in to brownies was the best sweet use.

I brewed it several times, having heard that some people drink it as a substitute for decaffeinated coffee. But I love coffee and never drink it decaffeinated, so for my own use brewing it was a short-lived experiment. But all that has changed with the discovery or Blue Zones Nicoya, a Costa Rica-based company that has taken all these ideas and run with them. And they are going the distance. Authentica will help them get there.