Crio Bru is a food brand with an interesting product line: ground cacao that’s brewed like coffee. This means that their drinks are caffeine-free, and the brand claims that their product “Brews Like Coffee” but has the “Benefits of Cacao.”

But what’s the actual difference between coffee grounds and cacao? Is one really healthier than the other? What was our honest experience trying Crio Bru in the place of coffee for a month? And is Crio Bru better or worse than other popular coffee alternatives like MUD\WTR?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we cite research studies on the differences between coffee grounds and cacao, to give our take on whether one is healthier than the other.

We'll also analyze the ingredients in Crio Bru, share our honest experience purchasing and testing this product, and compare Crio Bru to other popular coffee alternatives to pick our winners (and losers).

Key takeaways:

• Ground cacao has many health benefits including cardiovascular support
• Not necessarily healthier than coffee
• We currently recommend Crio Bru

Is Ground Cacao Really Healthier?

Before analyzing the relative health benefits of coffee grounds and cacao, it’s important to explain to readers the difference between the two compounds.

Coffee grounds are made from the seeds of berries from a flowering plant, and cacao beans are found in a fruit derived from the Theobroma cacao tree. This means that coffee grounds and cacao are two different chemical compounds with different nutritional profiles and health effects.

But is one healthier than the other, as suggested by Crio Bru?

Brewed coffee is very well-studied in medical publications, and was shown in a 2018 medical review to improve cardiovascular health, reduce risk of diabetes, reduce risk of cancer and improve symptoms in asthmatic patients.

Coffee consumption may also be associated with weight loss as we documented in our review of Java Burn.

Cacao has also been studied in a number of clinical trials.

Cacao was shown to enhance cognition and improve mood in a 2013 medical review.

A medical review published in the Food and Chemical Toxicology journal found that cacao may reduce the risk of a number of chronic diseases, and may even exert beneficial effects on aging (suggesting an anti-aging effect).

Based on the available research, we don’t believe it’s fair to suggest that coffee or cacao are healthier than the other. Both compounds have substantial health benefits according to medical studies.

Given that coffee contains caffeine which can increase blood pressure, cacao may be a better option for individuals with high blood pressure.

We Tested Crio Bru

As the author of this article, I wanted to try Crio Bru myself to share my thoughts on the taste and overall product effects.

I bought the Nicaragua version from the brand's website and made it instead of coffee to start my morning for the better part of a week.

As someone who eats baking chocolate (which is made from the same ingredient), I was expecting this drink to be highly bitter but it had a surprisingly smooth and rich taste. It tastes and feels like healthy adult hot chocolate.

There are two minor inconveniences:

1. The product opening is too small. You're supposed to use two or more tablespoons per serving and it's hard to even fit a tablespoon in the opening
2. It takes around 10 minutes to prepare according to the instructions on the bag, which is around twice as long as it takes me to make coffee

I didn't notice any particular product effects and it's definitely not stimulatory, but it's a really nice sensory experience in the winter (which is the season I had this).

I wouldn't really compare this product to coffee, but I do plan to purchase and use it in the future given the health benefits and taste.

Overall, I'd rate Crio Bru 9/10.

Crio Bru Ingredient Analysis

Crio Bru sells flavored and unflavored versions of their products.

From a health perspective, we would recommend the unflavored versions. The ingredient list below is from Crio Bru’s “Nicaragua – Medium Roast” product:

Cacao is the only ingredient in this product, and it’s organically-derived which may provide additional health benefits. 

Organic coffee was shown to have higher levels of bioactive compounds in a 2011 clinical trial than conventional coffee. Cacao is a different food product than coffee, so this doesn’t necessarily prove the same effects.

The ingredients in the “Double Chocolate” flavor of Crio Bru are shown below:

Beyond the cacao, there are two flavoring additives. While natural flavors are a healthier option than artificial flavors in our opinion, there are still some toxicity concerns regarding natural flavoring additives according to a medical review, as we documented in our article on is coffee bad for you.

Overall, we cosider Crio Bru likely to have health benefits due to the overwhelming evidence of the health benefits of cacao consumption, but for consumers interested in purchasing from this brand, we recommend choosing one of the unflavored options.

Was Crio Bru Sued?

In 2021, Crio Bru was served a notice about an intent to sue regarding heavy metal levels in their products which may have violated California’s Prop 65 laws.

The notice suggests that Crio Bru contains cadmium, and that no warning is provided to consumers that this product may expose them to cadmium, which is a heavy metal that has harmful effects to human health.

At the time of publishing this article, we cannot find any information about whether this lawsuit took place, or what the results were. The notice does not include cadmium levels, which would be the most important factor for consumers to consider.

Many food products and supplements contain heavy metals due to environmental contamination. The relevant consideration is what those levels are, because reducing heavy metal intake as much as possible should be the goal of any health-conscious consumer.

Until actual contaminant levels are published either by Crio Bru or an independent third party, there’s not any actionable information here for consumers, in our opinion.

Crio Bru vs. Popular Coffee Alternatives

Here's how Crio Bru compares to other popular coffee alternatives in terms of healthiness, in our opinion:

MUD\WTR

Contains mushrooms which are clinically shown to have anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory effects, along with an organic spice blend.

The combination of organic mushrooms and spices gives this formulation the slight edge in regard to healthiness, considering the micronutrients.

Winner: MUD\WTR

Ryze

One of the most popular mushroom coffee brands, Ryze contains entirely healthy, whole food ingredients.

Its active ingredients are low-caffeine coffee and a mushroom blend, but as we documented in our Ryze mushroom coffee reviews article, we cannot identify any convincing clinical evidence that mushrooms at these relatively low doses have health benefits.

Winner: Crio Bru

NoonBrew

This tea which is marketed as a coffee alternative contains an inactive ingredient we consider potentially unhealthy.

Winner: Crio Bru

Our Clean Coffee Alternatives

Nandaka by Pique is our top coffee alternative pick.

This product contains slow-release caffeine from black tea, cacao butter which has documented health benefits, nootropic mushrooms and phytonutrient-rich spices like cinnamon and ginger.

Pique Breakfast Black Tea Sticks is our top whole food energy pick.

Black tea consumption is "associated with rapid increases in alertness and information processing capacity" according to a clinical trial, and Pique's tea is organic and comes in convenient stick packs that can be mixed into water, so a teapot or kettle are not needed.

Both of the products recommended in this section are free of ingredients we consider to be unhealthy.

Crio Bru Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Unflavored versions have no additives
• Cacao may enhance cardiovascular and metabolic health
• Uses organically-derived cacao
• Affordable
• Mostly positive customer reviews
• May be healthy option for consumers with caffeine sensitivities

Cons:

• Brand was served legal notice over cadmium content/disclosures
• Flavored versions contain “natural flavoring” additives
• Unclear whether brewed cacao is healthier than brewed coffee
• Brand doesn’t appear to publish contaminant testing

Conclusion

Crio Bru is a unique nutrition brand and we believe it has the potential to provide health benefits that many Americans wouldn’t have experienced otherwise, given that cacao consumption isn’t particularly popular.

Clinical research suggests that cacao consumption can reduce risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and can enhance cognition. We haven’t come across any convincing medical evidence that cacao consumption is healthier than coffee consumption; both have unique health benefits.

We tested Crio Bru and loved the taste, and the experience as an intermittent coffee alternative with differing health effects.

Crio Bru was sent a notice of an intent to sue over the inclusion of cadmium (a heavy metal) in their products, but many food products and nutritional supplements contain cadmium due to environmental contamination, and without the actual level of cadmium contained, this information isn’t particularly useful to consumers.

For consumers planning to try Crio Bru, we recommend choosing one of the unflavored versions, because flavoring additives may have questionable health effects.

We consider Crio Bru to be a healthier option than NoonBrew and Ryze, but a (very slightly) inferior option to MUD\WTR.