Impact
Amargo belongs to the simaroubaceae tree family, tapped since centuries for all sorts of herbal remedies by traditional Caribbean societies, & provides shade for cacáo growing in its understory shadow.
What starts out a chocolate sunrise, with warm sweet-spots, burns to a medicinal bitter tonic, prescribed by the herban witch doctor himself - Danielo Vestri – in a piece of trick ‘n treat.
What starts out a chocolate sunrise, with warm sweet-spots, burns to a medicinal bitter tonic, prescribed by the herban witch doctor himself - Danielo Vestri – in a piece of trick ‘n treat.
Appearance 3.8 / 5
tampered with; onset of early bloom
tampered with; onset of early bloom
Color: | magenta-tinted dark brown |
Surface: | scrabble board spells out V E S T R I; vast inter-stellar swale on the back |
Temper: | absorbent |
Snap: | high-pitched / concussive (more warning & cause for alarm); sheared edge, finely sanded, orange-tinted interior |
Aroma 8.6 / 10
earth-clad: cowering cocoa shells go south underneath wood chips, leather, & tobacco leaf in Vestri’s heaviest roast yet; opens up to mamey sapote, honeydew melon, & coffee
Mouthfeel 11 / 15
Texture: | biased by that early blooming, so dry & angular |
Melt: | fractious & uneven dispersal |
Flavor 41.7 / 50
sweet chocolate sapote (the treat) -> transfers to ground cherry & jocote (aka Spanish plum) -> grapefruit acids mounting toward some guaro (alcohol) without quite reaching it -> forest undergrowth brings leveling bitterness (the trick) lurking from the depths -> bitter-acid entwine to produce quassia tonic (tree bark of Amargo) & goes for the throat in a pomegranate sunrise -> baking cocoa with wincing tannins rip at the back
Quality 17.9 / 20
Bark (from a tree) ‘n bite (like a parasite) though shy of ferocious; just enough sugared preparation (plus the twin crutches vanilla & lecithin – admittedly more a limited placebo effect) to control this from an all-out convulsion to the system.
A blend of sorts, obtained from seemingly various harvests & fermentation batches, spanning green to ripe, which helps account for an evolution that ends up transferring flavor more than transitioning it.
A good bar, such as it is, that stays true the elements & hits the intended target when an emergency dose is called for.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter, vanilla, lecithin; CBS (Cocoa mass / Butter / Sugar ratio): ~5:9:6
Reviewed Summer 2009
A blend of sorts, obtained from seemingly various harvests & fermentation batches, spanning green to ripe, which helps account for an evolution that ends up transferring flavor more than transitioning it.
A good bar, such as it is, that stays true the elements & hits the intended target when an emergency dose is called for.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter, vanilla, lecithin; CBS (Cocoa mass / Butter / Sugar ratio): ~5:9:6
Reviewed Summer 2009