Impact
To err is to be human. To really screw things up, leave it to the computers. (Apologies to the great poet Alexander Pope, a better human... to be divine is to forgive.)
Hyper-consistency, standardized formulas, manipulated flavor placement.
Hyper-consistency, standardized formulas, manipulated flavor placement.
Appearance 3.9 / 5
| Color: | dark scarlet brown |
| Surface: | careless; smudge front, unevenly-scored lines & valleys; massive swells on the back, & subsurface bubbling attributable to a hasty shake-out |
| Temper: | flashy semi-gloss |
| Snap: | the most pop of Tcho bars so far – a horn from Jericho; sharp crooked edges though, incl some pinholes (1 more sign of poor vibration handling) |
Aroma 7.6 / 10
another dumb-waiter from Peru, differing from its “Nutty” brother only by a fruit blossom elevating in the middle of rubber vinyl
Mouthfeel 11.7 / 15
| Texture: | dry / austere start; over-swells into... |
| Melt: | ... everlast dura-wax w/ lots of weight (lecithin calling) |
Flavor 37.9 / 50
jumps starts on cocoa -> fledgling fruit slings to mango -> light guanabana -> small pineapple -> pitches up plain sour -> all occluded by vanilla made murkier still as cocoa returns in the guise of coffee... muddles thru cocoa-coffee grounds w/ a thin laminate of stacked acids -> cherimoya-chocolate ending; vanilla-café after-FXs
Quality 16.2 / 20
OK gang, here’s how we do it; how to upgrade & download the newest version of smoke ‘n mirrors. Take the same batch of beans (for the most part), run ‘em thru the machines, analyzing their compounds, then isolate the aldehydes from the pyrazines - now moniter these levels closely - & package the difference calling one “Nutty” & the other “Fruity” (with thick vanilla-lipstick on both). He, he, he, he... Tcho – Technology CHOcolate.
Rather than reading & getting a profile to let the bean be the bean, Tcho coerces one out of it, over-tweaking to prove a point, in this case “Fruity”, a distinction without enough difference from its “Nutty” brother, & nowhere near the supple sweetspots of, say, S-B on its bad days.
In their quest to be Chocolate Game Boy, Tcho virtually apes Nintendo’s slogan - “Who are You” - because the stuff is coming up anonymous. What all this hi-tech application desperately shuns (& frankly, as with its Chocolatey bar, it's hard to tell just how technological Tcho’s applications & methods really are; possibly less than even meets the taste buds) is blending - that vanishing art in this era of the single-origin fetish - which requires broad & deep understanding of cacáo’s color palette & can achieve similar aims usually with better results.
Tcho’s troubled bars generally finish strong, however. Check that: they’ve exceptional finishes... the high point in the experience, & something to build on.
ING: cacáo beans, sugar, cacáo butter, soy lecithin, vanilla
Rather than reading & getting a profile to let the bean be the bean, Tcho coerces one out of it, over-tweaking to prove a point, in this case “Fruity”, a distinction without enough difference from its “Nutty” brother, & nowhere near the supple sweetspots of, say, S-B on its bad days.
In their quest to be Chocolate Game Boy, Tcho virtually apes Nintendo’s slogan - “Who are You” - because the stuff is coming up anonymous. What all this hi-tech application desperately shuns (& frankly, as with its Chocolatey bar, it's hard to tell just how technological Tcho’s applications & methods really are; possibly less than even meets the taste buds) is blending - that vanishing art in this era of the single-origin fetish - which requires broad & deep understanding of cacáo’s color palette & can achieve similar aims usually with better results.
Tcho’s troubled bars generally finish strong, however. Check that: they’ve exceptional finishes... the high point in the experience, & something to build on.
ING: cacáo beans, sugar, cacáo butter, soy lecithin, vanilla