Impact
Little sister to that club dancer called Equateur-82. This one starts out sweet & hot then just falls off the pole faster than Sarah Palin.
Appearance 4.8 / 5
| Color: | ravishing purple-brown |
| Surface: | spotless |
| Temper: | hi-wattage |
| Snap: | major clack, bordering brittle (combo of temper + thin pour to the bar mold) |
Aroma 7.1 / 10
humbled: most of the top notes on its big sib washed away, leaving behind stolid chocolate, coffee, cotton, popcorn, & a peanut; in a saving grace, aerates papaya
Mouthfeel 11.9 / 15
| Texture: | waxen |
| Melt: | lumps & clumps along |
Flavor 40.6 / 50
sweet dried black currant strips down to mouth-watering fresh fig shadowed in cocoa (slightly burnt) -> sweetness drops out w/ arrival of plantain, announcing minor background talc & chalk -> vanilla spares it & takes over the length w/ spice corollaries (coriander, anise, cinnamon) -> eucalyptus -> sorghum -> warm cocoa -> residual bold chocolate of the old classic Ecuador variety
Quality 16.4 / 20
Disjointed texture (cacáo-butter of a stiff hardness), + a degree or two over-roasted, & apparent storage problems (molds cause randomizing in the mid-palate, on the edge of moribund). On the upside, that special fruit opening; very little astringency typical of the origin; & supposedly vanilla-free but it’s quite detectable (even characteristic of Ecuadorian cacáo) which ends up salvaging the progression.
ING: cacáo, sugar, soya lecithin
ING: cacáo, sugar, soya lecithin