Color:	deep red-brick brown
Surface:	clean
Temper:	burnished
Snap:	pitch perfect

spice-werks interscoping tobacco & tea leaves + a little composted manure on the underside countered by a florid component (from shit grows the rose, - thank you Allen Ginsberg)

Texture:	thin snapping crunch dominates early on
Melt:	fast & even to a gripping end

burnt caramel -> tender toffee ‘n coffee... flat & steady except for micro-scent of fruit (sapote) -> almond stem -> numbing green tea to deaden the senses

Richart has wrought a Carenero unlike most others. Gone are the signature fruits & underlying chocolate. No sign of cacáo verde (under-fermented) nor a bad crop per se (clearly latent fruit in there) so it must be unfamiliar with the bean or has a peculiar take on Carenero, previewed in its 82% version - over-roasted & highly conched, wiping out the highs & lows of this once proud strain.

A possible secondary explanation: on the ground in Venezuela this cultivar is graded by quality, with the premium sort earning the label ‘Carenero Superior’. Maybe Richart prefers the inferior grade because even accepting this on its own terms, it comes off meager, such as it is.

ING: cacáo, sugar, lecithin