Acarigua
by Weiss
Impact
There’s Dark-Milk & then there’s this: Dark-White, a heretofore unknown species (read on for the full discovery).
Another bar from the lovehands at Weiss, cooing ‘oooo ‘n ahhh’ & ‘ooo la chocola-la’.
Another bar from the lovehands at Weiss, cooing ‘oooo ‘n ahhh’ & ‘ooo la chocola-la’.
Appearance 3.7 / 5
| Color: | dark polychrome (brown, purple, orange) |
| Surface: | micro-bubbles, pinholes, nib welts, grease splatter |
| Temper: | lackluster (ala the entire impression) |
| Snap: | slightly decrepit; cragged edge |
Aroma 7.4 / 10
seemingly another meek proposal from Weiss but really a nimble shape-shifter: supple leather, soft woods (balsam particularly, & its licorice corollary), hay, + coconut predominate about a fleeting apricot -> flips over white-fleshed biriba & fromage de Meaux (incl mushrooms & a drop of sweat in chlorinated water) -> salted pistachio -> smokes up tobaccocoa on thick molasses w/ iron -> streams light soursop
Mouthfeel 10.9 / 15
| Texture: | sand-dune (dry, crunchy & crumbly too) then disembodied; winds up liquid (other than micro-crunch from the Nibs) |
| Melt: | rapid collapse |
Flavor 43.4 / 50
vanilla-chocolate turns baked brownie as Nibs crunch in -> butter & biriba (sweet-cream fruit) shoot chocolate blanks for a dark ‘white chocolate’ FXs -> vague bitter-shadows in the recesses from some nut-husk, followed on by evanescent orange blossom traveling south in the mouth to a narrow stringent strip -> cherimoya -> seared cocoa & breadfruit + cane juice to wash it down
Quality 15.8 / 20
Beautiful freak of a bizarre bar, albeit a bit listless, that defies the norm for a 70 or even 60% with Nibs (Weiss’ info panel reads a bit misleading). Subtle, so subtle, to the point of bland, from so much cacáo butter & streamline base cocoa, the combination rather translucent that lets you see the sugar in a stunning eclipse of flavor. The Taste & Texture suggest that these beans still carried some moisture which its mild roast left standing & could’ve benefited from spare use of lecithin, both for its hydo- & lipophilic properties to congeal the structure (a deeper conche allowing fat to better coat the particles would strip way-too-much of the already too-little-flavor).
Comparing this to other bars in the Dark or Semi-Dark categories would be unfair. What springs to mind is Askinosie’s stellar White Nibble & even that feels overpowering next to this diaphanous wonder, a classic example of the nose giving more than the tongue.
Acarigua is located to the SE of Lake Maracaibo & this reflects much in the way of that region’s gentle rippling nature whose ultra-mild cacáo (witness Castelain’s golden take on it) fits tailor-made to Weiss’ understated but polished style, though it’s unclear whether the Venezuelan beans in this blend, which also includes 3 other origins, actually come from the Maracaibo area. Adding Nibs should considerably bolster the amplitude but more than anything else they compliment the overall non-complexity.
Conceived or at least consecrated by master boxed-chocolate maker Michel Chaudun.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter, nibs (9%), vanilla
Reviewed 8/13/09
Comparing this to other bars in the Dark or Semi-Dark categories would be unfair. What springs to mind is Askinosie’s stellar White Nibble & even that feels overpowering next to this diaphanous wonder, a classic example of the nose giving more than the tongue.
Acarigua is located to the SE of Lake Maracaibo & this reflects much in the way of that region’s gentle rippling nature whose ultra-mild cacáo (witness Castelain’s golden take on it) fits tailor-made to Weiss’ understated but polished style, though it’s unclear whether the Venezuelan beans in this blend, which also includes 3 other origins, actually come from the Maracaibo area. Adding Nibs should considerably bolster the amplitude but more than anything else they compliment the overall non-complexity.
Conceived or at least consecrated by master boxed-chocolate maker Michel Chaudun.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter, nibs (9%), vanilla
Reviewed 8/13/09