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Cuyagua 70

by Choklat
Info Details
Country Canada   
Type Dark   (70%)
Strain Cuyagua   (Criollo group)
Source Venezuela   (Aragua; Cuyagua)
Flavor Crossover   
Style Rustic      (ruffian)
lo
med
hi
CQ
Sweetness
Acidity
Bitterness
Roast
Intensity
Complexity
Structure
Length
Impact
Commits possible ID theft. Cuyagua (pronounced kwee ya gua) that has the signature of a Rio Caribe, or better still another river: the Cuyahoga... ya know, the one of thick sludge & slurry, tributary to the Great Lakes between the USA & Canada, burned into history by catching fire 9 times.

So what exactly does the ladder company do when the very water used to fight fires goes up in flames?

Stir the hot cocoa of course.
1952 -- one of several years the Cuyahoga River caught fire
Appearance   4.9 / 5
Color: gorgeous apricot brown
Surface: flawlessly vibrated & clean; got it down – right up there w/ Theo and Coppeneur
Temper: smudged matte
Snap: bit cuffed; solid edge wall, clear striations (over-conched?)
Aroma   8.7 / 10
the better of Choklat’s bars to date: some polymers (both of the phenol + epoxy variety w/ ammonia for good measure) & lumber (oak) but mostly coconut shells, abiu (caramel tones), dark acacia honey & dense cocoa
Mouthfeel   4.1 / 15
Texture: waxes the deck that is the tongue
Melt: stuck
Flavor   40.3 / 50
chocolate mulberry cross fertilizes black mission fig w/ a vengeance -> benights toffee -> licorice, cinnamon, vanilla & acacia honey rolled in pitomba leaf disguised as apricot -> flicks off slightly brighter spice (ginger)... stays on it for months
Quality   12.2 / 20
High hopes (in the Aroma) & good beginnings -- dashed. Unflinching; very little progression. Just a dense vertical of dark proportions & hues that takes the escalator to the basement. None of the fruits seen in Amano’s pure-play of the same origin or S-B’s blend that highlights it.

Less over-toasted than over-mixed, & over-conched, to the point of driving off all acidic fruits; then heavy-handed on the vanilla to make sure they never see the light of day. As with Choklat’s Porcelana, this supposedly bears a CBS (Cocoa Mass/Butter/Sugar ratio) of ~ 4:3:3 but, again, it too needs clarification given the Texture (admittedly viscous from that conche job) &, more importantly, the globules that never seem to melt thru to any dissolution.

And yet this flavorful sludge has undeniably more potency than Porcelana (to be expected), managing to penetrate that wall of wax.

Sums up a poor exposition of Cuyagua, more in line with Rio Caribe (could the shipment have been mislabeled?). Even so, whatever the exact source, a bar that’s more swagger than mojo.

ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter, vanilla

Reviewed Spring 2010

  

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