Shark's Cacao
by Hilo Shark
Impact
Baby, there’s a shark out of the water, shocking the population of taste-buds which failed to escape its path.
In previous ventures, amphibious-landlubber Tom Sharkey swam ashore to feed off grapes on the vine, among weeds in the bush & now, in a natural progression, bumping into Theobroma cacao trees on the Big Island of Hawai’i.
Forget those freeloading on the corporate Dole at Waialua, The Shark-man cometh as the current go-to dealer among the local chocoscenti for the good stuff.
As he says, “love to see it go... & it’s legal”.
Bud, you're on it.
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The review below covers The Shark's 2011 Vintage & an updated 2016 Vintage. Overall rating reflects a composite average of both.
In previous ventures, amphibious-landlubber Tom Sharkey swam ashore to feed off grapes on the vine, among weeds in the bush & now, in a natural progression, bumping into Theobroma cacao trees on the Big Island of Hawai’i.
Forget those freeloading on the corporate Dole at Waialua, The Shark-man cometh as the current go-to dealer among the local chocoscenti for the good stuff.
As he says, “love to see it go... & it’s legal”.
Bud, you're on it.
Appearance 4.4 / 5
no pre-sorting here: large / small, round / flat, dark / light... they’re all in there
no pre-sorting here: large / small, round / flat, dark / light... they’re all in there
| Color: | shells run from golden brown to pitch black; once unhusked, uniformly dark |
| Surface: | again quite variable: some husks thickly sapped in pulp, others less so; manually winnows well, & seeds in the main stay intact |
| Temper: | rich patina on seeds pretty evenly penetrated & coated |
| Snap: | n/a |
Aroma 8.9 / 10
Vintage 2011
nuts ‘n cereal -> very mild acetic acid blows in from Fiji on an Adi-like breeze for lite-crisp vinegar ‘n chips effect
Vintage: November 2016
a multiplex...
Bubble Yums® & banana -> cocoa dust & sanded granite -> bromeliads -> dragon fruit
nuts ‘n cereal -> very mild acetic acid blows in from Fiji on an Adi-like breeze for lite-crisp vinegar ‘n chips effect
Vintage: November 2016
a multiplex...
Bubble Yums® & banana -> cocoa dust & sanded granite -> bromeliads -> dragon fruit
Mouthfeel 13.5 / 15
| Texture: | pliable / yielding; little in the way of crunch (thanks to being un-roasted) |
| Melt: | midweight; minor stringency at the very back |
Flavor 48.3 / 50
Vintage 2011
sets out an Aroma copycat, tailed by lite cocoa, then worms its way into some soiled elements (fungi / mushrooms / tubers)... all nicely / mildly harmonized into a sandalwood forest offset by chicle gum, bagasse & atemoya -> levels off on ground soil & grapefruit seed extract
Vintage: November 2016
banana-chanterelle paté -> black walnut rear
sets out an Aroma copycat, tailed by lite cocoa, then worms its way into some soiled elements (fungi / mushrooms / tubers)... all nicely / mildly harmonized into a sandalwood forest offset by chicle gum, bagasse & atemoya -> levels off on ground soil & grapefruit seed extract
Vintage: November 2016
banana-chanterelle paté -> black walnut rear
Quality 18.1 / 20
Even in their raw / unroasted state, these beans reconfirm the wonder to Hawai’ian cacáo. Fruit-laden with kind, expressly gentle core-cocoa that translates into soft foundational chocolate. Nearly zero bitterness & that which appears comes savored or spiced, as in those sandalwood endnotes.
Harvested from Tom Sharkey’s grove of a couple hundred cacáo trees on the big island who, in the judgment of Madre’s Nat Bletter & several others, grows some of the best in Hawai’i.
In addition to their DNA which the Shark suspects hails from some pedigree, he applies a correct & ever-advanced ferment in cascading wood boxes & the time-honored sun-drying method.
It all comes so true in these seeds.
ING: cocoa beans
Reviewed June 2011
Revised April 2017
Harvested from Tom Sharkey’s grove of a couple hundred cacáo trees on the big island who, in the judgment of Madre’s Nat Bletter & several others, grows some of the best in Hawai’i.
In addition to their DNA which the Shark suspects hails from some pedigree, he applies a correct & ever-advanced ferment in cascading wood boxes & the time-honored sun-drying method.
It all comes so true in these seeds.
ING: cocoa beans
Reviewed June 2011
Revised April 2017