Impact
Appearance 4.3 / 5
| Color: | a pale-rouge shade of brown |
| Surface: | solid molding |
| Temper: | softly glistening crystals |
| Snap: | thick pour = big break |
Aroma 9.4 / 10
light gauge but indelible: peaches & cherry amidst a cocoa-peat bog (far from the typical PNG-style smoked-peat... more leguminous / live vines / wet llanos concentrated in a hairy chupa chupa containing sweet-musk pulp) -> guarana & araguany-bark tea
Mouthfeel 11 / 15
| Texture: | scrawny / unformed |
| Melt: | discombobulates further |
Flavor 40.6 / 50
straight to it as a hand-grenade without a pin: vanilla hard on the heels of chocolate -> pillows up marshmallow / hibiscus -> jute fibers -> the Aroma’s peat bog + bark tea scatters flavor though it manages the more fruited scents as well, albeit cursorily backed in anise -> shakes the doldrums & saves the best for last: crenshaw & honey-melon -> classic Venzy nuts to close
Quality 15.4 / 20
Varietally incorrect & atypical for the origin on several fronts.
Right in Guittard’s semi-sweet wheelhouse; in fact, the lowest cacáo-content to date (excluding the Milk choc versions) from preternaturally-kind Ocumare - the more so the more sugar, at least theoretically - whose very character spells f-r-a-g-i-l-i-t-y.
No getting around the largely dark tone, unusual profile & ragged contour as well. Flavor struggles at first with that hard vanilla (a Guiitard staple), & well into the marshmallows feels unsettled. Those jute fibers raise storage concerns while these beans sat in their sacks, forcing this chocolate to skirt danger in the midsection & stage a nice recovery by the end. Long time coming... but it finally arrives, though the brightness of this cultivar gets recessed.
Finally, questionable schematics: Guittard recently edged up the percentages thru parts of its portfolio so the 65% here signals that the house felt unconfident about the quality of this particular Ocumare & tries to cover with more sugaring. Ditto the firm roast, which tastes counterproductive; light-handed heat suits the ever-prone Ocumare lest its delicate highs burn away.
What’s spared can be attributed to Ocumare’s generally gifted nature & probably a medium conche which combine for that ending.
One that favorably grows in the memory bank as it inversely shrinks on the taste-buds.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter, vanilla, lecithin
Reviewed January 2011
No getting around the largely dark tone, unusual profile & ragged contour as well. Flavor struggles at first with that hard vanilla (a Guiitard staple), & well into the marshmallows feels unsettled. Those jute fibers raise storage concerns while these beans sat in their sacks, forcing this chocolate to skirt danger in the midsection & stage a nice recovery by the end. Long time coming... but it finally arrives, though the brightness of this cultivar gets recessed.
Finally, questionable schematics: Guittard recently edged up the percentages thru parts of its portfolio so the 65% here signals that the house felt unconfident about the quality of this particular Ocumare & tries to cover with more sugaring. Ditto the firm roast, which tastes counterproductive; light-handed heat suits the ever-prone Ocumare lest its delicate highs burn away.
What’s spared can be attributed to Ocumare’s generally gifted nature & probably a medium conche which combine for that ending.
One that favorably grows in the memory bank as it inversely shrinks on the taste-buds.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter, vanilla, lecithin
Reviewed January 2011