Kwiat Soli Morskiej
by Chris & Tom / Manufactura Czekolady
Impact
A fellow C-spotter™ remarks about maintaining good health & taking chocolate for its perceived benefits with "I'm black, over 40, hold a master's degree, a tenured job, & never been in jail. There aren't many like me around so I feel a responsibility to take care of myself".
Society has a problem when what should be the norm becomes an oddity.
As for chocolate, it suffers from mostly mediocre product. So much of it that high quality easily differentiates itself.
Like this bar for instance. Chris & Tom... separating themselves from the wider field.
Society has a problem when what should be the norm becomes an oddity.
As for chocolate, it suffers from mostly mediocre product. So much of it that high quality easily differentiates itself.
Like this bar for instance. Chris & Tom... separating themselves from the wider field.
Appearance 3.8 / 5
| Color: | violet brown |
| Surface: | damaged in transit; sparkling salt crystals on the underside |
| Temper: | well burnished |
| Snap: | tight |
Aroma 8.7 / 10
cocoa-phenol at the bottom of a mineral-rich sea -> salt spikes the African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha) scent picked up in Chris & Tom's Prazone Ziarno Kakao
Mouthfeel 12.1 / 15
| Texture: | irregular shards & crystals |
| Melt: | chaotic |
Flavor 45.9 / 50
the overarching taste spans from salt to sugar: hits out immediately on sodium chloride -> light violet in & around toffee caramel -> umami glutamate surround soft cocoa tannins -> salt dissolves into simple chocolate with a rare mineral-bitter-sweet spot complex -> vanilla-brownie
Quality 17.7 / 20
Very dynamic.
Fleur de Sel, ''flower of salt' in French, often fine 'n dry at that as opposed to many other sea salts that are coarse & wet, can have its own violet-inflection. It's considered best for finishing slender to medium-bodied delicacies.
Regular C-spotters & everyone experienced with chocolate knows that cacáo is potent but fragile. Fleur de Sel therefore presents a suitable match.
It does for Ghana cacáo what the octavizer does to Justin Tmberlake's vocals or the teleprompter to Obama's speeches: elevates it.
As detailed in C&T's 70% unsalted Ghana Gran Cru, the base upon which this bar builds, it too inheres with violet notes. The two together - salt & cocoa - magnify the violet effect.
So once more C&T aligns their elements for complementarity, as they've done elsewhere with their Imbir or Zurawina inclusions.
By the end of this bar a heavy tone & quality pervades. Quite claustroflavic & in line with C&T's Wanilla i Mleko in terms of dense / compressed flavor (a trait shared with another East European barsmith -- Rózsavölgyi).
The Fleur de Sel in fact feels a bit much except the savored elements keep coming to make it tolerant & even inviting.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, sea salt
Reviewed November 10, 2011
Fleur de Sel, ''flower of salt' in French, often fine 'n dry at that as opposed to many other sea salts that are coarse & wet, can have its own violet-inflection. It's considered best for finishing slender to medium-bodied delicacies.
Regular C-spotters & everyone experienced with chocolate knows that cacáo is potent but fragile. Fleur de Sel therefore presents a suitable match.
It does for Ghana cacáo what the octavizer does to Justin Tmberlake's vocals or the teleprompter to Obama's speeches: elevates it.
As detailed in C&T's 70% unsalted Ghana Gran Cru, the base upon which this bar builds, it too inheres with violet notes. The two together - salt & cocoa - magnify the violet effect.
So once more C&T aligns their elements for complementarity, as they've done elsewhere with their Imbir or Zurawina inclusions.
By the end of this bar a heavy tone & quality pervades. Quite claustroflavic & in line with C&T's Wanilla i Mleko in terms of dense / compressed flavor (a trait shared with another East European barsmith -- Rózsavölgyi).
The Fleur de Sel in fact feels a bit much except the savored elements keep coming to make it tolerant & even inviting.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, sea salt
Reviewed November 10, 2011