Impact
Many a great Gothic cathedral sport hidden details far out of sight except for the rare birds-eye view.
Why?
Only for God to see.... then made visible to the enlightened.
The barsmith here, Bryan Graham, is perched aloft the details in full fruition on this one. A chocolate that picks the whole day up & throws it into one of those sub-orbital trajectories free of trash that impede satellites.
Why?
Only for God to see.... then made visible to the enlightened.
The barsmith here, Bryan Graham, is perched aloft the details in full fruition on this one. A chocolate that picks the whole day up & throws it into one of those sub-orbital trajectories free of trash that impede satellites.
Appearance 4.6 / 5
| Color: | swarthy with a blush of rouge |
| Surface: | hypnotic (enlarge image upper right) |
| Temper: | pretty kind |
| Snap: | ear popping decibel; short & sharp; |
Aroma 8.9 / 10
heady plume wafts right out of the wrapper in cross ventilation (the fragrant equivalent of cross-eyed): Orchids & Blossoms (vanilla / grapes) x Cinders & Spices (fleur de sel minerality exerting itself) above a chocolate caramel platform
Mouthfeel 12.1 / 15
| Texture: | generally smooth if sluggish... |
| Melt: | ... with speed bumps along the way |
Flavor 47.3 / 50
fast & friendly succession of chocolate, fruit, & fleury de sel before settling into a milk caramel roll -> digs into toffee teritory with a black cherry back... intensely mineral-sweet (the confluence of sugar / salt / cocoa), rides out this way for the longest... plus a little custard fling at the very finish pooling around rambutan & a white Zin (tremendous) -> balché bark the aftermath
Quality 18 / 20
In a category replete with world class DMs, this stands out for its poise, depth & equilibrium. Nothing loud or brash; just spot on.
Unlike other closely-weighted bars that approach heavy darkness (Patric's or Chris & Tom's), this maintains some levity.
Fruition achieves a peak experience with modest DNA from unheralded Costa Rica. These seeds hardly swim the sexy gene pool of Madagascar, the source of all sorts of elegant polish in Cluizel's Mangaro Lait but the hi-brass of Madagascan cacáo orchestras much of its charm. Nor the character of PNG, a very volcanic origin reinforced by an oft-controlled smoke in the drying process, a terroir heavily relied upon by Tabuna from Coppeneur.
Instead this bar embodies attention to detail in a manifold of incremental steps from post-harvesting methods to processing techniques & insight into the additional ingredients that make Milk Chocolate such an elaborate format (& in many ways more prone than Dark).
Deft calibration; exceptional alignment of components. No surprises here as Fruition's Boxed-Chocolate Truffles attest.
Bryan Graham, ex-pastry chef, hitting his maker's mark with culinary wizardry.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, fleur de sel, whole vanilla
Reviewed December 14, 2011
Unlike other closely-weighted bars that approach heavy darkness (Patric's or Chris & Tom's), this maintains some levity.
Fruition achieves a peak experience with modest DNA from unheralded Costa Rica. These seeds hardly swim the sexy gene pool of Madagascar, the source of all sorts of elegant polish in Cluizel's Mangaro Lait but the hi-brass of Madagascan cacáo orchestras much of its charm. Nor the character of PNG, a very volcanic origin reinforced by an oft-controlled smoke in the drying process, a terroir heavily relied upon by Tabuna from Coppeneur.
Instead this bar embodies attention to detail in a manifold of incremental steps from post-harvesting methods to processing techniques & insight into the additional ingredients that make Milk Chocolate such an elaborate format (& in many ways more prone than Dark).
Deft calibration; exceptional alignment of components. No surprises here as Fruition's Boxed-Chocolate Truffles attest.
Bryan Graham, ex-pastry chef, hitting his maker's mark with culinary wizardry.
ING: cocoa mass, sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, fleur de sel, whole vanilla
Reviewed December 14, 2011