75%
by Olive & Sinclair![](https://www.c-spot.com/images/olivesinclair-75-large.jpg)
Impact
This new wave of American barsmiths sweeping across the country (Dandelion, Fresco, Woodblock, Ritual, et al.) are kicking up a splash in confined areas as regional players. Where the preceding generation (Amano, Askinosie, Tcho, etc.) were driven by bigger ambitions of a more int’l dimension -- often venturing far & wide to source cacáo on their own, presenting an around-the-world tasting tour of origins, & then hustling / lobbying to scoop up innumerable awards (however dubious their distinction; re: highly for the most part) -- this younger crop sits content to mine the undergrowth of their own backyards, sticking closer to home, purchasing cocoa nuts from a single broker (usually Chocolate Alchemist, John Nanci). Hence, all share rather common offerings in their line-up. They hone their craft &, just as critically for survival, their business in a down home way. (Sad but true reality: most barsmiths, even the ambitious ones, hardly turn a profit. Those with more localized focus – Soma, Mast Bros – fare better with the bottom line.)
No one so proudly & boldly displays this regional character as Olive & Sinclair (O&S). While others may run from their small town blues, O&S wears it right on the face of the wrapper.
Don't expect any major distribution overseas; or pop-up shops either. Euros & Asians will have to travel some to get it.
Southern Artisan Chocolate… Stoneground in Nashville, Tennessee.
Stomach that, Music City fans.
No one so proudly & boldly displays this regional character as Olive & Sinclair (O&S). While others may run from their small town blues, O&S wears it right on the face of the wrapper.
Don't expect any major distribution overseas; or pop-up shops either. Euros & Asians will have to travel some to get it.
Southern Artisan Chocolate… Stoneground in Nashville, Tennessee.
Stomach that, Music City fans.
Appearance 2.3 / 5
![](https://www.c-spot.com/images/olivesinclair-75-bar.jpg)
Color: | ink brown |
Surface: | smudged |
Temper: | dulled |
Snap: | feeble |
Aroma 6.8 / 10
a bottle of red trapped in a tar pit lined with cardboard -> throw in a match & it all goes up in tobacco smoke
Mouthfeel 10.7 / 15
Texture: | grainy shards |
Melt: | overstays its welcome |
Flavor 32.9 / 50
brown sugared chocolate with a raw cocoa edge -> green tobac leaf -> souring F/X on granadillo which skips along for the remainder of the length -> red spot amidst a bitter root -> flushes down sorghum & persistent cat's piss (the latter the bile by-product of the sour fruit)
![](https://www.c-spot.com/images/olivesinclair-75-cat.jpg)
Remember: Lid Up, Seat Down (illustration by Steve Breen)
![](https://www.c-spot.com/images/olivesinclair-75-cat.jpg)
Quality 9.6 / 20
Takes a very light tact to leave well enough alone except this seed ain't all that well in a reversal of fortune for cacáo in The Dominican Republic.
Almost Taza-like but without the unconched sugar crystals. At least the crystals in Taza's D.R. catalyze the cocoa to express some ripened fruit juices. This just expels ill-defined sourness to lend a bit of moonshine character to the regional flavor.
And that other Southern difference -- brown sugar -- used by barsmiths (Adi, Vestri to name just a couple) but more in congruence with the cooking & culture of the South in the USA (from glazed carrots, baked ham, apple brown betty & bourbon pecan pie as well as molasses & sorghum plantations) acts as a cover here for under-processing. More raw than most "raw"-labeled chocolate... is this even roasted?; minimally conched, & barely tempered. Maybe S&O have other jobs to attend to (in banking? entertainment? who knows?) to bother with such details.
In general, very little Southern hospitality, pride or warmth in this chocolate.
A rarity for the new millennium: an unforgettable bar from D.R... for the wrong reasons.
![](https://www.c-spot.com/images/olivesinclair-75-backwrap.jpg)
ING: cocoa mass, brown sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed March 2012
Almost Taza-like but without the unconched sugar crystals. At least the crystals in Taza's D.R. catalyze the cocoa to express some ripened fruit juices. This just expels ill-defined sourness to lend a bit of moonshine character to the regional flavor.
And that other Southern difference -- brown sugar -- used by barsmiths (Adi, Vestri to name just a couple) but more in congruence with the cooking & culture of the South in the USA (from glazed carrots, baked ham, apple brown betty & bourbon pecan pie as well as molasses & sorghum plantations) acts as a cover here for under-processing. More raw than most "raw"-labeled chocolate... is this even roasted?; minimally conched, & barely tempered. Maybe S&O have other jobs to attend to (in banking? entertainment? who knows?) to bother with such details.
In general, very little Southern hospitality, pride or warmth in this chocolate.
A rarity for the new millennium: an unforgettable bar from D.R... for the wrong reasons.
![](https://www.c-spot.com/images/olivesinclair-75-backwrap.jpg)
ING: cocoa mass, brown sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed March 2012