75%
by Q Aquim
Impact
Big Bangers & Neo-Darwinist reduce creation to godless molecules – until the subject turns to their own daughters.
In response, the spirit crowd-sourcerers -- prey to a religion gene expression but sensitive to overstepping the boundaries in the philosophy of deconstruction, territorialization, discontinuities & the like -- gas on about the “all-knowing void from which we spring…” saying “God” as a word is no more than a placeholder for a loss of real meaning. They see humanity's view of the universe as framed thru a CDS (Cosmo Display System), a reality of “God geometrized continuously” as Plato is supposed to have said.
Really honest chocolate, the fruit of the primordial Theobroma cacáo tree which stood for a sort of axis mundi in Mayan cosmology, gives a glimpse, a vernissage of sorts, of a pronoiad pre-humanism / post-cyberian utopia. The primal argosy that oozes forthright ("flavor forward" as foodies like to spit) out from the "other" side; ya know, where even simple geometry points to lines with no width, planes with no depth (sorry if this causes a meltdown in the brain faster than a chocolate bar). A lost wisdom culture not discovered but recovered in a panpsychic expansion of intellect & intuition. show more »
In response, the spirit crowd-sourcerers -- prey to a religion gene expression but sensitive to overstepping the boundaries in the philosophy of deconstruction, territorialization, discontinuities & the like -- gas on about the “all-knowing void from which we spring…” saying “God” as a word is no more than a placeholder for a loss of real meaning. They see humanity's view of the universe as framed thru a CDS (Cosmo Display System), a reality of “God geometrized continuously” as Plato is supposed to have said.
Really honest chocolate, the fruit of the primordial Theobroma cacáo tree which stood for a sort of axis mundi in Mayan cosmology, gives a glimpse, a vernissage of sorts, of a pronoiad pre-humanism / post-cyberian utopia. The primal argosy that oozes forthright ("flavor forward" as foodies like to spit) out from the "other" side; ya know, where even simple geometry points to lines with no width, planes with no depth (sorry if this causes a meltdown in the brain faster than a chocolate bar). A lost wisdom culture not discovered but recovered in a panpsychic expansion of intellect & intuition. show more »
Appearance 2.3 / 5
| Color: | slate brown |
| Surface: | nary a Q strong suit |
| Temper: | ditto |
| Snap: | reticent |
Aroma 6.8 / 10
somewhat unattractive: receding compost
breathes some photosynthesis & ionization to cut the heap
all overlain with a palm frond / banana leaf to mimic the ferment pile itself
breathes some photosynthesis & ionization to cut the heap
all overlain with a palm frond / banana leaf to mimic the ferment pile itself
Mouthfeel 12.3 / 15
| Texture: | weird flow-gisitcs -- a bit gummy yet... |
| Melt: | ... automatic transmission |
Flavor 41.7 / 50
that sunberry intro'd by this bar's 80% mate with a touch more clarity here, then suddenly disappears in a 'blander' (a 'bland-blender' dulling the senses) -> manioc spiced with slippery elm / sassafras / hawthorne -> lightly stringent limestone -> sweet chicory -> figs out -> reverberating black walnut of some considerable Earthen qualities
Quality 15.2 / 20
More sugar seems to do little to the profiles of Q Aquim's vertical tasting flight (85%; 80%...). And, oddly, tastes less sweet even as it reduces the bitterness.
Nothing objectionable (just the opposite really); but nothing gastronomic either.
Pulp / ferment rather lackluster, for an underwhelming though solid bar. A “soft cocoa”, to use Q's phrase, put into wooden boxes to ferment for 5 to 7 days. The boxes are round, different from the more common square ones. This format supposedly enables uniformity in the fermentation process. Boxes are kept closed in order to avoid oxygen passing through the mixture. This may explain the flavor profile for it favors lactic acid & alcohol over acetic acid. Perhaps lower acidity & astringency but, alas, less fruit & spice too.
With fermentation complete, they sun-dry the seeds on wooden drying floors with moveable roofs over 8 to 12 days.
Akin to the Claudio Corallo fermentation-drying continuum, Aquim's partners put their cacáo seeds thru a 2 to 3 week post-harvest, in wooden ferment boxes & wooden drying decks the entire time which translates into the wooden flavor profile (albeit more mild than Corallo's).
Compounding the general monotony, Texture suggests over-conching / over-tempering.
Still, tremendously persistent after-FXs worth the ending.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
Reviewed April 22, 2013
Nothing objectionable (just the opposite really); but nothing gastronomic either.
Pulp / ferment rather lackluster, for an underwhelming though solid bar. A “soft cocoa”, to use Q's phrase, put into wooden boxes to ferment for 5 to 7 days. The boxes are round, different from the more common square ones. This format supposedly enables uniformity in the fermentation process. Boxes are kept closed in order to avoid oxygen passing through the mixture. This may explain the flavor profile for it favors lactic acid & alcohol over acetic acid. Perhaps lower acidity & astringency but, alas, less fruit & spice too.
With fermentation complete, they sun-dry the seeds on wooden drying floors with moveable roofs over 8 to 12 days.
Akin to the Claudio Corallo fermentation-drying continuum, Aquim's partners put their cacáo seeds thru a 2 to 3 week post-harvest, in wooden ferment boxes & wooden drying decks the entire time which translates into the wooden flavor profile (albeit more mild than Corallo's).
Compounding the general monotony, Texture suggests over-conching / over-tempering.
Still, tremendously persistent after-FXs worth the ending.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
Reviewed April 22, 2013