Impact
Chuao Flow… discontinued.
Williwaw refers to a meteorological event in the Northern Hemisphere around places like Canada, where Soma operates, for a sudden wind out of the mountains.
Down south, Venezuela's coastal redoubts such as Chuao -- the source of this chocolate's cocoa -- are refreshed by swirling vents alisios (eastern Trade Winds) blowing off the Caribbean.
The twain meet in this bar. Their admixture? Well, a bit turbulent & unsettling.
Williwaw refers to a meteorological event in the Northern Hemisphere around places like Canada, where Soma operates, for a sudden wind out of the mountains.
Down south, Venezuela's coastal redoubts such as Chuao -- the source of this chocolate's cocoa -- are refreshed by swirling vents alisios (eastern Trade Winds) blowing off the Caribbean.
The twain meet in this bar. Their admixture? Well, a bit turbulent & unsettling.
Appearance 4.6 / 5
| Color: | trad poly-chrome Chuao to reflect the estate's genetic diversity |
| Surface: | proud as a coat-of-arms |
| Temper: | reserved |
| Snap: | strength & purpose |
Aroma 8.5 / 10
molasses-tang turns malted sour, then cologne with a citric top-note
eventuates stewed apricot
eventuates stewed apricot
Mouthfeel 13.1 / 15
| Texture: | fleshy |
| Melt: | uptempo |
Flavor 40.3 / 50
cocoa -> chocolate -> grows acidulous on unripe plum -> sweet spicing (vanilla-cardamom) -> some chewing tobacco -> Oreo® action sandwiching the earlier fruit -> soft mol-ashes (molasses / ashes) -> persistent acidity (sour granadilla) -> balanced somewhat by a cooked plantain to conjoin with the Texture -> cocoa-fig backgrounding -> almonds in the downshaft
Quality 14 / 20
Soma comes out of the pipe here.
No one scouts or trades as far & wide these days as David & Cynthia of Soma Chocolatemaker in Canada. So it may hit as a surprise that the duo never scaled Chuao before -- a bucket-list must-have destination on the premium chocolate circuit. the C-spot's® Chocolate Census houses 35 bars of theirs, sourced from 13 different countries, in just about every conceivable format from White Chocolate to Nibs. Which all totals up a pretty firm index of their various assets.
So finally, here it is. Just the coupling together -- Soma Chuao -- heightens anticipation to whet the appetite, if not wet the pants.
Well, no need to be too concerned over any sanitary napkins for this bar.
Indeterminate & indefinite for Chuao. For instance, no tell-tail blueberry to speak of. CQ (for Chocolate Quotient or basal cocoa flavor), while evident, never really punches with power. The complexity of this varietal arrives in staggered sequences rather than any latticed or stacked edifice. In a capsule, the acids trump the advertised dried figs; the latter serving mainly as fringe backdrop, the former more of a wash than anything else.
The bones / DNA clearly there, just trim, still awaiting refinement to draw them out in a fuller frame of flavor.
Decent, such as it is, though from Chuao & Soma the chocoscenti salivate for so much more… like porn for taste-buds.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed May 8, 2014
No one scouts or trades as far & wide these days as David & Cynthia of Soma Chocolatemaker in Canada. So it may hit as a surprise that the duo never scaled Chuao before -- a bucket-list must-have destination on the premium chocolate circuit. the C-spot's® Chocolate Census houses 35 bars of theirs, sourced from 13 different countries, in just about every conceivable format from White Chocolate to Nibs. Which all totals up a pretty firm index of their various assets.
So finally, here it is. Just the coupling together -- Soma Chuao -- heightens anticipation to whet the appetite, if not wet the pants.
Well, no need to be too concerned over any sanitary napkins for this bar.
Indeterminate & indefinite for Chuao. For instance, no tell-tail blueberry to speak of. CQ (for Chocolate Quotient or basal cocoa flavor), while evident, never really punches with power. The complexity of this varietal arrives in staggered sequences rather than any latticed or stacked edifice. In a capsule, the acids trump the advertised dried figs; the latter serving mainly as fringe backdrop, the former more of a wash than anything else.
The bones / DNA clearly there, just trim, still awaiting refinement to draw them out in a fuller frame of flavor.
Decent, such as it is, though from Chuao & Soma the chocoscenti salivate for so much more… like porn for taste-buds.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed May 8, 2014