Esmeraldas
by Hoja Verde
Impact
Hoja Verde (Spanish for "Green Leaf") presents one the most comprehensive vertical-flights in all of chocolate (in league with Claudio Corallo, Vintage Plantations, Q Aquim et.al.) & the deepest to date for Esmeraldas aka Ecuador's "Green Province" (exceeding Salgado's take on that region).
Green-on-Green... including the cash variety, as this series is mostly all money.
The following details a Chocolate Bar Blitz – in this case six reviews in one. the C-spot®still maintains its actual sampling policy of only ‘1-a-Day’ in order to obtain an accurate & thorough gauge on a chocolate; as well as to avoid inevitable palate fatigue (no matter what so-called miracle palate cleanser may be invoked) which occurs with multi-swallows in a compressed time session. For the sake of publishing efficiency, they’re consolidated into this single review. The overall rating & metrics (upper right) reflect a composite average of each bar's individual measures listed below.
Green-on-Green... including the cash variety, as this series is mostly all money.
Appearance 3.7 / 5
100%: 3.2 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
80%: 3.5 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
72%: 3.3 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
66%: 3.7 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
58%: 4 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
50% Dark-Milk: 4.6 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
100%: 3.2 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
80%: 3.5 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
72%: 3.3 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
66%: 3.7 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
58%: 4 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
50% Dark-Milk: 4.6 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5
| Color: |
100%: silver-backed chocolate-brown 80%: saddle brown 72%: antique umber 66%: creamed blushing-brown 58%: dark for the percentage 50% Dark-Milk: pinky brown |
| Surface: |
100%: dull 80%: much clearer / cleaner 72%: scuffed at the corners 66%: flakes / dust / scuffs, etc. 58%: Hoja's best yet 50% Dark-Milk: more flakes than a Head 'n Shoulders™ dandruff commercial |
| Temper: |
100%: cloudy 80%: soft shimmer 72%: barely burnished 66%: fading 58%: neutral 50% Dark-Milk: arguably the brightest in Hojo's Esmeraldas constellation |
| Snap: |
100%: echo / reverb 'n delay 80%: rocks out 72%: brick solid 66%: Hoja's hardrock trademark 58%: house specialty 50% Dark-Milk: none more sound |
Aroma 8.1 / 10
100%: stone / petrified wood / grain… extremely parched
carries on with dry cocoa tannin until sharp spices + a bromeliad spear pierce thru
8.00 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
80%: follows the lead of its 100% brethren (above) except a little more verdant & slightly porked (over fermented), the combination suggesting inconsistent post-harvesting
breathes sweet coconut meat & shell
7.5 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
72%: given the contours of this bar’s sibs (100% and 80% above) this flares up an unexpected fruit puff (red raisin), then again the extra sugar catalyzes as much
rice / cereal grains amidst forest herbs
aerates a spice censer over raw Earth
8.1 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
66%:
stoned again… stoneground
musty grain silo
then spiced cream rolls up (nothing out of the ordinary there for an Esmer)
the red fruit of the 72% darkens to blackberry here
8.3 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
58%:
coconut cream predominates over yellow fruit (loquat & gooseberry) + resin (elemi & benzoin) verging almost on eucalyptus -> supple leather works
eventually diffuses a wondrous plume of cherry-cinnamon Red Hots®
special
8.7 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
50% Dark-Milk:
tail of 2 scents -- a) toasted cereal (including graham crackers) + malted yeast & b) cow-funk at the, where else, rear
eventuates tell-tale Esmeraldas spice around a river running thru the woods
7.9 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
carries on with dry cocoa tannin until sharp spices + a bromeliad spear pierce thru
8.00 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
80%: follows the lead of its 100% brethren (above) except a little more verdant & slightly porked (over fermented), the combination suggesting inconsistent post-harvesting
breathes sweet coconut meat & shell
7.5 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
72%: given the contours of this bar’s sibs (100% and 80% above) this flares up an unexpected fruit puff (red raisin), then again the extra sugar catalyzes as much
rice / cereal grains amidst forest herbs
aerates a spice censer over raw Earth
8.1 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
66%:
stoned again… stoneground
musty grain silo
then spiced cream rolls up (nothing out of the ordinary there for an Esmer)
the red fruit of the 72% darkens to blackberry here
8.3 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
58%:
coconut cream predominates over yellow fruit (loquat & gooseberry) + resin (elemi & benzoin) verging almost on eucalyptus -> supple leather works
eventually diffuses a wondrous plume of cherry-cinnamon Red Hots®
special
8.7 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
50% Dark-Milk:
tail of 2 scents -- a) toasted cereal (including graham crackers) + malted yeast & b) cow-funk at the, where else, rear
eventuates tell-tale Esmeraldas spice around a river running thru the woods
7.9 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10
Mouthfeel 12.1 / 15
| Texture: |
100%: as expected, turgid with a dry start 80%: a bit chunky 72%: heavy body weight 66%: resistant 58%: cream weight 50% Dark-Milk: taffy |
| Melt: |
100%: slower than slow (12.6 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 15) 80%: prolapsed but self-corrects (12.2 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 15) 72%: bulbous [feigns of lecithin] (13.2 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 15] 66%: gummy in parts to suggest micron levels below 15 (10.2 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 15) 58%: even-paced (12.4 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 15) 50% Dark-Milk: slows into a sudden collapse (12.3 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 15) |
Flavor 44 / 50
100%:
wood bark with only mild bite -> gentle spice quotient (mostly cinnamon-laden) -> chocolate savory (almost môlé-like), soothed / smoothed by buttered embellishment -> light bitter (in the way of forest greens / herbals fit for a salad) at the back with some mineralization (trace iron / potassium)
46.4 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
80%:
teethes right into lightly spiced chocolate (mace, sassafras, & frankincense) with a fig bearing atop a biscuit-cream... maintains this profile for ages… until the flush of achiote + a fruit drop (papaya) -> clears out a dry Milk Chocolate of a softly tannic / stringent streak
45.1 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
72%:
first huge choc bang in the series… specifically, caramelized Milk Choc -> streaming vanilla on a rising papaya spear… hugs this precious point load closely / dearly / sweetly ‘til the fruit just punctuates & penetrates all over, now as a persimmon with a spice escort (surreal) -> late closing blossom
46.8 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
66%:
sweet blacks (berries, fig, & currant) -> cream fill -> minor walnut -> hallmark dried papaya followed by the equally hallmark spices of Esmeraldas -> gradually & slowly fades to a white-out on cane sugar -> lightly wooded tannin heralds a chocolate note surrounded by resurgent fruits for a grand finale
41.4 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
58%:
juicy sweet chocolate, almost chocolate-flavored cane juice with a cinnamon dusting -> light malt just sits on it & the bar stays on this without much evolution save for a cookie dough moment -> dissolves into a pool of sassafras-kola
38.7 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
50% Dark-Milk:
explodes off candied berries (almost a Belizean cotton candy) -> rapturous Milk Choc caramel along with some wooded prongs -> coconut cream -> a tingle of those Esmeraldas soda spices + ginger -> graham crackers from the Aroma -> capstone apricot in a rarity: fruit toffee!!
47.3 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
wood bark with only mild bite -> gentle spice quotient (mostly cinnamon-laden) -> chocolate savory (almost môlé-like), soothed / smoothed by buttered embellishment -> light bitter (in the way of forest greens / herbals fit for a salad) at the back with some mineralization (trace iron / potassium)
46.4 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
80%:
teethes right into lightly spiced chocolate (mace, sassafras, & frankincense) with a fig bearing atop a biscuit-cream... maintains this profile for ages… until the flush of achiote + a fruit drop (papaya) -> clears out a dry Milk Chocolate of a softly tannic / stringent streak
45.1 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
72%:
first huge choc bang in the series… specifically, caramelized Milk Choc -> streaming vanilla on a rising papaya spear… hugs this precious point load closely / dearly / sweetly ‘til the fruit just punctuates & penetrates all over, now as a persimmon with a spice escort (surreal) -> late closing blossom
46.8 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
66%:
sweet blacks (berries, fig, & currant) -> cream fill -> minor walnut -> hallmark dried papaya followed by the equally hallmark spices of Esmeraldas -> gradually & slowly fades to a white-out on cane sugar -> lightly wooded tannin heralds a chocolate note surrounded by resurgent fruits for a grand finale
41.4 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
58%:
juicy sweet chocolate, almost chocolate-flavored cane juice with a cinnamon dusting -> light malt just sits on it & the bar stays on this without much evolution save for a cookie dough moment -> dissolves into a pool of sassafras-kola
38.7 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
50% Dark-Milk:
explodes off candied berries (almost a Belizean cotton candy) -> rapturous Milk Choc caramel along with some wooded prongs -> coconut cream -> a tingle of those Esmeraldas soda spices + ginger -> graham crackers from the Aroma -> capstone apricot in a rarity: fruit toffee!!
47.3 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 50
Quality 17.4 / 20
100%: Lot 01062014
Similar to its surface, a bit dulled for an unsweetened which makes it all the more approachable & palatable. Few 100s come this well-mannered -- true to the character of this varietal & a tribute to Esmeraldas' genetic structure.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass
18.4 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 88.4 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
80%: Lot 01062014
Incredibly well-behaved for an 80%. Add equipoised too. Gorgeous, aching subtlety (other than the lone drawback -- the durable Texture). Deceptively simple, meaning more than just a plain bar of low-level flavor-amplitude, this Esmeraldas teases & caresses each individual taste-bud like a belly dancer on the head of tiny pin. Very much a archetypal Esmeraldas & further proof of the exquisite nature to this varietal delicacy.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
17.7 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 86.0 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
72%: Lot 01042014
Esmeraldas as she’s meant to be. Sculpted / shapely with exceptional sugar integration. Nothing extraneous or off-course (some might claim ‘limited’). Circumscribed yet full of simple elegance. All of which may partially explain its cowering Aroma before the spices rise. Once this hits its mark though, the progression keeps on giving rather unflinchingly, right thru the finish & beyond.
An exemplar of why Esmeraldas remains a great, if ephemeral, cultivar & a true heirloom.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
18.5 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 89.9 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
66%: Lot 01042014
Yes, quite sweet at 34% sugar & this bar almost blanks-out in a whitewash of it, coupled with butter (the first to use cocoa butter in the series). But prior to then, the chocolate exudes gorgeous passages &, afterwards, holds on for that grand finale.
Though less refined than, say, A. Morin's Esmeraldas or Domori's, & more bristled despite the added sugar & butter than even its 72% sister, this still charms in spades. Apparently it received different processing parameters. While some others in the series out-finesse this (notwithstanding, again, the cocoa butter), that very rustic quality here affords it some stamina to withstand the extra embellishment & recapitulate for that ending.
Additionally, Hoja performs masterfully in suspending suagar particles -- nary a granular or crystal trace in the Mouthfeel.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
16.5 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 80.1 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
58%: Lot 01042014
Diminishing returns as the sugar increase produces a regression of type. Quite dilute to question the whole point, even misnomer, of a 58% "Dark" bar except the ending justifies the means -- tremendous spice play at the finish. Given how nothing objectionable precedes it, no one should fault Hoja for the formulation. A 'tweener' chocolate or bridge for those between kids & adults (adolescents in other words), between sweet-tooth candy consumers & severe Darksiders (or suitably Semi-Dark).
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin
15.7 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 79.5 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
50% Dark-Milk: Lot 01042014
Unlike many Milk Chocolates which push out a turgid & ponderous caramel, nothing overbearing about this. Tantalizing balance instead twixt the dairy, the cocoa, the fruit & spice accents (especially the sugar spice). All without added vanilla.
As noted before in other reviews on the C-spot®, along with Java & Belize, Esmeraldas is a natural fit for Milk Chocolate. This bar re-confirms it.
Where Hoja's 58% formulation (above) seems rather superfluous, the 50% Dark-Milk tastes just the opposite -- precise.
Simply put: terrifically gastronomic.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder
17.9 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 90.0 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
Reviewed November 17, 2014
Similar to its surface, a bit dulled for an unsweetened which makes it all the more approachable & palatable. Few 100s come this well-mannered -- true to the character of this varietal & a tribute to Esmeraldas' genetic structure.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass
18.4 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 88.4 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
80%: Lot 01062014
Incredibly well-behaved for an 80%. Add equipoised too. Gorgeous, aching subtlety (other than the lone drawback -- the durable Texture). Deceptively simple, meaning more than just a plain bar of low-level flavor-amplitude, this Esmeraldas teases & caresses each individual taste-bud like a belly dancer on the head of tiny pin. Very much a archetypal Esmeraldas & further proof of the exquisite nature to this varietal delicacy.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
17.7 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 86.0 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
72%: Lot 01042014
Esmeraldas as she’s meant to be. Sculpted / shapely with exceptional sugar integration. Nothing extraneous or off-course (some might claim ‘limited’). Circumscribed yet full of simple elegance. All of which may partially explain its cowering Aroma before the spices rise. Once this hits its mark though, the progression keeps on giving rather unflinchingly, right thru the finish & beyond.
An exemplar of why Esmeraldas remains a great, if ephemeral, cultivar & a true heirloom.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
18.5 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 89.9 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
66%: Lot 01042014
Yes, quite sweet at 34% sugar & this bar almost blanks-out in a whitewash of it, coupled with butter (the first to use cocoa butter in the series). But prior to then, the chocolate exudes gorgeous passages &, afterwards, holds on for that grand finale.
Though less refined than, say, A. Morin's Esmeraldas or Domori's, & more bristled despite the added sugar & butter than even its 72% sister, this still charms in spades. Apparently it received different processing parameters. While some others in the series out-finesse this (notwithstanding, again, the cocoa butter), that very rustic quality here affords it some stamina to withstand the extra embellishment & recapitulate for that ending.
Additionally, Hoja performs masterfully in suspending suagar particles -- nary a granular or crystal trace in the Mouthfeel.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
16.5 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 80.1 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
58%: Lot 01042014
Diminishing returns as the sugar increase produces a regression of type. Quite dilute to question the whole point, even misnomer, of a 58% "Dark" bar except the ending justifies the means -- tremendous spice play at the finish. Given how nothing objectionable precedes it, no one should fault Hoja for the formulation. A 'tweener' chocolate or bridge for those between kids & adults (adolescents in other words), between sweet-tooth candy consumers & severe Darksiders (or suitably Semi-Dark).
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin
15.7 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 79.5 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
50% Dark-Milk: Lot 01042014
Unlike many Milk Chocolates which push out a turgid & ponderous caramel, nothing overbearing about this. Tantalizing balance instead twixt the dairy, the cocoa, the fruit & spice accents (especially the sugar spice). All without added vanilla.
As noted before in other reviews on the C-spot®, along with Java & Belize, Esmeraldas is a natural fit for Milk Chocolate. This bar re-confirms it.
Where Hoja's 58% formulation (above) seems rather superfluous, the 50% Dark-Milk tastes just the opposite -- precise.
Simply put: terrifically gastronomic.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder
17.9 POINTS OUT OF A POSSIBLE 20
GRAND TOTAL / RATING: 90.0 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 100
Reviewed November 17, 2014