Amazonas (+ Tumbes)
by Wilkie's
Impact
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the C-spot® occasionally discourses about achieving chocolate the way Irish author Seamus Heaney talks about achieved poetry. In others words, some accomplish it while others merely call it that.
Achievement... as when a piece rhymes to practically generate itself, that surprises & extends the fixed relations between the parts, which then rebel against conventions / expectations & shatter the edge of limits. Heaney’s bounding ‘overlife’ encompasses the phenomenon in a single word. In such transformative moments nothing else matters. The present becomes all the more worthwhile & necessary in a world too often untrustworthy.
This 4-bar series from Wilkie’s, a relative newborn in Ireland, snapshots flavors more entombed than fresh from the womb. Specifically the 3 Amazonas bars. But the ultimate chocolate conclave named Tumbes resurrects -- in the spirit of Heaney’s Requiem for the Croppies during this Easter season -- yes, resurrects… well, 'achieved chocolate' from the slumbers, whistling faithfully / joyfully past those graves.
Happy St. Pat's.
Appearance 4 / 5
| Color: |
Amazonas (89%; 75%; 75% with Nibs): silvery-brown in recessed red Tumbes: Darth purple |
| Surface: | a little flakey |
| Temper: | soft sheen |
| Snap: |
Amazonas (89%; 75%; 75% with Nibs): thonks it Tumbes: weak along the score lines / strong within |
Aroma 6.3 / 10
Amazonas (89%; 75%; 75% with Nibs)
a generalized chocolate mangrove with a spot or 2 of sour puke
Tumbes
ditto except more wooded
a generalized chocolate mangrove with a spot or 2 of sour puke
Tumbes
ditto except more wooded
Mouthfeel 10.5 / 15
| Texture: |
Amazonas 89%: fat Wax Factor™ 75%: ropey 75% with NIbs: oddly…. Tumbes: thick |
| Melt: |
Amazonas 89%: awkward & clumsy 75%: fragmented 75% with NIbs:… the smoothest of the pack Tumbes: plodding |
Flavor 38.2 / 50
Amazonas
89%
straight choc, cherry chaser -> bandages cover over some oozing acidity + dirty scabs -> abacá (fibrous rope used for tea bags) -> soncoya -> clay
75%
granadilla layered over base cocoa -> combination soncoya / sweet rosella -> foundation gives way & the bottom falls out leaving an acidic suspension akin to pineapple leading to mango -> finds remarkable reinforcement on a spiced balsam-chocolate platform -> healthy persimmon stringency ends it
75% with NIbs
dull beginnings… animated by acidity noted above in the plain 75% (without Nibs) for only so long & for only so much -> washes out
Tumbes
straightforward vanilla-balsam chocolate -> cream of cherimoya -> subtle pink peppercorn -> wood's ear mushroom
89%
straight choc, cherry chaser -> bandages cover over some oozing acidity + dirty scabs -> abacá (fibrous rope used for tea bags) -> soncoya -> clay
75%
granadilla layered over base cocoa -> combination soncoya / sweet rosella -> foundation gives way & the bottom falls out leaving an acidic suspension akin to pineapple leading to mango -> finds remarkable reinforcement on a spiced balsam-chocolate platform -> healthy persimmon stringency ends it
75% with NIbs
dull beginnings… animated by acidity noted above in the plain 75% (without Nibs) for only so long & for only so much -> washes out
Tumbes
straightforward vanilla-balsam chocolate -> cream of cherimoya -> subtle pink peppercorn -> wood's ear mushroom
Quality 14.4 / 20
Amazonas -- aka Playa Alta; shoulders all the flaws of a Tisano-brokered seed lot: color of these bars indicates some slaty / partially fermented cacáo. Little in the way of the assiduous sourcing delivered by Idilio's benchmark Amazonas.
89%
Mediocre; worse, uninspired. Thus this review too. The only extenuating feature being the high percentage.
75%
Imbalanced & indecisive in character. Through it all though quite respectable &, ultimately, inviting.
75% with Nibs
Bored with itself. Nibs should've provided much needed ballast & indeed they temper the acids only to all bland up, buttered over & out.
Any resemblance between this & the Felchlin-manufactured Amazonas with Nibs purely restricted to name-only.
Tumbes
Appears in the line-up as a BTW addendum; it in fact occupies center stage, the centerpiece. Killer dead-drop of near-zero nuance. Absolutely raises the curve on this 4-bar review, far & away the most accomplished of the set.
The Amazonas trio (above) trips of very early-stage startup. Wilkiie's needs to ditch it, use as fodder for Irish aquaculture fish farming. And shelve too all the talk of "Criollo" which, applied to these cacáo types only remotely related to that varietal, indicates misguided marketing.
That aside, the initial frames in this Tumbes recall Amedei's Blanco from neighboring Piura. Beyond that, the vanilla-balsam registers so pronounced to mistake for added extracts of each (none listed on the wrapper however). Hi-CQ (Chocolate Quotient for core basal cocoa flavor) of exceptional depth seals it for good. Merits a separate review of its own + a rating commensurate to its impact.
Tumbes exhibits clearly the much better side of Wilkie's & demonstrates upside potential. More of it, please.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed July 17, 2015
89%
Mediocre; worse, uninspired. Thus this review too. The only extenuating feature being the high percentage.
75%
Imbalanced & indecisive in character. Through it all though quite respectable &, ultimately, inviting.
75% with Nibs
Bored with itself. Nibs should've provided much needed ballast & indeed they temper the acids only to all bland up, buttered over & out.
Any resemblance between this & the Felchlin-manufactured Amazonas with Nibs purely restricted to name-only.
Tumbes
Appears in the line-up as a BTW addendum; it in fact occupies center stage, the centerpiece. Killer dead-drop of near-zero nuance. Absolutely raises the curve on this 4-bar review, far & away the most accomplished of the set.
The Amazonas trio (above) trips of very early-stage startup. Wilkiie's needs to ditch it, use as fodder for Irish aquaculture fish farming. And shelve too all the talk of "Criollo" which, applied to these cacáo types only remotely related to that varietal, indicates misguided marketing.
That aside, the initial frames in this Tumbes recall Amedei's Blanco from neighboring Piura. Beyond that, the vanilla-balsam registers so pronounced to mistake for added extracts of each (none listed on the wrapper however). Hi-CQ (Chocolate Quotient for core basal cocoa flavor) of exceptional depth seals it for good. Merits a separate review of its own + a rating commensurate to its impact.
Tumbes exhibits clearly the much better side of Wilkie's & demonstrates upside potential. More of it, please.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed July 17, 2015