Seeds-to-Chocolates
by Fijiana
Impact
A name change -- Fijiana fka Adi -- but core flavor remains the same from this South Pacific island: chips ahoy (potato, taro, cassava, etc.) imbued with the volcanic coral reefs which surround it.
Where years ago Adi-now-Fijiana just started to climb up the ‘Mt. Cacáo’, carried by passion & support from many, their chocolate today keeps moving forward... step-by-step.
Where years ago Adi-now-Fijiana just started to climb up the ‘Mt. Cacáo’, carried by passion & support from many, their chocolate today keeps moving forward... step-by-step.
Appearance 3.6 / 5
| Color: |
Seeds: rusted copper-gold shells; uniform pitch-dark cotyledons Bars: all-dark |
| Surface: |
Seeds: flats of a good healthy size Bars: road weary |
| Temper: | smudge tops |
| Snap: | seismic |
Aroma 8 / 10
Seeds
dry wood formerly soaked in vinegar, once unhusked just the lightest dapples of banana, palm, minerals, coral, smoke, & wind
99%
black coral & sand
yeast
81%
More of the same but thru a sulphuric vent then, poof!, the magic dragon-fruit
72%
more self-same Fijian coral -- a signature for the origin as identifiable as Madagascan tartness, Bolivia's honey purpled fruit, & Venezuela's soft nuts
55%
throwback beer hall from the 20th century before microbrews rolled up on the scene -- yeasts, hops & sawdust -> blooms up a sour-flower
dry wood formerly soaked in vinegar, once unhusked just the lightest dapples of banana, palm, minerals, coral, smoke, & wind
99%
black coral & sand
yeast
81%
More of the same but thru a sulphuric vent then, poof!, the magic dragon-fruit
72%
more self-same Fijian coral -- a signature for the origin as identifiable as Madagascan tartness, Bolivia's honey purpled fruit, & Venezuela's soft nuts
55%
throwback beer hall from the 20th century before microbrews rolled up on the scene -- yeasts, hops & sawdust -> blooms up a sour-flower
Mouthfeel 12.2 / 15
| Texture: | sumo-size |
| Melt: | rolls slow |
Flavor 42.7 / 50
Seeds
breakfast… sliced banana on cereal grains -> downshifts into kind roots & fungi -> slight mineral lift, then savories centered around lightly bitter greens
99%
the Aromatics, especially yeast lead into a coffee-mangrove of some butter slick -> "salted" butter savorizes the group for some of those greens unearthed originally in the Seeds (above) -> plantain chips -> bituminous at the very back
81%
strong coral-chocolate release -> very fleeting spice (vanilla-cinnamon-sassafras) leaves yeast in its wake -> ale -> spices dodge back in & out, pulling some stringency along -> balsa wood
72%
coral-cocoa with a lava undertow -> volcanic brownie -> stone werx / granite -> coffee -> light dappled spices centered around sassafras -> chocolate-plated sandalwood -> mildly astringent bignay on the dissolve + a pine nut
55%
basic sweet cocoa backed in breadfruit -> vanilla-cinnamon -> root beer -> nano wood chips
breakfast… sliced banana on cereal grains -> downshifts into kind roots & fungi -> slight mineral lift, then savories centered around lightly bitter greens
99%
the Aromatics, especially yeast lead into a coffee-mangrove of some butter slick -> "salted" butter savorizes the group for some of those greens unearthed originally in the Seeds (above) -> plantain chips -> bituminous at the very back
81%
strong coral-chocolate release -> very fleeting spice (vanilla-cinnamon-sassafras) leaves yeast in its wake -> ale -> spices dodge back in & out, pulling some stringency along -> balsa wood
72%
coral-cocoa with a lava undertow -> volcanic brownie -> stone werx / granite -> coffee -> light dappled spices centered around sassafras -> chocolate-plated sandalwood -> mildly astringent bignay on the dissolve + a pine nut
55%
basic sweet cocoa backed in breadfruit -> vanilla-cinnamon -> root beer -> nano wood chips
Quality 16.2 / 20
Seeds
On the plain & tame side. Assiduous handling.
99%
The successor to Adi's Soso-O. Some of the same tags (the coral, the coal, the taro reinterpreted here) but so much better comportment of them. Feral yet tolerable. A latent upheaval seethes in the substratum which this bar cuffs with its own inherent cocoa butter, preventing the volcanic atoll from blowing its top off… & that of consumers' too.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass
81%
Really good intermingling twixt core cocoa & the other compounds, particularly those yeasty analogues.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
72%
The Fijiana benchmark.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
55%
Standard fare.
Yet surprisingly fortified for 55%, a percentage about as low as one can go & still be labeled 'Dark'. Indeed this & the 72% (above) suggest that the current sweet-spot for Fijiana may be in the mid-60s.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Capsule Summary
A marked advance for the company. The added refinements sacrifice some of the rambunctious personality of Fiji chocolate from past harvests but make it all the more accessible & appealing while retaining enough of those traits to clearly identify this unique origin.
Reviewed May 12, 2015
On the plain & tame side. Assiduous handling.
99%
The successor to Adi's Soso-O. Some of the same tags (the coral, the coal, the taro reinterpreted here) but so much better comportment of them. Feral yet tolerable. A latent upheaval seethes in the substratum which this bar cuffs with its own inherent cocoa butter, preventing the volcanic atoll from blowing its top off… & that of consumers' too.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass
81%
Really good intermingling twixt core cocoa & the other compounds, particularly those yeasty analogues.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
72%
The Fijiana benchmark.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
55%
Standard fare.
Yet surprisingly fortified for 55%, a percentage about as low as one can go & still be labeled 'Dark'. Indeed this & the 72% (above) suggest that the current sweet-spot for Fijiana may be in the mid-60s.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Capsule Summary
A marked advance for the company. The added refinements sacrifice some of the rambunctious personality of Fiji chocolate from past harvests but make it all the more accessible & appealing while retaining enough of those traits to clearly identify this unique origin.
Reviewed May 12, 2015