100% Camino Verde; San Francisco de Macorís, D.R.; Maya Mountain, Belize
by Dandelion
Impact
This is what happens when living in a beautiful place like Sonoma or Napa & yet have nothing to live for except TV, blunts, & booze. And maybe a Harley & a huge fierce dog or two. Plus chocolate of course.
No wonder Lost stayed on the air for almost a decade. Anyone in recovery would love to go to an AA meeting there. A mashup where David Lynch meets Chuck Palahnuik, with Diane Arbus' ghost hovering as a firefly over the dead soldiers drunk in the Ray Bradbury dusk of swirling milkweed spores, godzilla gnats & wild dandelions.
Yeah, the pics worth looking at feature the age-encrusted or the very young kids glowering back at Waldorf's camera with a snaring "I'm not gonna put out for your shit, Mr. Waldorf".
These 3 bars from SF, CA snap a similar attitude that they too can be way tough like that.
Appearance -- / 5
| Color: | on the edge of darkness |
| Surface: | clean |
| Temper: | dull shimmer |
| Snap: | cuffed |
Aroma -- / 10
100% Camino Verde
shoe polish
lacquer / varnish
logwood spores
soil fertilizer
nuts
very Camino Verde -- active without being dynamic
San Francisco de Macorís, D.R.
very dark, tannic & claustroflavic
pork sausage, kraut + black coconut
Maya Mountain
yet one more smoked porcine affair… fruit desperate to break thru
shoe polish
lacquer / varnish
logwood spores
soil fertilizer
nuts
very Camino Verde -- active without being dynamic
San Francisco de Macorís, D.R.
very dark, tannic & claustroflavic
pork sausage, kraut + black coconut
Maya Mountain
yet one more smoked porcine affair… fruit desperate to break thru
Mouthfeel -- / 15
| Texture: | Wax Factor™ |
| Melt: | prolapsed |
Flavor -- / 50
100% Camino Verde
nuts & cocoa butter lead out -> Camino's now trademark yeast colonies -> cremini & woods ear mushrooms -> paté -> bitter base attended by pencil shavings & lead -> chicory & gentian roots
San Francisco de Macorís, D.R.
in a carry-over from the Aroma, goes off smoked pork chop -> strange grape with acrid bottom develops into a bitter-sour -> dirt-mint exit
Maya Mountain
that now classic Maya Mt grape tone underpinned in cocoa of some wooden strength -> expresses a Cabernet quality -> gathers some must & dust -> soursop -> chocolate-allspice
nuts & cocoa butter lead out -> Camino's now trademark yeast colonies -> cremini & woods ear mushrooms -> paté -> bitter base attended by pencil shavings & lead -> chicory & gentian roots
San Francisco de Macorís, D.R.
in a carry-over from the Aroma, goes off smoked pork chop -> strange grape with acrid bottom develops into a bitter-sour -> dirt-mint exit
Maya Mountain
that now classic Maya Mt grape tone underpinned in cocoa of some wooden strength -> expresses a Cabernet quality -> gathers some must & dust -> soursop -> chocolate-allspice
Quality -- / 20
100% Camino Verde
Balao, Ecuador
At 100% unsweetened, the purest Camino to date.
As expected, quite self-contained as Camino, even sweetened, tends to be…. planter Vincente Norero's starter cultures digesting the more acerbic bio-chemicals in the ferment pile.
A tolerable / borderline palatable 100%.
San Francisco de Macorís, D.R.
Öko-Caribe; Elvesia; Duarte; Dominican Republic
70% cacáo-content; Batch 0
A throwback bar to the late 90s / early Naughts before the D.R. became the IT destination for premium cacáo.
Beset by a hammy ferment.
Some decent compounds mealing about… awaiting to be re-aligned.
For a different expo on Öko-Caribe cocoa, check Fruition Hispaniola or Middlebury's rendition.
Maya Mountain
Ever since Maya Mt. Cacao in Belize corrected their ferment cycles during the last couple years, just about every barsmith hits it out.
This one no different.
Best of the trio here & among Dandelion's better bars in the brief history of the label's lineup.
Capsule Summary
Much about the community which Dandelion builds by direct sourcing & naming of staff members on the wrappers who have a hand in producing these bars. Grouplove, chocolate-style.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
Reviewed June 16, 2015
Balao, Ecuador
At 100% unsweetened, the purest Camino to date.
As expected, quite self-contained as Camino, even sweetened, tends to be…. planter Vincente Norero's starter cultures digesting the more acerbic bio-chemicals in the ferment pile.
A tolerable / borderline palatable 100%.
San Francisco de Macorís, D.R.
Öko-Caribe; Elvesia; Duarte; Dominican Republic
70% cacáo-content; Batch 0
A throwback bar to the late 90s / early Naughts before the D.R. became the IT destination for premium cacáo.
Beset by a hammy ferment.
Some decent compounds mealing about… awaiting to be re-aligned.
For a different expo on Öko-Caribe cocoa, check Fruition Hispaniola or Middlebury's rendition.
Maya Mountain
Ever since Maya Mt. Cacao in Belize corrected their ferment cycles during the last couple years, just about every barsmith hits it out.
This one no different.
Best of the trio here & among Dandelion's better bars in the brief history of the label's lineup.
Capsule Summary
Much about the community which Dandelion builds by direct sourcing & naming of staff members on the wrappers who have a hand in producing these bars. Grouplove, chocolate-style.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
Reviewed June 16, 2015