NICARAGUA SWEEP:
Chuno
Johe
Nicaloso
Rugoso
Tenor
by Szántó Tibor
Impact
Cocaine’s the new green.
According to one study, trace amounts of it can be found on 4 out of every 5 dollar bills in circulation – the world’s reserve currency. However, the fine powder easily spreads so presence of the drug does not necessarily correlate to the money being used for snorting.
These bars ain’t quite that but crude estimates run that 4 out of every 5 fingers will have some of it on them... due to their construction if nothing else.
Plus they're 'green'… see below for what exactly that means.
According to one study, trace amounts of it can be found on 4 out of every 5 dollar bills in circulation – the world’s reserve currency. However, the fine powder easily spreads so presence of the drug does not necessarily correlate to the money being used for snorting.
These bars ain’t quite that but crude estimates run that 4 out of every 5 fingers will have some of it on them... due to their construction if nothing else.
Plus they're 'green'… see below for what exactly that means.
Appearance 3.6 / 5
| Color: | on the light side including a couple with some huge rouge (particularly Chuno + Tenor) |
| Surface: | a few bumps & lumps |
| Temper: | flat |
| Snap: | defunct |
Aroma 7.1 / 10
as a collection, a generalized yeasty, cheesy, greenly bunch
some more grounded / Earthen than others, + variable low-degrees of malting & fruiting
some more grounded / Earthen than others, + variable low-degrees of malting & fruiting
Mouthfeel 11.9 / 15
| Texture: | sandy |
| Melt: | semi-quick with an early collapse but a prolonged decay |
Flavor 43.7 / 50
Chuno
cacáo verde / green cocoa pierced by a citric tip -> malted sap -> agave-sweetened graham cracker -> nopales signals a splintering off into desert factions -> returns toward a puckering marmalade terminus
Taste more Mexican than Nicaraguan & far from Szántó Tibor's initial Chuno, that one the Blanco
Johe
green things -> latent cocoa -> nuts, roots, & twigs… all positively balanced -> marshmallow herb (quite good) -> faint marzipan
Weirdly good in a quasi-primitve way & a marked upgrade of Friis-Holm's early iteration of Johe
Nicaloso
quick chocolate &, then, just as quick, shifts into gooseberry jam -> sapping caramel… sticks there, a sort of caramelized jelly -> green leaf tobacco-cocoa
A unique & vibrant interpretation of this varietal
Rugoso
easily the most potent updraft on the inhalation of the entire collection & the tongue holds as much… a stronger version of the others -- cacáo verde -> pitaya marmalade lays it on heavy;
other than fortitude, however, it hardly stands out from the rest in contrast to elsewhere that shows this varietal a cut above
Tenor
more a tradename / brand-name of a regional type than any genotype, Tenor™ hails fromLa Dalia, Matagalpa, sampled prior in Mesocacao & others
the more unique scent in the set -- spice… oxidizes very clean, watery, even melonic
another sweet jam rages in & on its heels some more green-action cocoa -> rear herbal FXs (medicinal in nature)
cacáo verde / green cocoa pierced by a citric tip -> malted sap -> agave-sweetened graham cracker -> nopales signals a splintering off into desert factions -> returns toward a puckering marmalade terminus
Taste more Mexican than Nicaraguan & far from Szántó Tibor's initial Chuno, that one the Blanco
Johe
green things -> latent cocoa -> nuts, roots, & twigs… all positively balanced -> marshmallow herb (quite good) -> faint marzipan
Weirdly good in a quasi-primitve way & a marked upgrade of Friis-Holm's early iteration of Johe
Nicaloso
quick chocolate &, then, just as quick, shifts into gooseberry jam -> sapping caramel… sticks there, a sort of caramelized jelly -> green leaf tobacco-cocoa
A unique & vibrant interpretation of this varietal
Rugoso
easily the most potent updraft on the inhalation of the entire collection & the tongue holds as much… a stronger version of the others -- cacáo verde -> pitaya marmalade lays it on heavy;
other than fortitude, however, it hardly stands out from the rest in contrast to elsewhere that shows this varietal a cut above
Tenor
more a tradename / brand-name of a regional type than any genotype, Tenor™ hails fromLa Dalia, Matagalpa, sampled prior in Mesocacao & others
the more unique scent in the set -- spice… oxidizes very clean, watery, even melonic
another sweet jam rages in & on its heels some more green-action cocoa -> rear herbal FXs (medicinal in nature)
Quality 16 / 20
A horizontal flight across a particular region, in a single country, covering 5 cultivars.
Szántó Tibor basically runs the table of the Ingemann cacáo catalog, a mix of hybrids rooted in Amelonado, a cluster of clones originally discussed in-depth at the end of the review for Friis-Holm's Ruguso.
All of them presented here on the raw edge largely owing to the crafting of these bars (very light processing… roasting / refining) & not a reflection per se of the cocoa harvested at source. As such, the handling squeezes their flavor profiles into a narrow gauge than would be otherwise in further underscoring their very common ancestry. Quite top-heavy & asymmetrical. Still good, just underdeveloped.
Instead Szántó Tibor brands its maker's mark on each & every one at the expense of their respective individual character. Stunning, however, how much flavor still expresses given the processing parameters.
Taken as a whole, Szántó Tibor possesses a true house style & signature.
Reviewed July 21, 2015
Szántó Tibor basically runs the table of the Ingemann cacáo catalog, a mix of hybrids rooted in Amelonado, a cluster of clones originally discussed in-depth at the end of the review for Friis-Holm's Ruguso.
All of them presented here on the raw edge largely owing to the crafting of these bars (very light processing… roasting / refining) & not a reflection per se of the cocoa harvested at source. As such, the handling squeezes their flavor profiles into a narrow gauge than would be otherwise in further underscoring their very common ancestry. Quite top-heavy & asymmetrical. Still good, just underdeveloped.
Instead Szántó Tibor brands its maker's mark on each & every one at the expense of their respective individual character. Stunning, however, how much flavor still expresses given the processing parameters.
Taken as a whole, Szántó Tibor possesses a true house style & signature.
Reviewed July 21, 2015