Various Bars
by Beussent Lachelle
Impact
Tongue & Beans…
A cannibal responding "to messages from voices in his head" killed a 90-year-old in sleepy Nouilhan, France -- then pulled his heart & tongue out to go along with some white beans he was having for dinner.
The victim’s calcinated body was discovered by police who likened the scene to the fictional Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs who famously ate a victim's liver with "some fava beans & a nice Chianti".
The cannibal was sectioned in a psychiatric ward after assessments determined he suffered from "mystic delusion" at the time of the crime.
Hmmm, tongue 'n beans,
A cannibal responding "to messages from voices in his head" killed a 90-year-old in sleepy Nouilhan, France -- then pulled his heart & tongue out to go along with some white beans he was having for dinner.
The victim’s calcinated body was discovered by police who likened the scene to the fictional Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs who famously ate a victim's liver with "some fava beans & a nice Chianti".
The cannibal was sectioned in a psychiatric ward after assessments determined he suffered from "mystic delusion" at the time of the crime.
Hmmm, tongue 'n beans,
Appearance 4.5 / 5
| Color: | rich palette |
| Surface: | logo-embossed with 'chocolate' scripted in just about every major language on Earth |
| Temper: | dowdy |
| Snap: | steady throat |
Aroma 8.3 / 10
100%
clean, well-defined with hi-CQ (or baseline cocoa aromas)
Noir Equateur
mini-tang + M&Ms -- malt & mallow root
Lait Equateur
follows suit on its Noir (above) -- malted cream
Noir Venezuela
more malting goodness, this one of softly scintillating spices (cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg) in another cream bed
Noir Jamaique
one of those down 'n dirty bars -- in a good, clean way -- plus it aerates to… (see Flavor below)
Noir Sao Tome
super deep-set MC-pretense
Lait Sao Tome
cream-fill in a toasted grain silo
Noir Ghana
dusky & dusty
Lait Ghana
a patisserie bar doubling as a fromagerie sporting drop-dead gorgeous terra apricot tint
Lait Madagascar
nothing but butter -- nary a scintilla of Madagascar's famed tarts
clean, well-defined with hi-CQ (or baseline cocoa aromas)
Noir Equateur
mini-tang + M&Ms -- malt & mallow root
Lait Equateur
follows suit on its Noir (above) -- malted cream
Noir Venezuela
more malting goodness, this one of softly scintillating spices (cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg) in another cream bed
Noir Jamaique
one of those down 'n dirty bars -- in a good, clean way -- plus it aerates to… (see Flavor below)
Noir Sao Tome
super deep-set MC-pretense
Lait Sao Tome
cream-fill in a toasted grain silo
Noir Ghana
dusky & dusty
Lait Ghana
a patisserie bar doubling as a fromagerie sporting drop-dead gorgeous terra apricot tint
Lait Madagascar
nothing but butter -- nary a scintilla of Madagascar's famed tarts
Mouthfeel 11.8 / 15
| Texture: | clumps & lumps (for the Darks)... |
| Melt: | …. huge butter balls (for the Milks) |
Flavor 43.4 / 50
100%
dry cocoa tannin -> very brief sour -> the bitter Earth sets in, backed in acid -> lead in the rear folds Grousing
Noir Equateur
72% cacáo-content
gorgeous jasmine malt, quite unusual & rare for an Ecuador -> gradual fade-in on a blackberry around some light graham-cracking -> an even rarer blackberry blossom -> background mallow root -> elderberry syrup -> vanilla aft-linger
Terrific perfumes. Very little chocolate-chocolate (or CQ for core cocoa flavor) but otherwise riveting, sweet & considerable. Particularly deft utilization on vanilla & fleur de sel, just a touch of the former & but a grain of the latter to entrain & lift the profile.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Lait Equateur
42% cacáo-content
vanilla malt shake -> caramel easy on its heels -> deep butterscotching at the midpoint -> creams away to eternity…
French dairy + Beussent Lachelle's Ecuador chocolate base & no one would expect any less than a tremendous Milk Chocolate. And this just massive... texturally & flavorfully thick. If tongue were straws, they'd stand in place in this malt shake. What a formulation. It guarantees as much. Unique: a look at the descending order / proportions of ingredients tells the tale of the bar.
INGREDIENTS: milk powder, cocoa butter, sugar, cocoa mass, sunflower lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Noir Venezuela
72% cacáo-content
explodes off a chocolate bang -> cream calms the proceedings -> delicate nuts supported by a tannic finger -> the aforementioned spices of the Aroma increasingly deepen, lengthen & darken the fold to the point of eclipsing the underlying grace of this bar
An obvious Venzy with its Maracaibo-like tags -- utterly sumptuous beginning-thru-first half. The vanilla, however, extraneous here, eventually overshadows the chocolate itself, especially as it accounts for much of the shading in the final quarter. Beussent Lachelle should know that this origin's supple cultivars beg for finespun processing, incorporating simplicity.
Still, no one can forget the explosive start so much can forgiven.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Noir Jamaique
72% cacáo-content
tobacco-prune jelly (rare) quickly shifts to plum brandy & the multi-layers therein -> tapioca, then just its constituent yucca -> gum acacia -> dark veined chicory lined in black orchids -> molasses-juniper
One of those all-too-infrequent sightings of Jamaican chocolate. Even with the same configuration, this holds its poise greater than its Caribbean neighbor Venezuela (above) because of sturdier island cacáo that withstands & indeed complements vanilla. A Jamaican in sum which stands on its own, practically alone, in terms of flavor array as no other bar from here quite resembles it. Only momentarily does it fool of the next closest thing: L.A. Burdick's Grenada. That's how near singular this shows.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Noir Sao Tome
72% cacáo content' Amelonado
instant caramel rocks into some big butter & copra crust -> date sweet-spot -> black cherry-mocha (phenomenal) -> mead heralds a honey nut toffee-brittle ender
The mellowest São Tomé's ever & so long-lasting too. Really imbues a sense of Milk Chocolate throughout… right into the Texture. On the downside it lacks huge magnitude expected for both a 72% & a West African. None finer though for this historic origin cacáo.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Lait Sao Tome
42% cacáo-content
salted vanilla-cream -> cocoa slowly inches up -> butter toffee
Less spectacular than its Noir parent (above). Could easily absorb added cocoa mass. Where the heavy concentration of cocoa butter & milk powder work wonders with the Lait Equateur (also above), formulation here tastes too timid.
Classic & rich nonetheless.
INGREDIENTS: milk powder, cocoa butter, sugar, cocoa mass, sunflower lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Noir Ghana
72% cacáo-content
Reese's® action -> peanut skins -> slippery elm, side jute -> allanblackia oil -> bauxite -> shea butter
Yet another exposé on the unraveling of West Africa's once stout & proud cacáo. This has vestiges of it, along with strange hybridized inputs taking over like creeping vines on a lost relic. A pale shadow of its former prowess.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Lait Ghana
salted peanut caramel (no surprise there, considering its Noir Ghana sib) -> cream in a supporting role (literally -- massive textural weight)
Another Milk Chocolate, another bomb from Beussent Lachelle that just creams it. French dairies simply put most other countries' to crying shame. The butterfat content outrageous. Leaves the lips, tongue & roof of the mouth greasy…. for hours. This stuff might be the world's best tanning lotion AND sunscreen.
Sensational.
INGREDIENTS: milk powder, cocoa butter, sugar, cocoa mass, sunflower lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Lait Madagascar
replicates the other Milk Chocs in the lineup… to the detriment of this island origin's cacáo whose volatiles end up smothered, buried & breathless save for a ghost of a lone strawberry
dry cocoa tannin -> very brief sour -> the bitter Earth sets in, backed in acid -> lead in the rear folds Grousing
Noir Equateur
72% cacáo-content
gorgeous jasmine malt, quite unusual & rare for an Ecuador -> gradual fade-in on a blackberry around some light graham-cracking -> an even rarer blackberry blossom -> background mallow root -> elderberry syrup -> vanilla aft-linger
Terrific perfumes. Very little chocolate-chocolate (or CQ for core cocoa flavor) but otherwise riveting, sweet & considerable. Particularly deft utilization on vanilla & fleur de sel, just a touch of the former & but a grain of the latter to entrain & lift the profile.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Lait Equateur
42% cacáo-content
vanilla malt shake -> caramel easy on its heels -> deep butterscotching at the midpoint -> creams away to eternity…
French dairy + Beussent Lachelle's Ecuador chocolate base & no one would expect any less than a tremendous Milk Chocolate. And this just massive... texturally & flavorfully thick. If tongue were straws, they'd stand in place in this malt shake. What a formulation. It guarantees as much. Unique: a look at the descending order / proportions of ingredients tells the tale of the bar.
INGREDIENTS: milk powder, cocoa butter, sugar, cocoa mass, sunflower lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Noir Venezuela
72% cacáo-content
explodes off a chocolate bang -> cream calms the proceedings -> delicate nuts supported by a tannic finger -> the aforementioned spices of the Aroma increasingly deepen, lengthen & darken the fold to the point of eclipsing the underlying grace of this bar
An obvious Venzy with its Maracaibo-like tags -- utterly sumptuous beginning-thru-first half. The vanilla, however, extraneous here, eventually overshadows the chocolate itself, especially as it accounts for much of the shading in the final quarter. Beussent Lachelle should know that this origin's supple cultivars beg for finespun processing, incorporating simplicity.
Still, no one can forget the explosive start so much can forgiven.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Noir Jamaique
72% cacáo-content
tobacco-prune jelly (rare) quickly shifts to plum brandy & the multi-layers therein -> tapioca, then just its constituent yucca -> gum acacia -> dark veined chicory lined in black orchids -> molasses-juniper
One of those all-too-infrequent sightings of Jamaican chocolate. Even with the same configuration, this holds its poise greater than its Caribbean neighbor Venezuela (above) because of sturdier island cacáo that withstands & indeed complements vanilla. A Jamaican in sum which stands on its own, practically alone, in terms of flavor array as no other bar from here quite resembles it. Only momentarily does it fool of the next closest thing: L.A. Burdick's Grenada. That's how near singular this shows.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Noir Sao Tome
72% cacáo content' Amelonado
instant caramel rocks into some big butter & copra crust -> date sweet-spot -> black cherry-mocha (phenomenal) -> mead heralds a honey nut toffee-brittle ender
The mellowest São Tomé's ever & so long-lasting too. Really imbues a sense of Milk Chocolate throughout… right into the Texture. On the downside it lacks huge magnitude expected for both a 72% & a West African. None finer though for this historic origin cacáo.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Lait Sao Tome
42% cacáo-content
salted vanilla-cream -> cocoa slowly inches up -> butter toffee
Less spectacular than its Noir parent (above). Could easily absorb added cocoa mass. Where the heavy concentration of cocoa butter & milk powder work wonders with the Lait Equateur (also above), formulation here tastes too timid.
Classic & rich nonetheless.
INGREDIENTS: milk powder, cocoa butter, sugar, cocoa mass, sunflower lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Noir Ghana
72% cacáo-content
Reese's® action -> peanut skins -> slippery elm, side jute -> allanblackia oil -> bauxite -> shea butter
Yet another exposé on the unraveling of West Africa's once stout & proud cacáo. This has vestiges of it, along with strange hybridized inputs taking over like creeping vines on a lost relic. A pale shadow of its former prowess.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Lait Ghana
salted peanut caramel (no surprise there, considering its Noir Ghana sib) -> cream in a supporting role (literally -- massive textural weight)
Another Milk Chocolate, another bomb from Beussent Lachelle that just creams it. French dairies simply put most other countries' to crying shame. The butterfat content outrageous. Leaves the lips, tongue & roof of the mouth greasy…. for hours. This stuff might be the world's best tanning lotion AND sunscreen.
Sensational.
INGREDIENTS: milk powder, cocoa butter, sugar, cocoa mass, sunflower lecithin, vanilla, fleur de sel
Lait Madagascar
replicates the other Milk Chocs in the lineup… to the detriment of this island origin's cacáo whose volatiles end up smothered, buried & breathless save for a ghost of a lone strawberry
Quality 16.1 / 20
'One size' rarely fits all but Beussent Lachelle approaches each origin with a cookie-cutter formula: 72% for Darks & 42% for Milk Chocolates + the whole make-up kit (added sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla, lecithin & salt). And about the most dexterous use of sunflower lecithin yet.
Hard to fault the label too much since, by & large, the formulation succeeds fabulously. With this self-same method, the number of standouts (Equateur, Jamaique, & Sao Tome) exceeds the pitfalls (Venezuela & Ghana). The Milk Chocolates offer an even more favorable ratio.
Reviewed August 11, 2015
Hard to fault the label too much since, by & large, the formulation succeeds fabulously. With this self-same method, the number of standouts (Equateur, Jamaique, & Sao Tome) exceeds the pitfalls (Venezuela & Ghana). The Milk Chocolates offer an even more favorable ratio.
Reviewed August 11, 2015