Grand Cru de Plantation
Unroasted
Origine São Tomé
Trinitario
by Diogo Vaz
Impact
Ever since João Baptista da Silvade Lagos, the Portuguese governor of São Tomé in the early 1800s, the volcanic soils of this island "embraced" cacáo on a series of roças (estates).
Diogo Vaz, a Bud-to-Bud™ social enterprise (cacáo flower buds to human taste buds) ala Claudio Corallo on neighboring Príncipe Island, continues the tradition (sans the serviçais or forced labor / de facto slaves). Its activities forge a roças-cum-community center by supporting around a thousand people pulled in from 4 villages surrounding the property. On site, Diogo Vaz provides schooling (K-thru-8), a medical clinic & a church.
Chocolate can do all that, drawing people together. Pretty tight knit.
The power of cacáo.
Diogo Vaz, a Bud-to-Bud™ social enterprise (cacáo flower buds to human taste buds) ala Claudio Corallo on neighboring Príncipe Island, continues the tradition (sans the serviçais or forced labor / de facto slaves). Its activities forge a roças-cum-community center by supporting around a thousand people pulled in from 4 villages surrounding the property. On site, Diogo Vaz provides schooling (K-thru-8), a medical clinic & a church.
Chocolate can do all that, drawing people together. Pretty tight knit.
The power of cacáo.
Appearance 4.4 / 5
| Color: | big "antho" (for anthocyanin); the Trinitario bar a shade lighter |
| Surface: |
stylized geometric mould |
| Temper: | demi-burnished |
| Snap: | amplified |
Aroma 8.6 / 10
Grand Cru de Plantation (Amelonado; 75% cacáo-content; Lot-Batch GCP-18-001)
huge African hardwoods
animal musk blown off by both marine & forest oxidation
Unroasted (Amelonado; 70% cacáo-content; Lot-Batch UNR-18-001)
those woods in the Grand Cru (above) not petrified but somehow caramelized along with more (green) foliage & air
Origine São Tomé (Amelonado; 65% cacáo-content; Lot-Batch OST-18-001)
Transmutes all the above toward a caramel-mud + ocean spray muskmelon
Trintario (Hybrid; 75% cacáo-content; Lot-Batch TRI-18-002)
animalistic -- foraged -- meaty
huge African hardwoods
animal musk blown off by both marine & forest oxidation
Unroasted (Amelonado; 70% cacáo-content; Lot-Batch UNR-18-001)
those woods in the Grand Cru (above) not petrified but somehow caramelized along with more (green) foliage & air
Origine São Tomé (Amelonado; 65% cacáo-content; Lot-Batch OST-18-001)
Transmutes all the above toward a caramel-mud + ocean spray muskmelon
Trintario (Hybrid; 75% cacáo-content; Lot-Batch TRI-18-002)
animalistic -- foraged -- meaty
Mouthfeel 12.9 / 15
| Texture: | lecithin-swollen |
| Melt: | extended |
Flavor 45.7 / 50
Grand Cru de Plantation
heavy lumber cocoa so resounding of West Africa, in a cedar-clove closet -> cookie wafer / breadfruit -> sweet cream -> baobab -> light black cherry -> bitter back -> black vanilla -> pretty clean (i.e., non-gripping / non-astringent) release
Unroasted
brown sugar -> cookie dough flirting with graham crackers (cinnamon chocolate chip) -> late faint baobab -> cocoa-marshmallow finish
Origine São Tomé
comes on cherry with hard wood in support -> brown sugaring FXs sweeten the fruit compound & quell the acrid component -> dirt chocolate (of the good Earth variety) -> small acid at the back (interpreted as pink grapefruit) -> falls out to a timberful of fudge brownie
Trintario
flash tobacco before confirming the Aromatics with portobello-sirloin FXs -> settles into creamed biscotti & hugs it until closing off a balsamic bramble
heavy lumber cocoa so resounding of West Africa, in a cedar-clove closet -> cookie wafer / breadfruit -> sweet cream -> baobab -> light black cherry -> bitter back -> black vanilla -> pretty clean (i.e., non-gripping / non-astringent) release
Unroasted
brown sugar -> cookie dough flirting with graham crackers (cinnamon chocolate chip) -> late faint baobab -> cocoa-marshmallow finish
Origine São Tomé
comes on cherry with hard wood in support -> brown sugaring FXs sweeten the fruit compound & quell the acrid component -> dirt chocolate (of the good Earth variety) -> small acid at the back (interpreted as pink grapefruit) -> falls out to a timberful of fudge brownie
Trintario
flash tobacco before confirming the Aromatics with portobello-sirloin FXs -> settles into creamed biscotti & hugs it until closing off a balsamic bramble
Quality 18 / 20
São Tomé embodied & personified in chocolate. All the bars deliver on the terroir.
For a measure of how indelible these volcanic soils can imprint themselves, even the Unroasted transports to/from there. Yes, a quicker / shorter length for sure thanks to zero Maillard reactions. Well processed & redolent nonetheless. One of the best "raw" chocs around.
Diogo Voz... a faithful representative of the legacy which may become the future island standard as it furthers its venture.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
Reviewed May 29, 2019
For a measure of how indelible these volcanic soils can imprint themselves, even the Unroasted transports to/from there. Yes, a quicker / shorter length for sure thanks to zero Maillard reactions. Well processed & redolent nonetheless. One of the best "raw" chocs around.
Diogo Voz... a faithful representative of the legacy which may become the future island standard as it furthers its venture.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
Reviewed May 29, 2019