Impact
Anyone who’s ever climbed... er, walked up Kilimanjaro (or listened to Miles’ verision of it) has gotten a whiff of this: bug spray & fibrous twine.
Appearance 4.8 / 5
| Color: | characteristic for an Amazon & similar to Lake Champlain‘s Tanzania (both probably share the same supplier on this origin, Barry Cacao): ash brown w/ purple push &, in a departure, striking scarlet shift |
| Surface: | flawless |
| Temper: | customary matte for Castelain |
| Snap: | sharp, alto pitch; straight edge & fine grain on the break |
Aroma 6.8 / 10
elusive & in-hiding: vanilla-boosted (echos of Maglio’s Tanzania) shading over wood chips (cotton & sycamore), coffee, & faint buried browns (raisins & dates); seemingly fired rather than sun-dried
Mouthfeel 10.5 / 15
| Texture: | dry / austere (befitting flavor) |
| Melt: | fragmented clumps |
Flavor 30.1 / 50
true to its sycamore scent, promsing start w/ chocolate fig -> spices (vanilla &, Zanzibar being right next door, clove) -> cocoa powder blast against dry cotton scrim in backdrop cauterizes entire length -> sisal twine, yielding wild agave nectar verging on alcohol yet ever-so-far from tequila -> cotton swabs an astringent-like pyrethrum insecticide, as grousing bitter coffee pours over dirty raisins to close it off
Quality 12.6 / 20
Tanzania can be tough to tame (just ask the Germans or Julius Nyerere). This has dark, bitter constitution under deceptively light garb. To Castelain’s credit, he refuses to cover up resident deficiencies by buttering over them or drowning in vanilla make-up. But facts remain: as a re-melter instead of a bean-to-bar manufacturer, he was dealt a weak hand trying to salvage faceless bulk-grade beans.