Peru
by Lindt
Impact
The bennies of a global corp. $4.32 (with tax) gets you to Peru, cup of honeybush tea included to stamp your passport as proof of entry. (Huh, 'honeybush', native to South Africa, in chocolate? Where's this going?)
A major buy / great opportunity considering today's airport travel hell. But like those special fare advertisements, expect some hidden charges. This doesn't quite go all the way there. Think DHL, which only covers certain zip codes so if the destination address lies outside its delivery area, it dumps the "express" packet in the nearest postal mail box! Or all the blocking action on the Pan-American Highway. Or Peru's many river systems barricaded with cascades, gorges, & reefs.
A major buy / great opportunity considering today's airport travel hell. But like those special fare advertisements, expect some hidden charges. This doesn't quite go all the way there. Think DHL, which only covers certain zip codes so if the destination address lies outside its delivery area, it dumps the "express" packet in the nearest postal mail box! Or all the blocking action on the Pan-American Highway. Or Peru's many river systems barricaded with cascades, gorges, & reefs.
Appearance 5 / 5
| Color: | rare & stunning black violet |
| Surface: | uniform cloak |
| Temper: | coal-finish absorbs light |
| Snap: | seismic; fine edge |
Aroma 6.9 / 10
starts out raw yet refined-serene -> opens to a witchy brew of jungle rot: honey, banana, lucuma, & chocolate dirt w/ orchids & herbs all around (white pepper, rooibos, maca, cat's claw) + musty dog odor
Mouthfeel 13.1 / 15
| Texture: | firm butter; slightly dry |
| Melt: | classic melter, unlike its flavor: velvet |
Flavor 37.9 / 50
dark line-drive chocolate -> sweetens to cherimoya building excitement & anticipation -> dashed on a Humboldt-current upswell of honeybush tea, simultaneously sweet & nutty but fights cacáo, submerging it into a dead-even flat-line tannin plumbing the depths like coffee -> banana remarkably pops out against burnt cocoa / charred coal -> spice break (pepper, mint, cinnamon, & a fantastic coca leaf re-fresh) -> dry fudge cake mix washed down w/ soda (sassafras) takes it all back
Quality 13.8 / 20
80% smacks of a punishing percentage, even in a nicely symmetrical CBS ratio (~3:1:3), but this never truly brings it, & overall remains closed. Beans probably steamed too clean &, ever clever Lindt, the addition of honeybush tea (instead of the usual vanilla - a scandalous adultery to some) freaks the mix a bit, clouds the chocolate, & possibly occludes inferior post-harvest processing, making it difficult to ascertain if all those latter-staged herbal accents show a promising cacáo-type or just the effects of herbal tea.
Either way, this comes off schizo: a flailing topside disjointed from a dead-end botom.
Either way, this comes off schizo: a flailing topside disjointed from a dead-end botom.