Charpentier
Impact
Clositered a few steps away from the limelight shining elsewhere on Paris’ chocolatier all-stars, this small storefront hardly looks like much. Ditto the boxes & the pieces inside.
And run by some throwbacks who probably have no website (nice).
A kind of cult secret (all the more to like it).
There should be a Charpentier on every corner block.
And run by some throwbacks who probably have no website (nice).
A kind of cult secret (all the more to like it).
There should be a Charpentier on every corner block.
Presentation 4.2 / 5
gets right down to it: unassuming petit carrés / tiny thumbnails in black ‘n white packaging
Aromas 4.4 / 5
clarion citrus / holistic herbs amidst nougatine graham crumbs
Textures/Melt 7.9 / 10
| Shells: | almost no bite, just an easy collapse; soft-on-... |
| Centers: | ... –soft (despite relatively high cocoa-to-cream ratio) |
Flavor 46.1 / 50
pretty intense (for the French) & highly refined (nothing unexpected there)
Quality 27.6 / 30
Only 3 pieces -- fooled by the ambience & vibe. Hesitant to extol over such a small sample but every aspect of each right on the mark. The Palet d’Or alone speaks volumes to suffice by itself, then the Esmeraldas just annihilates any doubts / questions.
Selections
| Couverture: | ??? |
Palet d’Or - ever the benchmark & Charpentier pronounces it well with a light breaking couverture (of probable Madagascar origin; basically Cluizel's Mangaro Lait bar but in a bonbon) folded onto fresh rich cream (the barn stall can practically be tasted); cocoa-threaded throughout; naturalistic / simplistic / majestic
Esmeraldas - peels of pure giggles & laughter as the whole world goes bubbles on citrus praliné; audacious contrast of exfoliate-grade nuts against citric ping yet very responsive to one another; nirvanic
Muscade - nutmeg, ginger & star anise, each rising in their isolates, then commingling to conjure up a sweet kind of curried móle; beguiling
Reviewed Febuary 2011
Esmeraldas - peels of pure giggles & laughter as the whole world goes bubbles on citrus praliné; audacious contrast of exfoliate-grade nuts against citric ping yet very responsive to one another; nirvanic
Muscade - nutmeg, ginger & star anise, each rising in their isolates, then commingling to conjure up a sweet kind of curried móle; beguiling
Reviewed Febuary 2011