Sahagún
Impact
Named after the Franciscan missionary, Bernardino de Sahagún, whose definitive work General History of the Things of New Spain (The Florentine Codex) launched field ethnography. Elizabeth Montes, the proprietress, has done her research. A veritable Mother Scientist of the in & outdoor kitchens, she works thru trial-&-error folksonomy, playin in the garden bushes with berries & herbs, away from the hi-tech molecular gastronomy of her northern neighbors Dominique & Cindy Duby at Wild Sweets in Vancouver. Even as she utilizes many of the historical root elements becoming standard in modern artisanal chocolate, often the difference lies in the blending, which in her case shows a unique hand. Major personality... in a word, charisma.
Presentation 4.3 / 5
mostly round pieces appliqué’d w/ geomancy symbols & cosmic dust
Aromas 4.6 / 5
potent brew
Textures/Melt 7.7 / 10
| Shells: | medium gauge |
| Centers: | cross-spectrum from liquid to firm |
Flavor 42.9 / 50
powerful couverture – bold roasts, high smoke, deep tannic profiles, well-matched & often equalized by forcible infusions
Quality 24.8 / 30
Creatively rustic beyond the same-old-same traditional refinements.
Selections
| Couverture: | various – Felchlin; Chocovic; de Vries; Cluizel; Valrhona |
Salted Caramel - sheer delirium; bittersweet thimble w/ take-no-prisoners, oozy mosh-gun caramel + cocoa armor to suit
Almond/Candied Bergamot Peel Slab - sure femme pleaser; citric zest undergirded by an herbal plank
Dusted Truffle - the lone crude lexicon in the collection; dense & dunce; notwithstanding supremely soft texture, tastes off-fromage... a kind of pure cocoa what-is-it cocoa
Pepitapapa – toasted pumpkinseeds, jalapeño & Dark Choc; pep & peppered bark w/ simmering, lingering bite; jalapeño the way it's supposed to work w/ cacao - presence w/o interference
Salted Peanut Bark - splayed w/ pepper spray; more whimsy cool from the capricia del cacáo
Almond/Candied Bergamot Peel Slab - sure femme pleaser; citric zest undergirded by an herbal plank
Dusted Truffle - the lone crude lexicon in the collection; dense & dunce; notwithstanding supremely soft texture, tastes off-fromage... a kind of pure cocoa what-is-it cocoa
Pepitapapa – toasted pumpkinseeds, jalapeño & Dark Choc; pep & peppered bark w/ simmering, lingering bite; jalapeño the way it's supposed to work w/ cacao - presence w/o interference
Salted Peanut Bark - splayed w/ pepper spray; more whimsy cool from the capricia del cacáo