Wen
Impact
‘Wen’ supposedly relates to ‘rabbit’ in hieroglyphic Egypt (symbolizing existence). These guys inhabit some wide-open, unpopulated territory. To hell with tradition, they’re forging their own, taking a fearlessly modern globalist tack, part of American Futurism (if you’re married to classics, go to Europe... or SF) – experimental & innovative like a garage band or software start-up with just enough forward tilt in the flavors to make it jump & run like their name calls for. The rest of the field may want to look over the shoulder & see what’s coming on.
Presentation 4.1 / 5
motley slew of hand-tossed & enrobed
Aromas 5 / 5
lift off as soon as the lid is let go of
Textures/Melt 7.6 / 10
| Shells: | medium thickness |
| Centers: | slightly above avg |
Flavor 45.9 / 50
several hits in the line-up; also some wild misses still rate applause for the venturing; others moan out for more fortified chocolate backing
Quality 27.4 / 30
Incorruptible chocolate cowboys (& enlightening worldbeaters) riding on high-altitude craft.
Selections
| Couverture: | Plantations; Guittard |
Cairo – super-subtle China Keemun tea crossed w/ Indian Pink Rose petals... leads to meditative after-thoughts building a bhangra dance & drum on your head; most excellency
Lipovka – caketilla: frosting dissipates into angel food cake; supposedly lilac & black china tea but it all gets thrown in a Red China Sea
Cesnja – stroking all the right ratios, Morella cherry aged in brandy then set off w/ just a brush of white pepper, all held up by firm chocolate backbone; demonstrates real culinary skills, going for the kill w/o splattering blood, just cosmic sacrificial love
Savannah – sweetest, hottest, perhaps smoothest but also most stratified of the set; integration issues among the diverse population of Ukranian honey pepper vodka topped w/ chili mango & Hungarian paprika (whew!); all one agitated mosh pit that never sits still
Violette – signature piece; black tea meets cacáo bean, both dusted up in violet plumes & speckled in candied violets, all violence-free, peaceably verging on cassis; a natural wonder & winner
Mocja – about as straight as these guys can shoot; Aleppo chili delivered via a chocolate-on-chocolate ICBM, complete w/ smoke trails minus the fire & heat; hits the C-spot bang-on
Lipovka – caketilla: frosting dissipates into angel food cake; supposedly lilac & black china tea but it all gets thrown in a Red China Sea
Cesnja – stroking all the right ratios, Morella cherry aged in brandy then set off w/ just a brush of white pepper, all held up by firm chocolate backbone; demonstrates real culinary skills, going for the kill w/o splattering blood, just cosmic sacrificial love
Savannah – sweetest, hottest, perhaps smoothest but also most stratified of the set; integration issues among the diverse population of Ukranian honey pepper vodka topped w/ chili mango & Hungarian paprika (whew!); all one agitated mosh pit that never sits still
Violette – signature piece; black tea meets cacáo bean, both dusted up in violet plumes & speckled in candied violets, all violence-free, peaceably verging on cassis; a natural wonder & winner
Mocja – about as straight as these guys can shoot; Aleppo chili delivered via a chocolate-on-chocolate ICBM, complete w/ smoke trails minus the fire & heat; hits the C-spot bang-on