2007年10月21日日曜日

all across the world

nicely hungry, a slight bit tired. sun is shining. good conditions overall for tasting.
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pralus - tanzanie
look -
dark brown - significant bubbling, bad texture, odd white things (like little sugar crystals?)
smell - flowery with a bit of berry, like some good oolong, slight herbal or plantyness, a bit of meaty cocoa, malt ball smell, cranberry, blueberry jam, 8.5
taste - light cocoa astringent start, some roasty, watery pasta, slight caramel, coffee, fruity with meaty component, nutty roast, slight acidity peeks out, bitterness hangs in, woody and roasty length, seems to fade somewhat quickly. 8
balance - reasonable. sweet and bitter + astringent tend to dominate, but with a slight acidity that sort of gives it this "hollowed out" feeling. interesting. 8
texture - ok, a bit rough 7.5

interpretation - decent chocolate, just a bit hollow. also doesn't relly come thru on the promises that the smell gives off. where is the fruit? i guess it's in there, but it's not nearly as pleasant as the smell, probably due to excessive roasting and astringency. 7.5~8
summary - roasty, hollow, astringent, berry smells
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amedei - toscano black 66%
look -
a medium brown with a purple-red tinge. fine looking texture, tiny bubbling 9
smell - very woody up front, somewhat... winey or grapey, some sharp aroma - possibly fermentacious, vanilla, beeswax lies beneath, a bit of hazelnut, kind of milk chocolatey, some raspberry, slight soil beneath. 8.5~9
taste - sweetness, cocoa and vanilla opening, slight honeyed accent, shifting into acidic phase, some red berry fruit, toasty coffee, woody cask, gentle honey-like tastes, nice level of acid, sweetness also prevailing, a bit of toasty, a vanilla and woody length, turns slightly bitter. perfumy length really lingering 8.5~9
balance - a bit on the sweet side. base was present to support sweet > acid balance. pleasant
texture - very good, possibly a tiny bit of powdery feel

interpretation - this one loses a few points for not being bold enough. i feel like it was pretty timid, never really ventured out to show anything off. i guess that's the point of these blends tho. still, i could have used more excitement. regardless, winey/woody tastes complimented by honey/perfume is hardly something to complain about. amazing lenght. 8.5~9
summary - mild, sweet, woody/fruity, slight honey/perfume
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michel cluizel - mangaro (madagascar)
look -
a lightish brown, not much in terms of red. some slight bubbling 9
smell - (smelling loads of fruit after opening the wrapper) rich fruity, cocoa and meaty smells. smoke, red fruit, vanilla, fertilizer, peanutty, tropical fruits, somewhat of a plasticy, orange, significant acid, the woody peel of some fruit-- what is it??, slight minty hiding in back, cherries? 9
taste - sweet and tart, caramel and fruit at opening, develops cocoa, nuts, fruit, fairly tart, guava, pineapple, meaty cocoa, more pineapple, slight dustiness in cocoa, more caramel, fudge tasting, tart, vanilla, red fruit on finish. also some interesting nutty(pistachio?), some whisky. very intersting finish, lingers for some time. 9
balance - sweet and tart. very lively. a good base as well. 9
texture - very good. 9.5

interpretation - an intense experience with loads of "high intensity" fruit. really gets in your face with it. acidity, fruit (esp tropical) and meaty cocoa are all very strongly imprinted in memory. really powerful. not much finesse, but i guess u can't have both. personally, if it was a tiny bit less sweet, this would be up in my favorites. a really fun-filled, exciting chocolate 9
summary - intense, exciting, acidic, tropical fruit, meaty cocoa
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lindt - ecuador
look -
dark brown withreddish tinge, some tiny bubbling 9
smell - strong perfumy, woody, vanilla, cinnamon, a very blendy smell, apple cinnamon cake, possibly cloves, vanilla, green tropical fruit, very intense, somewht simple in that way 8.5
taste - significant bitter, roasty and spice smells, slightly burnt feeling, strong nutty wood sense, kind of nutmegggy, a bit flat (sweet and bitter only), more nutmeg, bitter/astringent roasty touched finish. 6.5-7
balance - so so. no acid for support. lots of bitter. 7
texture - not really any problems. 9

interpretation - this choco is wack. from teh smells you'd expect something smooth and round, but that's not the case at all. loads of bitterness and astringency await in the mouth. not to mention the flavors are far less refined when actually eating it. very strange. not a big fan, despite interesting smells. 6.5~7
summary - nice spice aromas, off taste.
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(this tasting may be a bit rushed, not to mention awful bitter left behind by prev choco)
domori - sur del lago (venezuela)
look -
dark brown with slight red tint. tiny bubbling present in large amt. quite an appetizing color actually 9
smell - nutty, roasty smells, slight fermentacious, very interesting... marker?, pretty low intensity, a little bit of stink, some leathery tree branches, peppery maybe, 8
taste - peppery, blue cheese, bitter, fermenty sweet, coffee, pineapple? odd cocoa nib, creamy, interesting fruit, amazing texture, like a gently cheese, light sweet cocoa finish. 9
balance - quite nice. a little bit of acidity, mostly sweet countered well with base. 9
texture - amazing. perhaps my favorite. however, the random crunchy bit of cocoa nib is a big minus. if it wasn't for that, this texture would be in the 9.5~10 range

interpretation - very interesting. i like it. development all over, especially the light slightly fruity and fermenty flavors. creamy as well. texture is really great. i have no idea what the random woody nibs are doing in there. a thoughtful choco, and a refreshing change from vanilla and fruit heavy chocolates. 9
summary - interesting fruit/fermenty, very nice texture, random cocoa nibs.
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i was very impressed this time by domori. glad i picked up 2 from chocosphere's bargain basement! lindt was disappointing. amedei... was a gentle one. cluizel was firey. a very "all over the board" tasting

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