2007年12月2日日曜日

100% domori single origins

special tasting! it's time to finish those domori 100% single origins i've had sitting around. it's a good day for it.
a bit cold, but good sleep level means an active mind. let's start
(start with one i know well in 70% form)

(pic of all 6)

domori - sur del lago clasificado
look -
dark and opaque. nice and smooth. 9
smell - strong. slight woody accent to fermentacious, cinnamon. a chocolate cake, vegetal. chalky type smells, slight roast, roast nuts (almonds?), hint of cumin. a touch of blackberry. 9 (strong yet not overpowering or nasty)
taste - drying taste yeah this is 100%.toasted woody. slgiht astringency?? maybe just no sugar. coffee tastes, donut, smooth and nutty.roasty and deep impact, extremely smooth. coffee at finish. 9 (this is not on the same scale as 70% darks)
balance - quite nice. heavy, but never too strong. acidity is low. a very weight-focused choco. it is 100% after all. 9
texture - very pleasing. ultrafine smooth. good rich thick mouthfeel. 9+

interpretation - heavy like a 100%, but the tastes are relatively clean. the plantyness of it can really be felt. cacao comes from a plant. yep. other than that, very much like the 70%, but it felt like everything was at 2~3x the amplitude. crazy. 9
summary - woody, dry, coffee, roast nut
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domori arriba 100%
look -
dark with heavy black tint, smooth, opaque. 9
smell - aged wood, mushroom, tobacco, dried green leafy plant, pink peppercorns, sharp eucalyptal smell. a cedary touch, some sweet cinnamon, dirt. 9 (again, very strong and exciting)
taste - some kind of cheese, wooden shavings, roasted almond, planty smell comes in strong, (what is that, something very specific that i sometimes smell. a green plant, fairly repulsive),rounding out that green smell, more roastiness, a spice, some kind of tahini taste, green citrus leaves!! (possibly connected to the weird smell), fried foods, more roasty nut, slight plasticy taste, middle eastern food, odd woody taste. 8 (a bit strong at the end)
balance - nice. no real acid to speak of, but the weightiness of the choco was very pure. 9
texture - good. rich, ultrafine. very heavy. 9

interpretation - a lively woody and planty choco. brings out a lot of thsoe elements. a nice touch on the roast. really feels like a walk outside (the kind where i go sniffing all the leaves and trees, haha). the "clarity" of these 100%s is amazing. it's like they sit you down and explain each little element about themselves to you. this is really fun. oh, but the end of the chocolate turned me off. plasticy and slightly offensive woody taste. other than that, a great ride. 8
summary - woody, roast, middle eastern, tobacco/green citrus leaves
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domori - sambirano 100%
look -
an opaque, light brown. odd. orange tinted. smooth. 9
smell - malt vinegar, dark berries, fermentacious, potent acidity hints, like yogurt that's been left out too long, compost pile, a little bready aspect. 8 (hard to get past acidic smells)
taste - mouth puckering acid, lactic possibly. tastes like yogurt i left out. dried fig, acid dominating taste, dates, medicinal, a bit of a plasticy, just can't taste anything... 5-8 (huge range. don't know if i like the acid or hate it)
balance - mind-blowing acidity. insane. like eating straight lactic acid. 4 (most extreme i've tasted)
texture - not bad. similar to otehrs. 9

interpretation - holy crap. acid acid acid. honestly found it extremely difficult to taste anything but that. there were some kind of dried fruity things, maybe some fairly woody and fermentacious tastes. that's really about it. what a mess! 5-8 (5 if u're a normal human, 8 if u love acidic chocolate)
summary - ACID.
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domori - apurimac 100%
look -
purple-tinted dark brown. not quite black. 9
smell - roasty nut, 'chalky', tree bark, softened black pepper, herbal element.. mint?, sweet perfumy smell, flowery soap, honey (the flowery part), depth, some cocoa. the sweet smell is interesting (reminds me of bitter almond, dried bay leaf, yuzu (uncut)... a lot of things) 9 (so pleasant, esp after that insane acidity!)
taste - wow, soft and pleasant sweetness, slight california oaky white wine, berries, light nutty flavor, element of eucalyptus sneaks in, a cheesy yogurty undertone (hidden), lumber, peppery green plant, musky flower, bitter kick at end, pleasant roasted nut comes in. (very faint off taste). 9.5 (relative ranking) - wow, this one is a big winner.
balance - very nice. again, low acid, but apparent sweetness is beautiful. especially after all the harsh ones. 20-80 ratio of sweet to pleasant "base". 9.5 (relative to others)
texture - very good. lighter than the rest, not so much heaviness. 9.5

interpretation - best of the series so far. so much more finessed and delicate. it's very close to ideal, but there are some slight over-fermented cheesy/yogurty tastes that quietly develop below the surface. but, the lightness and the sweetness of this 100% choco really is surprising and pleasant. excellent. 9.5 (relative)
summary - light, slightly sweet, flowery, soft pepper
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domori - carnero superior 100%
look -
dark, opaque brown with black tinting. 9
smell - spice (more towards the turmeric sense), wood and fermentacious. ash. hard rubbery/plasticy smell. roasty fish skin, yogurty, slight berry (rasp?), pleasant spice cake. 8 (fermentacious is a bit strong)
taste - eucalyptal (no... something similar), slgiht sweetness, acid, like eating a tree (this one crazy planty smell... crushed leaves of something u don't normally smell.. can almost identify it... damn it), very pleasant weight on tongue, sharper fermentacious riding on top, fade out to slight roasty. 8
balance - perhaps the most rounded of all the chocos so far. had a light sense of acidity that gave it a sense of completeness without being overpowering. light sweetness as well. 9.5 (rel)
texture - very nice. possibly the best so far. had a good weight, but a very pleasant "satisfaction" feeling. 9.5 (rel0

interpretation - very nice, but a bit heavy on the fermentacious and plasticy smells. good balance and texture. this one was the winner so far in those aspects, but taste-wise it just doesn't compare to the previous. goddamn it, the idiot down the hall's cologne smells like industrial-strength mosquito reppelant. or herbicide. absolutely disgusting. where was i? eucalyptal and other planty flavors are strong. shows character. 8
summary - balanced, planty/eucalyptus, fermentacious
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domori - rio caribe superior 100%
look -
deep dark brown, opaque, slight bubbles. 9
smell - strong fermentacious, dirt, tar, pencil, asphalt, hidden berry, yogurty lactic acid, an adhesive smell, baked sticks. (a sweetness slowly emerges, kinda cocoa like) 7.5 (fairly strong on the fermentacious)
taste - tree bark, slight mushroom, minty feeling of fermentacious, faint sweet, slight acid, moist dirt, strong plasticy, bitter, roasted coffee comes into play at end. bitter lingers a bit. 7.5-8
balance - decent. faint sweetness and slight acidity make for a balanced feel, although both are too weak to really play a significant part in balancing the heavy-handed "base". 8.5
texture - nice, similar to apurimac. 9

interpretation - again, another fermentacious. this one probably stronger than the previous. the previous had some fairly strong herbal/planty character, but this one really has a bit "too much" fermentacious, and not a lot of anything else. pretty much just like sitting in a big pile of compost, somewhere near the bottom. could have used more diversity. 7.5-8
summary - fermentacious, soil, slight sweet/acid.
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wow, perhaps one of the most revealing tastings ever. chocolate in its true form. not to mention this was extremely fun. way outdid my expectations.
reaffirmed my conviction that i must get involved with chocolate somehow.
(btw the clear winner was apurimac. soft and subtle, showed that 100% chocolate can be elegant too. i'd like to get a try of the 70% version)
wow, just for kicks, i tasted some pralus afer that. jesus, that stuff is candy. just candy. COMPLETELY different. god. jeez.
i really am excited. this really really woke me up. chocolate has a brand new feel to it. wowowow.

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