another new chocolate

my mouth is dry again. it makes it really hard to taste astringency and sense texture (cause it's all weird on the inside). oh well.
sunny and nice


michel cluizel - mangaro (madagascar)
look - a reddish-orange tinted rich lighter woody brown. some tiny bubbling.
smell - acidic berry and soil, roasted tree branches, vanilla and dry spice, green tropical fruit, fertilizer, 9-9.5
taste - a touch of nice liquer (brandy?), a hot chocolate taste, piney, darker roast, sweetness and acidity pburst, slight vanil, fruit emerging, soil, acidic trop fruit (mangosteen?), nutty butter richness, banana, tree-like vegetation, like some dessert with lots of fruit, peaches?, finish of fruity, sweet. 9+
balance - fairly sweet. a lot of acid to back it up. in general this just results in a higher intensity chocolate. 8.5
texture - very good. rich and clean melt. extremely fine texture

interpretation - a fruity sweet masterpiece. very interesting fruit running thru the whole thing, all the while maintaining it's chocolatey grounded-ness with soily and woody flavors. acidity is notable. this one is very clean (compared to some of his others) which tend to lean a bit to the smoky or heavy side (usually with the soily components). light(er) and easy to enjoy 9+
summary - sweet, amazing fruit variety, soil
-------------------------------------------------------------
(need pic)
valrhona araguani (venezuela)
look - a lighter orange-tinted brown. more opaque feeling. extremely smooth, no swirling
smell - flowery perfume, slight nutty, vanilla, orange peel, this hairspray, slight cocoa, frosting-y smell 8
taste - soft, sweet, powdery, nutty, smoky, candied orange peel, more smoky nut, low acid, bitterness of orange peel, slight touch of coffee, nuttyness (possibly hazelnut), 8.5 (lacks vigor)
balance - sweet. not much at all in terms of acid. nice base tho. 8
texture - nice, but slightly powdery feeling. 8.5

interpretation - a simple chocolate in a way. an interesting bitterness, with some extra "dark" tastes that i'm not used to (i cheated afterwards and looked at the label to find that there was brown sugar). pleasant flavors, but just don't seem to carry the life that i'm looking for. maybe it's the lack of acid. they also don't seem to be as clearly defined, as though there's some sort of averaging going on. not bad, but not that exciting. 8
summary - sweet, flat, smoky touch, orange, dark
-------------------------------------------------------------

pralus - colombie
look - black-leaning brown. fair amount of swirling
smell - impression of bread and crackers, buttery, wax (crayons), slight roasty, more crayon, slight base-y cocoa character
taste - appleskin (green),nuts, paint thinner, fruit, cocoa, roast, nutty, cocoa cookie, dryness, astringency, more cocoa cookie. 8
balance - a bit low on acid to match my preference. however wasn't too sweet. lots of base on this one, but astringency messes things up. 8.5
texture - powdery. not so great. 7.5

interpretation - some rather interesting non-chocolatey aromas (waxy stuff, green apples), but not very well "cared for". astringency and odd texture don't make it more pleasant. has a lot of character and uniqueness, but the fundamentals could use some fine tuning. 7.5-8
summary - wax, cocoa, powdery, astringent
-------------------------------------------------------------

pralus tanzanie
look - dark brown, slight purplish tinting, lots of bubbling
smell - low intensity fruit (red, skin), sake, cocoa, dried dates, grapefruit skin, dry stuff 8-8.5
taste - nutty, astringent, banana?, tea?, sweet wax, toasty, more astringent, base stuff, dry pasta. 8
balance - ok. all elements are present, but not in harmony. astringency disturbs balance
texture - ok. slight micro-grain feel


interpretation - in some ways this chocolate can be enjoyed for its astringency, because it's kind of centered around it (where as the last one it seemed to be just getting in the way). intersting low key-fruity things, sort of reminds me of a dry (non-californian) red wine. good when u want something to "straighten you up" rather than relax you or wow you. 8
summary - astringent, dry fruit, roasty
-------------------------------------------------------------

kinda got this nasty feeling in my throat by the end. might ahve something to do with the dryness of the air. not sure, but i don't like it. hopefully it won't happen again