2007年12月2日日曜日

tour d'amedei

it's late, a little bit sunny, cool. fairly excited about the restaurant today.
i feel like some "quality" let's see what i choose.
(looks like i chose all amedei..)

amedei - 6 diff squares

amedei grenada
look -
typical murky brown, slight slight purply hints, orange hue also present. good looking texture. 9
smell - ground coffee, slight fermenty, possibly dark berries, a bit of a dried meaty, woody, vanilla, [break], like a marker, spicy flower, cocoa 9
taste - cocoa, vanilla, amedei, slightly overripe plums, low acid, sweet, base, a bit of spice (cinam?), more acid comes out, breads, somewhat metallic and nutty finish. smoky coffee too. 9
balance - nice. a little bit on the sweet side, with lower acid than i expected/wanted. still, very properly weighted by the base. 9
texture - nice, no problems here. possibly a powdery sensation. 9

interpretation - very nice and pleasant, but somehow lacking in life/love. cocoa was really the star flavor, but it wasn't necessarily anything special. it felt well done/well made, but didn't necessarily have that much character for a single origin.
summary - cocoa, coffee, woody
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amedei 9
look -
a nice woody brown, slight orange hinting. great texture (back is extremely smooth), some tiny bubbles inside. 9
smell - a light roasty cocoa smell, roasted almonds, a piney or citrus smell, a chalky smell, dried citrus skin, slightly herbal with a touch of potpurri, kinda cardboardy in a clean way 9
taste - delicate cocoa contrasted by bitter, honey and bread, soft fruitiness, a sweetness that begins to permeate, a good strong cocoa, not harsh, but clean.possibly some dried orange skin, roasted nuts, slight coffee. clean and flowery finish with cocoa. very pleasant length. 9
balance - very nice. all elements in balance and subtle. almost didn't notice it even had sweet/acid/base. very good. 9
texture - also nice, a slight fine, powdery feeling. 9

interpretation - really picked up at the end there. for a while it seemed to be coasting primarily on heavy yet clean cocoa and amedei-type flowery elements, but at the end it threw in some interesting flavors of dried citrus peel and nuts, then proceeded to give the more "signature amedei" flavor for the finish. very nice. i'd like to eat it all the time. a bit expensive for that tho. 9
summary - deep-clean cocoa, slight flowers, roasty nut
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amedei chuao
look -
a fairly red-heavy brown. extremely fine texture, no bubbling. close to "ideal". 9.5
smell - toasty nut and baked goods, spice, clean coffee, fruit skins, brighter fruit, figs?, clean red wood, spice bread, slight green-ness, vanilla, pan-fried chicken??, cocoa, maybe some lime. 9 (~9.5)?
taste - woody opening, slight vanilla, wow!, jump into this sweet smell... is it honey? berry jam? a fresh california red?, piney and sharp citrus, nutty, crazy roasty nut with clean bbq, reminds me of someone's backyard with lots of fruit trees, touchof soy, prunes, pecans?, sweet fruit and vanilla, creamy nut, some sort of combo of the previous flavors, cocoa and a deeper fruit and honey taste at finish. >9.5
balance - very nice. acid and sweetness are both felt, and both in a pleasant sense. the mathematical balance was very good. base is of course present to a very good degree 9.5
texture - very good. 9

interpretation - this is just a wild ride. i've had a lot of wild-ride chocolates, but usually they have less-than-desirable flavors jammed in there. this is 100% cleaned and prim and proper and just wow. this one is really hard to believe that it's "just chocolate". it's this crazy back and forth with this nutty/clean toasty and the extremely expressive fruit. i could just go on and on. there is such a "story" packed into this chocolate. goes on and on and on. to be honest, i wasn't expecting that. this chocolate woke me up from a sleepy tasting. it makes u wonder if it's even worth trying... (to make some, that is). yeah, it still is... >9.5
summary - extremely expressive fruit, amazingly well controlled, nuttyness. balance. everything. excitement
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(hard to come back down to earth...)
amedei jamaica
look -
very similar to 9 in color. maybe a little bit redder, but marginal. minimal swirling, bubbles. 9
smell - woody, soily, herby, more fementacious,soft cocoa, vanilla, a bit of dirt, burnt orange peel, a bit of perfume 9
taste - woody, some heavier spice, dark wine smell, interesting caramel, vanilla develops, more wood and clean fermentacious, dried gooseberries, toasty bread, back to a more papery wood, reverting to coca, slightly astringent touch at finish, a bit of toasted bread. 9~9.5
balance - very nice, acid is present in appreciable amt, sweet is not overpowering. solid base. this is a very "me" oriented chocolate. 9
texture - good, just like the others 9.

interpretation - this one really matches with my idea of how i want a dark chocolate to taste. a fair amt of acid, woody and savory flavors, depth and a little touch of something interesting or unique. i still hold to my belief that this one is particularly comparable to a red wine, and would probably match well if it wasn't for the 30% sugar thing... it has all the elements - a fermenty taste, wood, deep fruit. i'm pleased that i wasn't disappointed after eating the chuao, cause i was going nuts over that. hah. 9.5
summary - woody, earthy, wine-like.
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