amedei 5g square tour

cool sunny morning, tried to up my focus by staring at a yuzu for 20 minutes. i think it worked. haha
all are 5g squares today

amedei venezuela
look - brick-tinted brown. swirly from molding. smooth.
smell - smoky vanilla fermentacious, red winey fruit, a flower, extremely faint rosemary, cocoa and flower (something kinda fruity but sweet), candle wax, maybe some apple skin,
taste - impresion of chocolate, sweet and watery, flower, cocoa dust, vanilla, beany winey thing, some kind of powder (like raw flour),ight clean cocoa, vanilla, liquory touch near end, burny cocoa savory and bean-like, long lasting tail of fresh and clean cocoa.
balance - on the sweeter side. slight acidity, but doesn't really match up. very satisfying base. not bad at all
texture - very nice. possibly some slight powdery feel

interpretation - a real voyage through mildness. mild cocoa, but sort of offset with this smoky thing that kind of acts as a natural balance. maybe a weight. keeps it from floating away. keeps the chcocolate feel. havent figuredout what that flower is, but it's very pleasant.
summary - light, clean, flower, smoky, cocoa
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amedei madagascar
look - vibrant meaty orange tinted brown. swirling. smooth
smell - red wine's woody character, cocoa, slight cinnamon, vanilla, peachy, a planty spicy licorice, cake-like, a sharp herbal citrus smell
taste - milky chcoco memories, baked grahm craker, acidity (bright and clean), various fruits, baked?, rich cocoa, toasted almonds, more acid, cooked fruits, lingering finish of choco cake, nuts
balance - nice. very sharp, bright, clean acid. makes for great connection between sweet and base. a bit too bright at some points tho.
texture - very nice, similar to last one.

interpretation - a very "deep" chocolate, but without the usual "overdarkness" of a chocolate with this character. no bitter, just clean tastes. the bright acid wakes me up. really has a lot of action, but is extraordinarily "clean". round, full.
summary - deep, clean, grahm cracker, clean acid
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amedei chuao
look - slightly cloudy orange meaty. amazingly free from any swirling or bubbles. copletely smooth.
smell - soft and sweet opening, dried pine needles, fresh bright green piney, citronella, slight grahm cracker, asphalty, vanilla, wooden pencil shavings
taste - round acid (low), candy taste, cranberry, slight bitter, raisin, tiny rubber, plummy fruit, richness, vanilla, cocoa, acid, matured toffee taste, wood and other fruits, grape skins, more fruit juice, slight beany cocoa, extremely pleasant cocoa aftertaste, mixed with fruit. like an icewine. yes. that's in there. riesling?
balance - very good. everything rounded into this nice clean bowl. harmonious. acid levels appropriate. very good
texture - nice. possibly powdery (like others)

interpretation - the clarity of the expression of the fruit was amazing. the candy-like tastes were also very surprising. where do they come from? maybe some of it was vanilla. the candy part was very sweet and pure, and the fruit was extraordinarily clear and expressive. really an adventure, this choco.
summary - detailed, fruits, sweet pure taste, balance. a lot of fun.
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amedei porcelana
look - slightly puplish tinted milky brown. very smooth, bu 2 tiny ridges of swirling noticeable. still very minor.
smell - smoky, dried fruit, rosemary, powdered dates, herbal, some tea?, chlorinated pool (not unpleasant), slight fermentacious,
taste - beany dry paper, mapley, sweet, vanilla, flower, dried fruit, dried meats, pear skin, darker deep woody, cocoa, herbal, clean fried bread, woody, wine casks
balance - great. not noticeable. acid is present, nicely connected. harmonious
texture - nice, similar to others.

interpretation - a fairly "dark" interpretation. interesting tastes not often found in choco. a lot of papery and "dried" smells. the depth of the body of the chocolate was really something to appreciate. so solid yet so clean.
summary - dark (dried/herbal), deep, clean
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very revealing.

amedei - single origin vs blend - random selection

i have a lot of pralus tanzanie that i got from chocosphere when they had it in the bargain basement, so i tend to use that as my standard (so i know how far off from "centered" i am when i'm tasting).

in general, i feel like it's "watery" in that there's some aspect of the body that's lacking, but is well represented in the base/bitter area as well as sweet. some acid, but somehow they don't align very well. i usually pick up fruity jam smells, as well as coffee/roast, plus this thing i sometimes call "dried pasta". not really sure what it is. there's probably a better descriptor out there. anyways, starting with my "standard" here it is:

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pralus - tanzanie
look - very dark blackish. slight bubbling. 9
snap - good 9
smell - red berries, slight wine, some low turmeric type spice?, no, more cinammony, berry pie, low cocoa, sllight coffeeeucalyptus type lemony thing, 8.5
taste - choco, slight coffee, biter, buttery, nutty , cocoa, slight banil, posibly berry at end, wash out to dusty, kind of a pasta like thing 8
balance - a bit "dry". leans towards bitter/astringent, with some sweet to support, but acid is lacking. "weight" is not very present, so it doesn' have a solid foundation. relatviely weak. 7.5 - 8
texture - good, but nothing fantastic. some possible graininess, astringency detracts

interpretation - a bit dry, somewhat imbalanced and fairly chocolatey choco. nothing relly standing out on the taste. was surprised not to find the berries which were so prominent in te smell

summary - dry, choco base, slight fruity.

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(upper right)
amedei - jamaica
look - farily dark brwn, not much redness. slight swirly, some tiny bubbling - 8.5
snap - good 9
smell - oregano, meaty, grape skin, very distinct smell, something almost seafood like, changing to vanil/flowers, slight soft fruity cocoa, leather (possibly the distinct smell), slight pepperyness, more vanil, slight "sweatyness" 9
taste - some vanil, change quickly to soil, nice wood, interesting citrus skin?, amedei style grape skin, continues with fruity, some slight woody accompany, fades like that, some vanil. long finish of woody 9~9.5
balance - very nice. acid nicely compliments sweet, all set on a solid foundation of choco(not so bitter, but rather weighty) 9~9.5
texture - quite nice, very pleasing, smooth coat and melt. 9

interpretation - slightly woody, fairly fruity, reasonably heavy on the vanilla. some soily, more savory smells being present counteracts the vanilla (or vice versa). in general quite flavorful and balanced. 9 (possibly reaching 9.5 on days where i really feel like a woody/savory choco)
summary - balanced, woody, fruity, soily
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amedei - toscano black 70%
look - also quite dark, but a slight touch of redness. tiny bubbling 8.5
snap - good 9
smell - like a tomato sauce (w/onions), deep smoky but soft smell, like something in a pasta, crazy, slightlymore typical "smoky forastero" smells, those tend to dominate after a while. they're very soft compared to other smoky-chalky-forastero. some fruit - peach?? at last minute 8.5
taste - slightly grahm crackery, vanil, savoryness, bitter/base somewhat dominating, decent acid, slightly woody, more vanil, smoky, beans, very dark berry smell, sweet, somewhat cloying taste, cakes, charred wood, some kind of honey essence, bitter finish, complex, slight coffee honey combination, 8.5~9
balance - very nice, leans towards bitter with foundation, acid is slighly lower key, causing sweetness to play a considerably more prominent role. (brought out by vanil as well). good, but maybe not for me? 8
texture - very nice, relatively smooth, possibly some chalkiness. 8

interpretation - a fairly "dark" chocolate, but with the dark sort of "turned down" into something soft, and outshined by vanilla. very itnersting. usually dark-type chocos seem to present way too much power in the dark part, so u can't really enjoy it, only "feel" 8.5~9 (wide range due to dependence on mood)
summary - soft dark, soft smoky, vanilla
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(lower right)
amedei - madagascar
look - similar in color to the last. extra-tiny bubbles, not many 9
snap - good 9
smell - mushroomy cream sauce, slight fruit, then really developing into acidic red fruit, possibly cranberries, vanilla, (reinterpretation - mushrooms could be soily), berry smell has slight fermentacity to it. 9
taste - cocoa, soft baked smell (possibly sim to lindt madagascar), oery nice bal, developying into somewhat flower, pssibly lghtly roasted nut, slight fruity, gentle, smooth, vanil, slight grape skin (first sharp thing in whole choco!), finish becomes slightly coffee. really creamy and soft choco
balance - very nice. very very nice. hard to notice that you're even eating. sweet and very non-bitter "base" play major roles, only very very slightly overshadowing the acid. the key is that the acid never really "shows" itself, it simply supports the roles of the other 2. extremely harmonious 9.5
texture - very good. felt like eating creamed clouds. hah. 9

interpretation - very gentle, very subtle chocolate. however, also creamy and expressive. not trying to hide flavors so much as it is just trying to bring them to an appreciable intensity, so that the chocolate really becomes an equal showing of the balance and texture with the flavors. very exciting, very calming. 9.5 -- solid, no doubt.
summary - balance, gentle, creamy
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so, as you can see, it seems that the single origins do have more character than the blends, not to mention that madagascar kicks ass. you could say that jamaica is an acquired taste due to savory/leathery/woody lean, but madagascar can be appreciated by anyone who likes softness and balance. the black 70% was interesting, looking forward to trying that again. felt like a very polished forastero based choco.