a little post-drinking chocolate

a little cold but nice and sunny. excited about today. did some drinking yesterday


amedei toscano black 63%
look - a light cloudy brown. very very slight orange hinting, extremely smooth 9
smell - grahm crackers, berry jam, slight touch of coffee, some caramel. smoky wood chips, mashed strawberries, slight bay laurel hint, vanilla. like the air fresheners people put in cars (the paper ones), 9 (delicious smelling, somewhat simple)
taste - a bit smoky, sweetness, tree bark, smoky cocoa, fruity elements, kind of tart-honey. slight acid comes in, grahm cracker with roasty bean element, purer "cocoa" with vanilla, some sort of custard, fruit jam, fruity and vanilla aftertaste quite strong, though fades somewhat quickly. 9
balance - sweet, but not overly so. (63%) pretty impressive for that cocoa level. acid is secondary, but supportive. base is present in solid amt. 9
texture - good, if not slightly powdery. 9

interpretation - this is a solid 9 chocolate. very good in every respect. simple, clean, fruity. expresses the excitement of good cocoa and vanilla. easy to understand. 9
summary - fruity, vanilla, smoky wood
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amano cuyagua
look - a very "clear" orange-brown. quite light. very good back, some slight bubbles inside 9
smell - dry peppery (nutmeg?) tobacco, skunk, clove, vanilla, dried citrus skin, 9 (excitement)
taste - smoky tobacco, some clean bitter, vanilla coasting in, sweet perception, more tobacco, vegetative, spice (clove etc), a sim. smell from sharffenberger jamaica (the crunchy one), medicinal plant, slight astringency (was lurking thru the whole thing) appears at end, more tobacco and woody flavors. 9
balance - quite good. not so aware of acidity, but certainly inside the range of "well balanced". somewhat sweet feeling at times, possibly amplified by vanilla. 9
texture - very nice. rich yet not oily, and still has a foundation of cocoa to "feel". 9~9.5

interpretation - a very interesting and plant-feeling chocolate. a lot of tobacco, smokyness, vegetative and spice flavors. quite exciting. a little dampened by astringency at finish, but otherwise a great time. very bright and expressive of flavors. 9
summary - tobacco, spice, planty, slight sweet
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pralus papousie
look - average brown, slightly dull in color but good shine, fair amt of bubbling. 8.5
smell - peaches, dried citrus skin/peppery aspect, papery, glue-cocoa, very faint 9
taste - cocoa and minty expession, more cocoa ( a bit "impure"?), banana, roasted nut, slight bitter, roasted elements, cocoa and the odd pralus herbal tea sheen. that lingers on fiinish. 8.5
balance - nice, everything's in check. acid present in slight amts, base very fulfilling, sweetness never overpowers or comes into spotlight.
texture - good, a good balance between rich and weighted super-fine powder. 9

interpretation - definitely a very "cocoa" chocolate. it just seems that the pralus roast overcompensates in some cases, and tnds to stretch flavors in directions they weren't intended to be sent in. little "blips" appearing here and there that are really more a result of roasted cacao than they are a result of the individuality of the chocolate. it also seems to give it these little "sharp edges" (that's what i see in my head anyways) regardless, this chocolate was enjoyable, just simple. 8.5
summary - simple cocoa, subtl, soft roast
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pralus colombie
look - dark brown, slight ashyness. no noticeable bubbling. 9
smell - white pepper (not sharp), dried meats, waxy crayon, toasted bun, herbal (oregano?), woody aspect, very slight yuzu, something savory. nice, interesting, exciting. 9
taste - off pwderyness, astringency, a candylike nutmeg, mcdonalds hamburger, more spices, toastyness, spice (nutmeg), vanilla spice and roast combination at finish. 8
balance - a bit hollow feeling. sweet and base present (with astringency) but no acid to give it more life. 8
texture - grainy-powdery. 7

interpretation - again, an interesting attempt. aromas were very enticing, but texture and balance just couldn't follow thru. spices and savory elements really made for a "different" kind of chocolte, but unfortunately the rest wasn't up to par.8
summary - unique white pepper, spice, bad texture, balance a bit off.
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two new chocolates!

slightly cloudy, fairly hungry. hopefully not so hungry as to interfere with tasting
two new chocolates!! this should be exciting...

pralus tanzanie
look - (same as usu) brown brown, bubbling, a bit of chunkiness 8
smell - berries, slight cocoa, nice berry jam, peach pie, slight vanil?, toasty leaves, (seem to be picking up a lot of the sweet, fruity aromas) 8.5
taste - biter, plain cocoa powder, fruity jam on choco pancakes, brownies, evolves to lighter and softer berries with cocoa, coffee emerges, roasty leaves, vanilla touch, coffee and bitter astringency continue, dark bread, finish mostly of cocoa and dried leaves, length is decent, but nothing new (same as tastes). a bit more astringency lingering at back of throat 8
balance - reasonable. astringency kind of throws things off, brings out sweet and bitter-astringent elements, hiding acidity. body is also somewhat subdued. feels a bit out of balance. 8
texture - seemed decent, a slight "powdery" sensation may have been due to astringency

interpretation - a decent chocolate with strong cocoa feeling. it's just that the astringency tends to throw things off. kind of feels incomplete in the sense that there are some nice powerful cocoa flavors, but the finnesse of a good finish is lacking 8
summary - roasty, cocoa, berry jam, astringency
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pralus papousie
look - dark brown, fine looking inside but backside has tons of ugly bubbling and swirling. 7.5
smell - faint flower, faint mint. somewhat of a doughy essence (very faint smell), strawberry?, reminds me of a tea cafe, very mild, a touch of cocoa, like a raspberry tea? 8~8.5 (too mild to really get any enjoyment)
taste - light vanil opening, cocoa, some bitter, tea flavors, fairly rich, vanilla and cocoa, very pleasant light combo, a little worried about stange bitter lurking in back, extremely balanced and round. vanilla and cocoa on length. gently fades. (still continuing!) 8.5
balance - very good. very harmonious. acid, sweet and base all seemed to be present in equal amounts. very soft, allows for enjoyment of extremely subtle tastes 9.5
texture - very nice. felt velvety and rich, but not as "overly rich" as pralus venezuela

interpretation - a bit too subtle on the flavors and aromas, but the taste balance was dead on. that is, except for the extraneous odd bitterness. not even sure if that was somehow carried over from the last one. either way, thatprevented this tasting from becoming a nine. 8.5
summary - very mild cocoa/vanil, great balance, soft
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amedei - toscano black 63%
look - brown, hinting on the lighter side. smooth, tiny tiny bubbling 9
smell - very fruity leather smell, wine, beany, vanilla, smoke, slight licorice possibly, sweet high note, (cracked choco open) very flowery fruit [sim to vanil + strawberry], olives, slight herbal touch, touch of pepper, powdered dried raspberry (if that existed). 9~9.5
taste - weet, soily-treelike, vanilla, flowery, touch of coffee? hazelnut?, red fruit, ambrosial honey, acid tucked away but present, slight breadiness, sweetness very powerful, a bit of smoky whiskey, finish continues with that flavor (along with a sweetness), length continues with long notes of vanilla-flowery-fruit (somewhat signature-ish of amedei) 9
balance - just a bit too sweet. made it tough to focus on the other flavors of the chocolate. everything was still somehow balanced, acid supporting in the background, with good base to hold it all up. 8.5
texture - nice, possibly a tiny bit powdery. 8.5

interpretation - a nice flowery and fruity chocolate. somewhat "simplified" (more subtle flavors lost) due to high level of sweetness. that's really my only complaint. i really would have liked to have seent the flavors i was getting on the nose when i was tasting it. regardless, very pleasant, and not too mild.
summary - sweet, vanilla/flowery/fruity, bold
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amedei - trinidad
look - slight orange-red tint. tiny bubbling. 9
smell - minty, somewhat "exotic smell" (clove, flowery trop fruit), a bit of vanilla, soil, kind of vegetative, a little bit sweaty leather. really kinda lost here. there's a dominating smell of something dry woody maybe? exotic spice? wet driftwood?, dried prunes, (cracked open at this point) lavender, sweet vanilla, pineapple?, honey, spice, 9
taste - interesting woody opening, dried prune, winey dark fruit, honey, sweetness emerges, woody, acid now developing, a little bit dry in this fruity sense, a bit soily, woody cocoa, slightly potpurri, slightly coffee and vanilla on finish, as well as original fruit. long length of dark things. 9
balance - felt a bit off the mark, but not bad. all of the elements were present, i just can't say it was harmonious. acid shooting out at times, other times sweetness overpowering. 8~8.5 (i'm only being harsh because amedei has a high standard)
texture - fairly powdery. 8

interpretation - very interesting with a lot of character. "mysterious" woody and dried prune flavors drift in and out, giving it a dark feeling without actually having any typical roasty dark chocolate aromas. if i associated a color with this, it'd be some sort of transparent black, if that makes any sense. black because of the "darkness" of the flavors, but transparent because it wasn't heavy or roasty chocolatey. 8.5~9
summary - dark, mysterious, dried fruit/wood
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(green one)
michel cluizel - los ancones (saint dominguez)
look - orange tinted wood-brown, very fine looking. 9
smell - the meat in mabo dofu, spice mix, slight sweet tone hiding, cinnamon?, one other smell i can't pin down (kind of minty kind of smoky kind of dill-like), [crack open], munster cheese, fermenacious cocoa, roasted peanut 9 (very lively)
taste - sweet, slight vanilla, spice, mabo tofu, slight nutty, flowers/fruit, more roast nut, slight caramel, a little bit pencil lead, really really nice smoky chestnut, blending to gentle cofee, (realy getting exciting now),sweet roasty nut, coffee caramel on length. very nice. 9.5
balance - very nice. a bit on the sweet side, but base really evens things out, and of course there is acid to spare (this being cluizel and all) 9
texture - very good. 9~9.5

interpretation - amazing. i really like this one. really fits my personality. savory spice character, roast nuts, chestnut. the ending was really superb. this is definitely my favorite cluizel. possibly my favorite of this tasting too. this one is wild and exciting like mangaro, but rather than a fruit bomb, it's very focused on aforementioned flavors. (if only he cut the sugar just a tad...) 9.5
summary - exciting, spice/nuts/creamy, a bit sweet
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wow, the ending of the michel cluizel (los ancones) was really an eye opener. i remember having liked that chocolate a long time ago, but now i know why. very enjoyable. i don't want to eat anything for a while...
as for the others, trinidad was fun and intersting, but not necessarily one you could relax to. toscano black was a bit mild in the sense that it felt like a generic amedei - pleasing but doesn't deviate from norm. pralus papousie was a bit soft and subtle for me. i'd like to give it another tasting before i rate it too harshly.