farewell to chuchuri

time to finish up a chocolate.
nice and sunny, dry, cool. typical tokyo winter weather. my mouth is a bit dry. a tiny bit overslept


amedei - toscano black 66%
look - a nice muddy brown with good reddish orange hints. very smooth 9.5
smell - toasty spice cake, nuts, slight fermentacious, flower touch, bean smokiness, cherry, charred bread, dried mixed fruits, slight perfume. 9+
taste - bit of hazelnut? sweetness, some chestnut feel, sweet, chocolate, dried apricots, slight touch of barbecue, grahm cracker, more roasty nut, nutty mild cocoa finish, touch of coffee 9 (sesame paste lingers)
balance - sweet. low on acid. but not bad. still, could use a little more weight (by dropping sweet and connecting with acid)
texture - nice. possibly a tiny bit powdery

interpretation - a fairly rich choco with gently roasted nutty flavors. also some dried fruit action, possibly flowery. gentle, with a specific type of soft, "old" acid. rich feeling as well. 9
summary - nutty, dried fruit, sweet
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guittard chuchuri
look - a dull cloudy brown, some gray hinting. also slight orange. smooth. 9
smell - BRIGHT cake frosting, vanilla, poppyseed paste, hazeltut?, piney, choco hidden beneath, (incredibly intense), green apple candy. 8.5 (intereting but overpowering)
taste - an apple hint to start, clovey, candy like, roasted, more apple, poppyseed paste with cinnamon, sweet sweet, very nice melt, odd... something green. more apple, a bit sickeningly sweet, more crazy apple, slight hint of cocoa at end. 7.5
balance - off. too sweet. nothing else. possibly some astringency rolling around in there. 7
texture - excellent. extremely smooth melt. rich. (sweetness screws up balance tho)

interpretation - this is a very wacky chocolate. very out of balance. extraordinarily intense atypical chocolate flavors (poppyseed, apple), but they're just too much. can't handle it. not to mention sweetness is thru the roof. very weird chocolate. more to come below. 7
summary - sweet candylike, poppyseed/apple, way out of balance
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pralus tanzanie
look - a dark brown with purple-brown "stain". some bubbling. 8
smell - woody, dry, cedary, roasty, waxy, dried wine, cranberries 8.5 faint and a little weird
taste - dried pasta, coffee roast, dried cranberry, choco cake, more roasty, chocolatey finish. 8 sort of plain, dry
balance - interesting dry feel. kind of had acid but was more dominated by this slightly sweet base-dry feel. 8
texture - seemed ok, but was a little dry feeling. 8

interpretation - fruity yet fairly astringent and dry. decent amount of roast involved. sort of remindds me of madagascar but almost like a failed attempt. 8
summary - dry, roasty, fruity
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As i promised myself, anytime i finish a chocolate, i'll write a full review on it.


E. Guittard - Chuchuri Bittersweet - 65%
(columbian trinitario)

First, the physical characteristics.
The look - This chocolate has a very pleasant lustrous brown-orange. It's extremely smooth - almost no bubbling visible on back or inside. Has the looks of something exciting (as though a lot of care was put into the texture)
The smell - On first whiff, I am immediately told of the incredible intensity of this chocolate. The most obvious is an extraordinarily intense/sharp aroma of something I've described as a combination nutmeg, (american) cake frosting, poppyseed paste and candied fruit. It really wakes me up. To be honest, it's a nice surprise (flavors I don't normally encounter), but it's way too intense for me to appreciate slowly. After getting past the first blast, I'm sometimes able to pick up aromas of vanilla, green apples, an artificial candy smell, lemon peel, cocoa and mild, sweet spice.
Just from the smell, I can tell that this chocolate will be a wild ride (and I'm not sure if I'm ready for it).
The taste - From the start, this chocolate comes on strong. Similar flavors that were in the aromas attack from the start. On top of that, the chocolate feels extremely sweet. Having eaten a 66% right before this (at least one tasting), I know that it has nothing to do with the percentage. The flavors almost exactly match the aromas, but in general (due to the high apparent sweetness), things have this "artificial candy" feel added on. It's a very weird experience. As the flavors develop (moving from high intensity nutmeg/apple/poppyseed to slightly more low key cocoa, apples and spice), I notice the excellent texture. It's extremely smooth, with a richness that's very pleasant (if it was in isolation). However, in context of the flavors, it's somewhat repulsive. Throughout a strange bitterness is also quite prominent, and an unpleasant astringency sweeps in at the end.
The finish brings relief - the intensity finally dies down. Faint cocoa flavors linger for a moment (floating above weird sweet/bitter aftertaste)
Balance and texture - Extremely sweet. The sweetness overwhelms everything and makes the chocolate somewhat nauseating. The texture is great. It's rich and extremely smooth. This chocolate is confusing.

My overall interpretation -
This chocolate is insane. It's just way too intense, with no sense of balance. Personally, i get a bit nauseous if I eat too much. I'd only recommend this chocolate to someone who's just being introduced to single origin chocolates because it has such a different profile than typical supermarket-dark. It really expresses the extremes that chocolates can go to. However, for someone looking for a serious, harmonious chocolate, this is about as far as you can get from what you want. The intensity, the aftertaste and the nauseating candy-sweetness are not recommended. Among the chocolates that I currently have in store that I picked up from Chocosphere, this is clearly the most unpleasant. (Not exactly a nice review, huh?)

cleaning house

a little bit sleepy, nice and sunny, good temperature. getting hungry but not incredibly so.


guittard - ambanja
look - very vibrant orange brown. smooth and no bubbles. 9
smell - soft cocoa, bacon (1st impression), sweet spice (nutmeg? clove?), like sharp wood, durian, white/black pepper mix, toasty, vanilla, (jasmine rice). 9
taste - soft cocoa, vanilla, sweet spice, chestnut paste?, slight acid, somewhat sickly sweet, slightly off bitterness, perfumy woody, vanilla, slight coffee, wood-like length. 8.5
balance - on the sweet side. acid was present but not very strong. odd bitterness detracted from overall taste. 8
texture - very nice. very smooth, rich. 9

interpretation - an interesting woody and spice (and vanilla) centered chocolate. very soft, great texture. would have been up there with the greats if it wasn't so sweet and it didn't have teh slightly off bitter taste in teh middle. other than taht, enjoyable as a relaxing chocolate. 8
summary - wood/spice, vanilla, soft, great texture, odd bitterness
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guittard - chuchuri
look - fairly dark brown with polished-woody colored tints. smooth, almost no bubbling 9
smell - bright poppyseed paste, sharp candied lemon, vanilla, toasted bread crust, nutmeg (bright somewhat painful sweet spice),plant-like sharpness, cocoa. (these are all exciting to see in chocolate, just way too sharp and somewhat unpleasant). fresh apples. 8
taste - interesting. bright mustard to open, sharp poppyseed smell, very odd bitter, very sweet, soft, whoa bitter getting stronger, the taste of a sandwich with poppyseed, slight fruitiness appears and tehn hides (fresh apple), creamy-sweet-vanilla-poppyseed, bitter. length also bitter.astringency appears. 7
balance - sweet. low acid provides for little backbone, base is present but sweet is overpowering. bitter present from midway on, seems to get stronger. 7.5
texture - very nice. smooth and rich. 9

interpretation - a wacky chocolate. bitter running thru most of it is very unpleasant. but the sea of fresh and bright aromas really expands the possibilities of chocolate. sweetness is overbearing. a very unforgettable chocolate, but in a somewhat regrettable way... 7~7.5
summary - bitter, poppyseed/nutmeg, sweet (and just plain crazy)
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pralus - tanzanie
look - deep brown with black sense to it. bubbling, swirling, chunkiness. 8
smell - very roasty, slightly lumber woody, dark berry jam, kind of a heavier spice, a soapiness, dried red chinese date skin, 8.5
taste - heavy cocoa, berry jam sweetness, pleasant bitter, fried japanese potato croquette, a bit of a glue-like sell, coffee's bitterness, slight twiggy smell, savory sell, some roast, finish of bitter and astringent coffee/vanilla/roasty wood. 8
balance - very good weight to it, a bit sweet feeling at times, acid seems present, just a bit of a lack of harmony. the astringency at the finish really makes it feel a bit discombobulated. the bitterness is pleasant, but the astringency is not. 8
texture - despite appearance, very nice. perhaps a slight powdery sensation due to astringency. 8.5

interpretation - dark and deep, with a fairly simplistic cocoa feel to it. at times interesing flavors dip in (spice, dried dates, even fried foods), but in general a dark roaster. astringency at finish makes this a lot less exciting than it could have been. with just the bitterness, it's a pleasant dark experience. astringency kills it. 7.5~8
summary - dark roast, astringent finish, bitter, heavy, some fruit jam
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theo - ivory coast
look - a dull ashy brown. slight bubbling. 8.5
smell - spice (clove), fresh peppery, slight sesame, wood, slightly toasty, green bright fruit, 8.5
taste - sweet, clear (not much base or acid), toasty cocoa, odd bitter emerging, spice, more spice on roasty cocoa, continuation of prev flavors, powdery, smoky, astringent and clovey finish. 7.5
balance - sweet. not a lot of base to back it up so it ends up feeling kinda watery and hollow. acid is also almost nonexistant. astringency to boot. not so pleasant. 7.5
texture - a bit powdery. slight crunches at times. 7.5

interpretation - a cleaned up version of very basic chocolate. it'd be a lot nicer without some astringent elements (and a "strange bitter") which i perceive as fault(s). otherwise it's a great exploration of spice oriented forastero cocoa. high sweet notes, woodyness. enjoyable in that sense. i'd say it's a work in progress... 7.5
summary - watery-sweet, bright sweet spice, woody, astringent
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i guess you could call this tasting "house cleaning". i don't have a very good impression of any of these chocolates, and sometimes i just feel like "getting rid" of ones i'm not that fond of. so today was one of those days. i did good. there's a lot of excitement and promise in the guittards, i just think they need to get a handle on the astringent aspects as well as toning down some of the more headache-producing aromas. but i feel like some really good chocolate COULD be made from what they've already accomplished.

discovery of the poppyseed paste chocolate

in relatively good condition for tasting, a bit sleepy and slightly "down", but should be ok....

pralus - tanzanie
look - dark brown, bubbling, lumpiness on back surface 8
smell - 1(berry jam, vanilla), 2(dried green japanese tea), 3(herbal, slight cocoa), 4(peach), in general fairly fruity 8
taste - floury, doughy cocoa, bitter/astringent, reminds of pasta water, meaty, dried plants and herbs, somewhat nutty, roast, choco cake, slight woody finish. roasty cocoa lingers 7.5
balance - decent. a bit "hollow" - a lot of astringent, some bitter, as well as some sweet. sort of a lack of coordination 7
texture - fairly good, felt grainy at times possibly due to astringency 8

interpretation - roasty and astringent, nose being somewhat different than taste. there were some decent hints and expectations of fruit on the nose, yet the roast, herbalness and astringency hid any fruit that might have been tehre. a bit odd really... 7.5
summary - fruity nose, astringent roasty taste
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valhrona - gran couva
look - brown-brown-red (sort of like NNW). fine-looking texture, tiny bubbling noticeable, but smooth overall 9
smell - 1(vanilla, beaniness, very slight fermentacious) 2("toasted" leaves), 3(coffee beans) 4(cooked lentils) 5(fermentacious, burnt popcorn) 6(domori) 7(cracker) 8(very slight pepperiness) 8
taste - slight beany, random trop fruit at opening, vanilla, fermentacios, carpet, beaniness, smell found in german white wines, more vanil and beany, slight coffee, roasty, reminds me of this park i went to when iwas a kid. fades to the carpet-like beany finish, some vanilla hinting. 8
balance - sweet, but in balance. "weight" seems to be the main counterbalance to the sweetness. little noticeable acid. 8.5
texture - very nice, smooth and "rich" feeling - 9

interpretation - somewhat simple in its tendency to lean towards fermentacious, beany and vanilla. tended to take those 3 aspects and play variations on the theme thru the duration of it. pleasant, but there's a bit of this "offness" that hides in the fermentacious (the carpet smell) - 8
summary - beany, vanilla, fermentacious. sweet.
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michel cluizel - maralumi (papua new guinea)
look - a solid brown-red. smooth, but some bubbling on back. texture looks very fine - 9
smell - 1(middle eastern spice, fruit), 2(toasty, cocoa powder), 3(burnt something - indian something - possibly the daal), 4(slight honey), 5(vanilla, some desert flavor), 6(that's it! it's slightly burnt dried chilis), 7(dry nuttyness -roasty), 8(a bit of a meaty cheesy stink, slight acid smells), 9(nutty baked good) -- 9
taste - slight cocoa vanil, roast emerges, nutty meatiness, gripped by the sweet/acid meatiness, toasty nut, bitterness, a fruit paste, vanilla, fruit laden cocoa, bitter twang, roast some coffee, roast of chilis, slightly spice cakey, long long finish of meaty fruity cocoa. 9
balance - very nice. sweet, but acid and base and bitter all come together to make it a very balanced experience. acidity was definitely intense. 9
texture - really good. can't say anything bad about it. 9.5

interpretation - a very exciting choco. not so delicate. i'd say pretty fire-y. esp since it has all these meaty characteristics. lots of variety, development, acidity. just really a fun one to explore. it's hard not to give it a 9. (it's just that i think about the amedeis that i've given 9s, and they're very different). fine, it gets a 9 for excitement
summary - exciting, lively, meaty, fruity, spice (indian)
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guittard - chuchuri (colombia)
look - brownish brown-red. smooth looking, only tiny tiny bubbles 9
smell - 1(poppyseed - like in a poppyseed cake. i can't believe i didn'tfigure this out before) 2(poppyseed with a twang of lemon rind) 3(possibly nutmeg, vanilla), 4(some fruity hint) 5(intense intense) 6(slight lime) 7.5
taste - cool, sweet, candy-like, poppyseed, lemony, piney, bubblegum, slight bitter, sweet, low acid, candy , continues, bitter astringent at finish, poppy seed finish. some unpleasantness. 7.5
balance - very sweet, plus sharp astringency not so pleasant. 6.5
texture - very nice. smooth. 9

interpretation - just too weird for me. it's kind of nice, but just the way it's so candy-like turns me off. the poppyseed is certainly interesting, but can't u show me anything else? the bitter astringency at the end definitely kills things
summary - sweet, candy-like, poppyseed, astringent
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theo - ivory coast
look - dark brown with fairly light reddish tint. slightly grainy looking, tiny bubbles 8
smell - soapy, chalky, dry cocoa, some unexpected spice (clove like, maybe nutmeg), cocoa, slight fruit and vanilla hints, but mostly the prev stuff 7.5
taste - opens cocoa-y, bitter, banana-peely, slight grainy, sweet, cocoa, roasty, dry nutty, finish wth some coffee, length is of bitter cocoa 7.5
balance - not so great. a bit hollow and watery (low to no acid, sweet and bitter/astringency present without much "weight" to back it up) 7
texture - ok, a bit powdery-feeling in parts. 7.5

interpretation - just a so so chocolate. it has its moments when it surprises with a little spice or a little fruit on the nose, but the taste itself doesn't really bring anything that impressive. nice to have a bitter choco every once in a while tho. 7.5
summary - simple, bitter cocoa, coffee. hollow
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so, i htink we all know what my clear favorite from this tasting was. it's nice to have been tasting a lot of these chocolates over time. perceptions change a bit as time passes, brings out new ways to view the same smells, like the chuchuri.
i actually had a revelation when i was eating this poppy seed paste pastry. i said - damn, this IS chuchuri. then when i tasted the chuchuri again today, it was confirmed. interesting how there are many ways to interpret the same smell, but also that the mind tends to come up with "substitutes" when it can't remember the "true" smell.
so i guess my smell memory is very slowly improving.
time for a little taste of the lagavulin 16 i picked up yesterday (i can taste it already in my head). and yes, it is before 10am.

not such a great tasting day

i feel like my sensitivity/concentration were low. but whatever, i'll post anyways. (btw, this actually occurred 2 days ago). the theme of this tasting was 65% stuff i have, plus first real tasting of the gran couva bar i picked up (for way too much money, 600 yen, but whatever. real chocolate is rare in tokyo)

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pralus - tanzanie
look - dark, slight bubbling, a bit "grainylooking"
smell - slight dark berry jam, dried leaves, a different fruit?, coffee sharpness, kind f a sndy wheaty smell, cocoa, more odd sharp sandy smell
taste - chocolate with a bready lean, coffee, fruitiness hangs thru the whole thing (berries), slight minty spot appears, more cocoa, more coffee, something intersting that's in between. cuts off quickly, leaves somewhat bitter aftertaste. sweet > acid << style="font-weight: bold;">balance - not so great, leaving a decent amount of noticeable bitter, esp in the aftertaste, where it also turns astringent
texture - ok. felt a bit rough, but may have been the effect of the astringency.
interpretation - 8
summary - dark, somewhat rough, roasty, burnt berries ------------------------------------------------------------------
guittard - ambanja (madagascar)
look - light brown, slight reddish hue. almost looks like a milk choco
smell - a lot of fruit (fairly red), some meatiness (like a dry sausage). nutmeggy, chalky, toasty. waxy candle smell, a bit like potpurri,
taste - candyness (sweet, vanil), roasty kind of... nutty, somewhat peppery, woody smells, nutmeg, very insteresting blend of smells, fairly fruity smell, (can't pick out what), some cereal at the end.
balance - fairly sweet. acid is present to back it up, but my overall feeling was that it was too sweet. decent amount of base gives it good body, but nothing too special.
texture - very nice, no noticeable problems

interpretation - too sweet, some slightly "odd" aromas - kind of candy like, not that attractive to me. that in combination with the dominating sweetness turns me off. 7.5
summary - sweet, fruity, complex, candylike
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valhrona - gran couva
look - a very "brown" brown. looks to be very smooth, no ripples or bubbles
smell - toasty coffee, vanilla, grapey skin smell, woody, very slightly fermentacious, minty in a way, maybe clovey, reminds of a bar of soap
somewhat vanil, new car, fermentacious, deep dark smell/taste, roasty, sweet, flowery soap, great texture, thick, roast with vanilla in it, slight coffee toasty on finish. no astringency, slight bitter
balance - very nice. a bit sweet, but the base seems to support the sweetness well. acidity is not pronounced, but definitely present
texture - very good. smooth and rich, somewhat weighty feeling

interpretation - there may be a bit too much vanilla use, but beyond that, nice in its "gentle darkness". enjoyable. still dark-feeling at 64%. nowhere near as acidic as cluizels, yet not flat and sweet like some other 65% range chocos. 8.5
summary - soft, dark, vanilla, toasty
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guittard - chuchuri (colombia)
look - brown with a toasty black look
smell - whoa, strong lemon candy/ bright nutmeg, extremely sweet, green aromas, tropical flowers maybe?, slight clove, intense bright aromas, potpurri, cola, reminds of minty bubblegum,
taste - nutmeg, honeyed something, toasty, cocoa, candied apple or lemon, caramelly?, more intense sweetness, bright candy flavors, fade to a nutmeggy toasty smell
balance - a bit off. way too sweet. some base. astringency fairly present. acidity feels relatively low
texture - good - melt is a bit slow, but there don't seem to be problems

interpretation - way too intense, way too crazy with the nutmeg/candy tastes. amazing that it's only chocolate, but it needs to be toned down. tastes like eating some candy made for people on acid. (by people on acid) 7
summary - intense, nutmeg, sweet
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i have more respect for the valhrona. decently balanced.