a very lively tasting

nice and sunny after a cloudy day. slightly overslept. decent focus. hungry.


pralus venezuela
look - a fair brown with orange tinting. good smoothness, some small bubbling. 9
smell - nutty butter, slight vanilla, grahm cracker and slight fruit (berry), slight bay leaf, touch of raisin, maple. cedary touch. i feel like i'm smelling different things than usual. 9+
taste - sweet soft melt, roasty peanuts, cocoa, nice hot chocolate (all very early impressions), after the hot choco, some caramel-type burny, then metallic butter, amazing texture, roasty thing, tree bark, faint vanilla, smoky finish (possibly sometoasted sesame mixed in with pure cocoa) 9+
balance - very nice. sweetness is perceived strongly, but a fair amount of acid to back it up. base is nice. 9
texture - so rich. depending on your preference this can be good or bad. i really like it. so fine, so smooth. the richness really makes this chocolate stand out. 9.5

interpretation - a rich and pure chocolate. very expressive of pure cocoa tones. roasting is fairly strong. the way the richness and sweetness counterbalance the roast is 'masterful'. makes for an eye opening experience instead of being a one-sided roaster. really fun to eat. i need a truck full of this stuff. 9+
summary - rich, roasty, pure cocoa, buttery
-------------------------------------------------------------

amano cuyagua
look - very light brown - heavy red-orange hue-ing. smooth on the whole, some tiny bubbling
smell - sharp red lumber, tobacco, slight fermentacious, dried blackberries, incense, leather (another interpretation for the fresh tobacco smell), vanilly-potato, 'forest fresh' soap, peach? 9+ very exciting (a little bit off with fermentacious, but still ok)
taste - tomato plant, sharp geen leafy taste, different fruit, incense, black tea, cigar, fragrant... trop fruit, woody (fresh lumber), more tobacco heavy cocoa at finish. very faint astringency. 9
balance - quite nice. a bit on the sweet side, acid was not prominent enough to take attention away from sweetness. good base. 9
texture - very nice. smooth, slight rich feeling. clean and light in some ways. 9

interpretation - a strong, character-filled chocolate. really exciting plant-characteristics that makes one remember that chocolate comes from plants. in some ways it's one sided because the tobacco flavor dominates, but my perception of that flavor changed again and again thru the whole experience. definitely a chocolate to get you "pumped". very slight flaws (faint fermentacious, astringency), but easy to overlook because of the power and character of the choco. 9+
summary - powerful, tobacco, slight sweet, character-filled
-------------------------------------------------------------

michel cluizel - maralumi
look - a light, dull brown with orange hues. fairly smooth 5g square.
smell - sharp bright curry, raisins, vanilla. cumin and... red chile?, cinammon?, (it was like the sweet smelling curry powder i have), plums, roasted nut, light caramel toffee. 9+ very exciting
taste - dry roasted nut, smoky, peanut-sugar-rice-cracker, dried fruit, acid, caramel, more trees, cocoa, red tart fruit, savory (spicy) flavors at finish. 9 (intense)
balance - sweet as expected (for a 64%), but with a lot of mature acid to back things up, it really makes it feel rounded. base is kind of drawn out by acid and sweet, makes the whole experience intense. 9
texture - very very nice. fine, clean, smooth, rich. not as oily as venezuela (then again, not much is...) 9.5

interpretation - a fiery chocolate. a lot of sharp, spicy flavors mixed with fruits. just a lot of excitement. barely feels like chocolate. a very intense exploration of extra-fragrant cocoa. makes u feel the "tropical" nature of the cacao plant. 9
summary - spice, fruit, excitement, sweet, acid
-------------------------------------------------------------

pralus - tanzanie
look - a deep brown with slight purplish tinting. fair amount of bubbling
smell - faint fruit, light woody (cedar) smell, relatively faint (compared to others in this tasting), dry leaves, slight cocoa, mushroom? 8 (fairly faint, nothing that clean and exciting)
taste - donut, dried red fruit, very interesting tea smell, cocoa, tainted by astringency, plantiness, burnt leaves, more donut, choco, roast. dry finish. 8 (it's a shame that the astringency comes at the end since it skews my perception of it as a whole)
balance - decent. slight acid, sugar is felt but doesn't feel rounded, base is disconnected and astringent 7.5
texture - slightly grainy. 8

interpretation - sort of a 'drab' chocolate. shows some interesting character, but doesn't have life. like it's not really that "into it". lower the astringency (most impt) and step up the brightness or boldness of one of the flavor components, and it would be a very exciting chocolate (like the others) 8
summary - faint, asringent, slight fruit, tea, cedar
-------------------------------------------------------------

a very lively tasting. the tanzanie at the end kinda threw cold water on the whole thing, but it was good because it helped put the excitement brought by the other 3 into perspective. they each bring their own excitement in very different ways. the pralus (ven) via texture and very powerful yet controlled roast, the amano with its wild-plant and tobacco smells, the cluizel with its spice and fruit and roast and acid. what an incredibly diverse world chocolate is...

the 5 choco tasting

fairly cool morning. it's the day after a long bike ride, so i have that layer of sleepiness on top of everything. not bad tho

amedei ecuador
look - medium brown with purple-red slight hints. a tiny bubble on the back of the 5g square. 9
smell - cranberry juice and fermenty, meatloafy, wood and spice, vanilla, incense, slight cocoa, more vanilla 9
taste - vanilla, cocoa, raisins, more dried fruit development, touch of sweet spice like clove, slight dried ornge peel, more raisiny and vanilla, slight coffee emerging, some bitter showing, soft in general, more earthy flavors developing, cocoa powder and caramel on finish. 9
balance - quite good. acid doesn't come to foreground, but plays key role in connecting base to sweetness. sweetness is also not very apparent 9
texture - good, but maybe a bit of powderyness

interpretation - a simple chcolate with an elegant finish. the flavors individually are not that intense or exotic, mostly sticking to dried fruit, soft sweet spice, vanilla and cocoa powder. but there is this "elegant touch" that makes everything feel light and sweet. indeed, a very long finish. 9
summary - soft, simple, dried fruit cocoa
-------------------------------------------------------------

amedei grenada
look - red-purple meaty brown. ultra smooth. 9
smell - very sweet vanilla, slight hidden savory soup smell, planty tobacco, stronger... coffee?, a sort of plasticy smell, 8.5
taste - odd kinda astringent, dry woody flavor, astringence with sweetness, vanilla comes in, plummy fruit, dried leaves, browned onions??, cocoa powder (cheap kind), sharp bean, cocoa like finish 8.5
balance - a bit on the sweet side. low acidity, but most conspicuous is the astringency. uncommon for amedei. 8
texture - nice. 9

interpretation - a bit out of character for amedei. astringency being the biggest off-putting element. lack of finesse is also quite obvious. a simple sweetness is present (vanilla, plums) but it's really all about a rather "common" cocoa powder taste, along with odd wood-like and plant like flavors. despite similar coloring, completely different from soft and gentle ecuador. 8
summary - basic cocoa, vanilla, sweet, astringency
-------------------------------------------------------------

pralus papousie
look - a blackish brown with slight hint of dark red. small bubbling. 9
smell - buttery caramel, fruit, sligth vanilla, woody essence, fruit is kinda red-berry like, a bit of oolong tea, -- in general a faint, light sweet aroma profile. 9
taste - roasty cocoa powder, fried crumbs from a japanese croqette, dark roast almond, savory butter element, slight caramel, nice bitter touch (just a touch), nice simple cocoa, like the croissant from accrs the street, baked breads, wood fire, roasty elements on finish. pleasant and roasty. 9
balance - good. sweet acid and base all aligned well, (sometimes noticing the 'mature' acid's intensity) plus a touch of pleasant bitterness. no astringency keeps this one happy. 9
texture - very nice. rich but not overpowering. a balance between ultrafine cocoa and rich butteryness. 9

interpretation - a simple roast chocolate, but very "fine tuned". balance is great, flavors are all soft and of the same intensity. never offensive. a slight bitter touch really matches well with the slight roasty elements. a happy simple roaster. 9
summary - balanced, roasty, clean cocoa, faint fruit hint.
-------------------------------------------------------------

michel cluizel - maralumi
look - a lighter brown, almost milky looking with orange hints. some small bubbling. 9
smell - ground beef wtih scezwan spice, cinnamon, roasty elements, pecans, burnt soy, roast pumpkin. (extremely intense and bright flavors), heavily toasted bread, pie crust, repetition of earlier aromas. 9 (this one has some life!!)
taste - sweet, burnt soy, some mushrooms, other roasty elements, some sweeter aspects (vanil, fruit), slight nut paste, strong acidity, somewhat sharp, roasted fish (the burning fat), more roasty elements, slight coffee hidden behind burnt soy. in general a repetition of teh aromas with high sweetness and acidity. 9
balance - on the sweet side, but matched by equally strong acidity. acidity is slightly sharp. 8.5
texture - very good. ultra smooth yet not oily. 9.5

interpretation - a very exciting chocolate. vibrant flavors of burnt soy really persist. explores lots of roasty elements (without being excessively dark), nuts, breads. but sharp acidity keeps it from ever becoming a dull tour of the "same old roasty" stuff. gives it a fruity aspect despite lack of any real fruit elements. exciting and lively, but lacks a delicateness or elegance to its flavors. 9
summary - bright, acid, roasty, nutty, burnt soy.
-------------------------------------------------------------
pralus tanzanie
look - dark brown with blackish purple hints, small bubbling, random chunkiness. 8
smell - lemony cedary smel, donut (the lemon one from across the street), slight fruity element, kind of tea like, heaver stinky cocoa, light spice 9
taste - dried pasta water, caramelly roast, more roasty elements, berry, donut, a roasty tree like cocoa, cocoa, dark fruit elements, astringency, faint vanilla, coffee then astringent finish. more donut. fairly astringent at end. slightly medicinal. 8
balance - not bad until finish. acid present in fair amt, no heavy sweetness. however finish releases a lot of astringency and skews my perception of the chcooate as a whole. 7.5-8
texture - ok, slightly powdery. 8-8.5

interpretation - i was having a great time until the finish. nice roasty elements, a strong parallel to the lemon donut, some darker cocoa, possibly some red fruit. then all of a sudden the astringency sweeps in and ruins it. too bad. 8
summary - roasty, donut, ASTRINGENCY
-------------------------------------------------------------

not bad for a tasting of 5! i felt like i really got to get a solid grip on who is who in this tasting. hopefully i'll still remember tomorrow...

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
-------------------------------------------------------------

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.
-----------------------------------------------------------

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)
-------------------------------------------------------------

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
-------------------------------------------------------------

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
--------------------------------------------------------------
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.

the first official tasting

had a lot before this, but they wouldn't make good posts. my plan is to try to taste the choco, then after each taste, post a "review" of sorts, and then when i'm all finished with a bar (so not every day), compare to earlier tastings and give a more "averaged" review of ssavory, orts. this may be time consuming. oh well

also, note that the tags are the names of the chocolates -- i'll try to keep these consistent so the categories dealy can be used to find a choco and all of its tasting "episodes"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
pralus - venezuela
visual - very smooth outisde, after cracking notice some tiny bubbles, nice deep brown color. yep
snap - very nice.
smell - savory, browned butter, roasty, less intense->(mintish, something), reminds of pad thai with the peanut sauce, more savory, slight vanilla, slight slight caramelized, possibly some light hints of orange peel (fresh) but not sure. mostly dominated by savory/browned butter smell 8.5
taste - roast - dark roast nuts (almonds) comes first, slight popcorny, develops into extremely intense burnt butter popcorn, hints of soft cocoa in bckgd, caramel, really rich textures, slight acid, but thinckness much more intense, more roasty nuts and caramel, shiny metallic butter, pssibly some dried fruit at end but mostly dominating elements of roast. 9
balance - excellent. leaning towards sweet and rich, low but welcome bitterness, low acid supports structure. just has this wonderful full bodied feeling like the entire palate is being filled 9.5
texture - didn't notice any graininess. felt very smooth and rich. 9

interpretation - this really is a favorite of mine. the nose/smell could mislead you to thinking that it was an overly roasted, somewhat flat-character chocolate. nothing particularly sticks out except for the roasty aspects and some nuttiness.
however, upon eating, (past the early couple of seconds) it explodes into this burnt popcorn thing which blows my mind every time. how could it be chocolate? that then slowly gives way to nuttiness and some caramel aspects. not very complex, but the thing to keep in mind is that through the entire length, there's an incredible richness powering through all of the phases. it's not something i've seen in many chocolates. certainly makes this one stand out. 9~9.5

summary - rich roasty nutty

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
bonnat - chuao
visual - surface clean and smooth, very few air bubbles, nice red-tinted wood brown. 9
snap - nice 8
smell - jammy berry, wooden cask, slight fresh green herbal, citronella candle, (posibly mistaken) some rootbeer?, frther smelling reveals soft, slightly stinky cocoa, citronella could be interpreted as some sort of light wood??. in general, complex, subtle and fairly low intensity - 9
taste - light cocoa, slight caramel, sharp wild berry, red wood, some minty, citronella, texture soft slightly grainy, reasonable acidity, chocolatey essence, fruit and wood mix, low bitter, somewhat rem of a choco cake, fades to cocoa and slight minty - 9
balance - very good. all 3 major axes (sweet, acid, bitter) seem to be aligned in a low intensity mix. bitter sticks out a little more at end. - 8.5
texture - slightly grainy feeling. but in general good. 8.5

interpretation - a mysterious and subtle chocolate. nose indicates that it will be complex and subtle (low intensity). berry and wood to begin with, then shifting towards cocoa and citronella candle shows that this choco is fairly wide in the range of smells it covers. tastes confirm what smells suggest, extremely complex. starting with gentle cocoa and caramel, chocolate shifts to sharp smells like blueberry and wood, even some mint, all the while maintaining a low-key presence in all 3 axes, bitter/cocoa-foundation being slightly more present than others. tends to waver back and forth between the tastes, then finishing to an interesting cocoa smell that i could only really describe as slightly minty. the only disappointment here was the texture which was a little more grainy than it could have been. balance was good, but maybe not 100% in my personal preference direction. 8~9

summary - subtle complex berry/sharp/wood/cocoa

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(upper left)
michel cluizel - maralumi (papua new guinea) 5g square
look - can see some swirly patterns. don't know what that means. inside is very uniform looking. lighter brown with some slight orange red tinting. 9
snap - nice . 8
smell - sharp smoky, toasty nut, coconut??, slight "exotic", somewhat rem of a choco balance bar, nuttyness, caramelization, acidity, burnt dry garlic chips, slight berry, cocoa depth. 8.5 (some smells are slightly "low class"). cedar
taste - same candy bar smell, nuttyness, very tart, sweet slightly over bitter/base, nutty praline, raspberry, slight vinegary, beautiful texture, more caramelly, wash out with more acid, nuttyness, caramel, fade to slight vanil plus nutty. wow, very intense. 8.5
balance - very high intensity tart and sweet, which end up being very well matched. base is present, but any "bitter" is overshadowed by powerful acid and sweetness. still, things seem fairly in check. 9 (personally think it's too sweet, but that's 64% for u)
texture - wonderful. ultra smooth, high rich sensation. 9 (pure enjoyment somewhat hampered by excessive acidity)

interpretation - a fairly intense, in-your-face experience. from the moment of opening wrapper, strong, characteristic "cluizel" smells waft up. the smell itself says that it will be a strong showing. smoky and toasty-nut to start, followed by a middle stage of more caramelly/nutty candybar-ness, possibly caused by raspberry essence lurking. also hints at acidity to come on palate.
nuttiness and the odd candybar smell dominate the start, all the while supported or "pushed up" by the intensity of the acid/sugar. shifts to praline-like tastes, something slightly savory, raspberry (possibly the source of the candybar smell) and caramel. finishes with nuttyness, slight caramel and vanilla. a very very intense experience due to acid. in general, it was a bit too intense, and some "slightly lower class" flavors/aromas were present, which kinda made me rethink a higher rating. still, the powerful showing of nuttyness and caramel can't be ignored, so points for that one. if i could, i'd tone down the acid/sugar and clean up some of the oddness in the "lower end" of the smells. 8~9

summary - acid sugar nutty caramel some fruit

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

reflections - yep, 3 is definitely the limit when writing out these full descriptions. i just start to lose patience. regardless, we know which of the 3 is my favorite. not much in terms of source or other comments on manufacturer etc.
i guess i don't really care about that stuff. well, until next time!