2 Ecuadors
by Szántó Tibor
Impact
***************************************************************************
Haruspicy is a method of divination that involves the examination of animal entrails, especially the livers of sacrificed beasts. Priests who practice this ritual are referred to as 'haruspex'. The technique originated long ago in far away places.
The scent of these bars steams up a wtiches brew of teufelskreis, that is a devil’s circle of ferment / roast / conche, kindling fears of dyspeptic dystopia. Nasty.
Their flavor is anything but.
Welcome to the haruspex named Szántó Tibor.
Appearance 3.8 / 5
| Color: | purple Vadar |
| Surface: | travel advisory -- expect bumps, flakes, chips, divots, voids |
| Temper: | receding |
| Snap: | closed |
Aroma 6.6 / 10
Rancho Grande
a dirt & compost pile of rawish cocoa deodorized by a flower puff -> fades into yeast-mold -> resuscitated with blackberry
Wiñak
more composting but a darker steaming hash pile laid out on stone instead of a yeast bed
a dirt & compost pile of rawish cocoa deodorized by a flower puff -> fades into yeast-mold -> resuscitated with blackberry
Wiñak
more composting but a darker steaming hash pile laid out on stone instead of a yeast bed
Mouthfeel 11.4 / 15
| Texture: | mushy |
| Melt: | granular dissolve |
Flavor 45.8 / 50
Rancho Grande
blackberry chocolate, cassava beneath -> sweet currant -> cardamon & gotu kola sparkles… baker's yeasts mix for a beguiling brew -> udernripe banana (not green because virtually no astringency) -> flash grape
Wiñak
raw cocoa chomps into cinnamon -> soft pineapple-gingerbread with sacha-inchi flour -> beautiful vanilla -> dense fudge brownie -> blackstone
blackberry chocolate, cassava beneath -> sweet currant -> cardamon & gotu kola sparkles… baker's yeasts mix for a beguiling brew -> udernripe banana (not green because virtually no astringency) -> flash grape
Wiñak
raw cocoa chomps into cinnamon -> soft pineapple-gingerbread with sacha-inchi flour -> beautiful vanilla -> dense fudge brownie -> blackstone
Quality 17.5 / 20
Rancho Grande
Hacienda Rancho Grande, Vinces, Los Rios
From the 40-acre property composed largely of Nacional cacáo trees that may produce the perfect unsweetened chocolate & further reviewed at length of numerous percentiles.
Quasi-feral due to Szántó Tibor's easy handling.
intriguing accretion of flavors that pile on & up as the progression melts, as opposed to a linear point-by-point sequence.
More proof that the good growers of this hacienda in Vinces tend to some treasure.
Wiñak
Dense chocolate cake solidified in a bar. Wildly unexpected considering the Aroma & Ecuador's variable reputation. The contents within so streamlined & compressed to fool of the handiwork of Vincente Norero, ie., Camino Verde, Balao. His undergo doctored treatments, this presumably a spontaneous ferment -- au natural.
A cocoa similar in sourcing (very forest friendly replete with intercropping) if not flavor to Kallari's from the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve of the Amazon. There some 40+ organizations descend upon the regions of Sucumbios, Orellana & Napo, united under the generalized rubric of the Cacao Mesa. It harvests roughly 80/20 between the Nacional genotype vs. the CCN variety. The Wiñak Association is located in the Archidona district.
Both chocolates a far cry from the Raw Arriba release a couple years ago by Szántó Tibor. Only the ancillaries (Appearance, Texture & moreover Aroma) depress the rating.
A barsmith coming into its own.
Reviewed March 30, 2015
Hacienda Rancho Grande, Vinces, Los Rios
From the 40-acre property composed largely of Nacional cacáo trees that may produce the perfect unsweetened chocolate & further reviewed at length of numerous percentiles.
Quasi-feral due to Szántó Tibor's easy handling.
intriguing accretion of flavors that pile on & up as the progression melts, as opposed to a linear point-by-point sequence.
More proof that the good growers of this hacienda in Vinces tend to some treasure.
Wiñak
Dense chocolate cake solidified in a bar. Wildly unexpected considering the Aroma & Ecuador's variable reputation. The contents within so streamlined & compressed to fool of the handiwork of Vincente Norero, ie., Camino Verde, Balao. His undergo doctored treatments, this presumably a spontaneous ferment -- au natural.
A cocoa similar in sourcing (very forest friendly replete with intercropping) if not flavor to Kallari's from the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve of the Amazon. There some 40+ organizations descend upon the regions of Sucumbios, Orellana & Napo, united under the generalized rubric of the Cacao Mesa. It harvests roughly 80/20 between the Nacional genotype vs. the CCN variety. The Wiñak Association is located in the Archidona district.
Both chocolates a far cry from the Raw Arriba release a couple years ago by Szántó Tibor. Only the ancillaries (Appearance, Texture & moreover Aroma) depress the rating.
A barsmith coming into its own.
Reviewed March 30, 2015