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Ghana/Madagascar

by Soma
Info Details
Country Canada   
Type Semi-Dark   (70%; Batch 9DO3)
Strain Blend   
Source (Ghana; Madagascar)
Flavor Crossover   (Earthen x Fruits/Flowers)
Style Neo-Modern      
lo
med
hi
CQ
Sweetness
Acidity
Bitterness
Roast
Intensity
Complexity
Structure
Length
Impact
The lion & the shark (Ghana and Madagascar) subsumed... each supreme in their element & incapable of devouring the other.
Appearance   3.8 / 5
Color: warm umber, slightly opaque, struck w/ cool red
Surface: overall clean save for the holes in the corner mold pockets
Temper: uneven: matte vs. plastic wrapper transfer
Snap: sheers right off; finely-sanded edge
Aroma   7.8 / 10
more Ghana than Mad: stone-grounded cocoa dust -> W African leather rubbed in red palm oil -> light Mad citrus-tang wafts in w/ tobacco smoke -> big rubber
Mouthfeel   12.6 / 15
Texture: medium bodied & smooth enough to melt a backbone
Melt: metronomic
Flavor   45.1 / 50
pops in brownies quickly followed by pure chocolate -> mounting acidity to soft reds (strawberry & raspberry) spread sweetly over breadfruit -> white wash comes on (litchi / langsat) -> ash flecks for contrast settle down into long chocolate corridor framed in those subtle reds -> backs out brownies again, w/ an inverse flip as a lone acid forms the bottom to cocoa’s upper register -> exits black cherry / black forest cake; vanilla after-draw
Quality   18 / 20
By now a shopworn pairing of dual origins (Ghana and Madagascar) seen from S-B, C’vic, & others. The key is to blend them seamlessly without one choking on the other.

The right proportions, soldered by butter, create good integration here, replete with plenty of little tricks, twists, & turns (together the two origins doing more than just Ghana holding down the bottom while Madagascar provides levity on top; & Soma’s technique contributes to this, previewed in its Mad 70 having a built-in lower range of its own).

A classic-inverted A-B-A format that keeps taste buds twirling.

ING: cocoa mass, sugar, cacáo butter

Reviewed Autumn 2009

  

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