Impact
‘Ocupuncture’... healing Nibs. A recent study points up that acupuncture works better than standard treatments to relieve pain, & the benefits remain the same even when patients are merely prodded with toothpicks (practitioners apparently have been wasting too much money on needles). To prove the placebo effects, try poking & needling the tongue with these Nibs instead. Swear it: they work wonders & perform medical miracles.
Appearance 4.3 / 5
| Color: | russet brown, characteristic pigment that gives Ocumare bars their blush |
| Surface: | pimped & preened (for Nibs, that is... i.e., clean) |
| Temper: | microscopic fuzz |
| Snap: | n/a |
Aroma 8 / 10
fits the ‘61’ profile: light & wispy citrus greens (soncoya, peaches, pepino melon, pink grapefruit) -> rawhide leather (pre tanning), hoof included (stepping on the Sugar Honey Ice Tea) -> hard araguany wood
Mouthfeel 12.6 / 15
| Texture: | mild resistence yields medium crunch |
| Melt: | mealy |
Flavor 47.8 / 50
taps in a good cigar leaf as if from D.R. or Cuba -> gentle rocking cocoa -> pecans -> Impressionist citrus (super light soncoya / evanescent verbena-like) -> nut ‘n fruit stream for days in a kind of rocket herb until very recessed background-bitter, attendant w/ wooded incarnation, cuts latent hazelnuts & peat -> chews up grains (wheat germ & brown rice) -> ends where it began... reflates green leaf but now in the guises of sorrel & silage w/ witch-hazel (slightly stringent & fermented); Marcona almond aftermath
Quality 19.5 / 20
Stunned alive. Nibs are the stems cells of chocolate. Most test the strength & stamina in a medicinal way of how much the tongue can take. Not these. Preternaturally kind, delicately invincible, & only a minor shred of bitterness; Ocumare proves its worth & reputation as a benign chocolate perennial. And Amano performs a roast to match, resisting the urge to apply a “maker’s mark”: burn these just an eyelash too hot & there’s nothing left since nothing’s gratuitous about this varietal.
The citric bump seen in the label’s Ocumare 70% bar can be gleaned here also, even as it lacks the hyper-excited ticklers of, say, Madagascar Nibs. Then again it never turns against the palate as most of those do (thanks to fewer polyphenol compounds - the Criollo chemical advantage). Always under control, delivering soft-driven complements instead.
Respects the varietal & keeps it simple. Bravo, Amano
ING: cocoa nibs
Reviewed Autumn 2010
The citric bump seen in the label’s Ocumare 70% bar can be gleaned here also, even as it lacks the hyper-excited ticklers of, say, Madagascar Nibs. Then again it never turns against the palate as most of those do (thanks to fewer polyphenol compounds - the Criollo chemical advantage). Always under control, delivering soft-driven complements instead.
Respects the varietal & keeps it simple. Bravo, Amano
ING: cocoa nibs
Reviewed Autumn 2010