Oialla
by Bojesen
Impact
Apparently Volker Lehmann of Rainforest Exquisite Products roams far from being alone in the forest sending out experienced inhabitants to wild-harvest Bolivia’s renowned cacáo -- first seen in the artisanal circles with Felchlin’s Cru Sauvage. Sumar, a Bolivian company, also promotes sustainable Amazon business ventures atop the chocolatal or cacáo islands set amidst the Rio Bení. It serves as a purchasing agent of Grade B cacáo (basically whatever Volker declines) hauled in from the surrounding fields & brought to the market towns of Baures & Trinidad.
There Rasmus Bo Bojesen & his wife Pernille Lützhøft (+ kids in tow) linked up with them to bring this bar to fruition in the spirit of Dr. Ramón aka ‘Ché’ whose promise lives on in Bolivia’s President Evo Morales. Both men knew a thing or two about agriculture (Morales worked the coca fields; Ché fought for collectivization).
It then was couriered up north by a co-chocomane after mining the cacáo-underground on a trip to South America... that is, just another day in The Chocolate Life of Sir Clay Gordon (beknighted here for his daily exploits that have included, among other manifold activities, engaging in spirited exchanges with anyone & everyone in the world of chocolate, all in the quest of raising the bar & 'achieving our chocolate' to paraphrase John Dewey).
Never mind now that the forest dwellers who picked the pods that had once borne these seeds made into this chocolate spend their money earned from them on beer & babes. Everybody after all must get stoned in humanity’s quest to avoid pain. It’s just a matter of selecting the pleasure(s). The more the merrier... until over-stimulation leads to exhaustion & depletion.
No worries. This bar -- an early prototype -- holds so much hope for a rebound it even lifts the specter of DNR (Do Not Resuscitate).
Whoever thought chocolate was only candy must already be dead.
There Rasmus Bo Bojesen & his wife Pernille Lützhøft (+ kids in tow) linked up with them to bring this bar to fruition in the spirit of Dr. Ramón aka ‘Ché’ whose promise lives on in Bolivia’s President Evo Morales. Both men knew a thing or two about agriculture (Morales worked the coca fields; Ché fought for collectivization).
It then was couriered up north by a co-chocomane after mining the cacáo-underground on a trip to South America... that is, just another day in The Chocolate Life of Sir Clay Gordon (beknighted here for his daily exploits that have included, among other manifold activities, engaging in spirited exchanges with anyone & everyone in the world of chocolate, all in the quest of raising the bar & 'achieving our chocolate' to paraphrase John Dewey).
Never mind now that the forest dwellers who picked the pods that had once borne these seeds made into this chocolate spend their money earned from them on beer & babes. Everybody after all must get stoned in humanity’s quest to avoid pain. It’s just a matter of selecting the pleasure(s). The more the merrier... until over-stimulation leads to exhaustion & depletion.
No worries. This bar -- an early prototype -- holds so much hope for a rebound it even lifts the specter of DNR (Do Not Resuscitate).
Whoever thought chocolate was only candy must already be dead.
Appearance 3.4 / 5
| Color: | jungle Darth w/ violet ray |
| Surface: | dusted, flaked & chipped |
| Temper: | flat |
| Snap: | fire crackling |
Aroma 9.1 / 10
caraway seed blossoms into rose attar then smothers w/ a facemask of chocolate-prunes cut by sparkling cider, peppercorn & Bolvian fuchsia -> bluestone
Mouthfeel 12.3 / 15
| Texture: | globular |
| Melt: | sluggish & refracted |
Flavor 47.2 / 50
sweet opening on wild dark honey lets onto chocolate-gilded plums sparkling in those cider & fuchsia aromas -> melts drier to earthen cocoa w/ some faint background noise from potatoes & quinoa -> grows nutsome (almond) -> light anise & mashua -> chicory -> tailspins into a prune’d chocolate (lightly alcoholic to suggest a volatile currant) & a sub-soiled walnut brownie
Quality 18.1 / 20
Narrow range but deep depth. Precious little progression; quickly stakes its position & holds it with unwavering ballast. About the most steadfast & tucked of all the Bolivian bars to hit the market so far; very compressed & integrated flavor (rather than any plural flavors). Sugar molecules so perfectly suspended in cocoa solids as to be virtually unnoticeable -- that’s how seamless. An extremely well-soldered joint in which taste & tongue are fermented, roasted & conched together.
The lone drawback – Texture (& minor at that) – follows the course of most Benianos... whose characteristically slow release serves only to prolong the sensation for the better.
Bojesen taking the craft down... into seriously deep subterranean depths. Let's hope they keep it up as this prototype goes thru its commercial production runs.
Indeed, the beta-bars show better breadth along with depth than the initial commercial releases, as well as better Texural feel reflected in the higher scores here.
Reviewed January 2011
The lone drawback – Texture (& minor at that) – follows the course of most Benianos... whose characteristically slow release serves only to prolong the sensation for the better.
Bojesen taking the craft down... into seriously deep subterranean depths. Let's hope they keep it up as this prototype goes thru its commercial production runs.
Indeed, the beta-bars show better breadth along with depth than the initial commercial releases, as well as better Texural feel reflected in the higher scores here.
Reviewed January 2011