Nigeria
by Mars
Impact
The first Nigerian listed in the C-spot Census (or anywhere for that matter). As with any first-time – whether a kiss, a bike-ride or a paycheck – mystery heightens the anticipation. When it comes to chocolate, the thrill builds further in thinking that maybe, just maybe, this will be The One... so rare, exotic & foreign that it doesn’t taste like... well, chocolate, or at least unlike any other ever before it.
Such expectations get tempered by Harry S. Truman’s reminder that the “only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.”
After all, Nigeria forms part of West Africa – the worlds #1 cocoa producing region beset by all the problems that the industry can throw at it... from plant diseases to cheap commodity prices & shady deals which the locals return by often delivering low quality cocoa. It too cultivates a fairly standardized crop of Amelonado – the workhorse of cacáo. So any dreams inspired by jingles advertising that the ‘sweetest things on Earth comes from Mars’ (which produces this bar) could somehow rocket over it -- with an out-of-this-world payload -- come quickly spiraling back to... reality.
Easy does it & simple as can be. Monotonous really but in a nice, warm cocoa-friendly way. Fast attack / short finish - straight up & down - save for lingering astringency.
Yep, tastes just like chocolate; in fact, better than the usual chocolate... from Mars.
Such expectations get tempered by Harry S. Truman’s reminder that the “only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.”
After all, Nigeria forms part of West Africa – the worlds #1 cocoa producing region beset by all the problems that the industry can throw at it... from plant diseases to cheap commodity prices & shady deals which the locals return by often delivering low quality cocoa. It too cultivates a fairly standardized crop of Amelonado – the workhorse of cacáo. So any dreams inspired by jingles advertising that the ‘sweetest things on Earth comes from Mars’ (which produces this bar) could somehow rocket over it -- with an out-of-this-world payload -- come quickly spiraling back to... reality.
Easy does it & simple as can be. Monotonous really but in a nice, warm cocoa-friendly way. Fast attack / short finish - straight up & down - save for lingering astringency.
Yep, tastes just like chocolate; in fact, better than the usual chocolate... from Mars.
Appearance 3.3 / 5
| Color: | about right for a semi-sweet: medium brown |
| Surface: | indistinct |
| Temper: | semi-gloss |
| Snap: | lower frequency range |
Aroma 7.4 / 10
no-to-low aroma; what it meagerly manages to capture infers molasses & licorice, then a delicately spiced crenshaw melon before heading in a more tropical mangosteen-direction (with the jujube-like fruit of Christ’s Thorn Tree)
Mouthfeel 10.9 / 15
| Texture: | insubstantially soft |
| Melt: | fast as its flavor ‘cept for stringent after-F/Xs |
Flavor 43.5 / 50
runs the gamut from cocoa in to cocoa out & precious little in between... maybe a speck of spice & a toasted note of a nut that conspire for chickory while waiting for the grass to grow under its shade
Quality 15.8 / 20
Melts thru the entire gamut of flavors from A to B (thank you, Dorothy Parker): cocoa out & back. That’s all she wrote, folks.
Reviewed Autumn 2010
Reviewed Autumn 2010