Impact
Appearance 4.6 / 5
| Color: | dark ruby brown |
| Surface: | bit of a flake |
| Temper: | semi-gloss |
| Snap: | buttons down tight |
Aroma 9 / 10
warm blended cocoa ‘n spices pivots less around the actual components that comprise this & more about candied apples & candy corn -> mulled cider ‘n cinnamon ensconced in sauna chiche wood -> eventually bleeds pepper; sensational
Mouthfeel 11.3 / 15
| Texture: | powder dry |
| Melt: | well-timed all things considered (thank you, lecithin) |
Flavor 43.7 / 50
spice convention (cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, epazote & vanilla) meeting on the cold steps of lowbrow cocoa -> pepper fires thru... heats up the action... bubbles up candy corn (+ a flash nail polish too) -> caramel apple over raw cocoa, including characteristic 'vice-grip' compliments of a stringent finish from residual volatiles of the ferment left unprocessed
Quality 18.1 / 20
Conventional enough combo in the everything-old-is-new-again era of modern choc... except for the preparation.
Unroasted; no mistaking the conche either or lack thereof, felt readily in the Texture, barely minimal / almost negligible at well larger than the industry standard of ~20 microns, putting ever more onus on the quality of the ingredients.
Heated nonetheless by chipotle (& in a sense therefore roasted) &, less so, by allspice as well as that other great spice – vanilla (notable for making 90+% of chocolates the world over into flavored bars, technically speaking). Together they kindle & transform to warm an otherwise problematic “raw" chocolate couverture that inheres with its own resident spice tones (frigid such as they are); the total spice package weighing heavily against the base foundation of cocoa, pressuring it into greater concentrated flavors.
In this respect the formula may have overshot its intended mark (i.e., the market that craves chocolate-colored sheet rock for whom good taste seems inconsequential because it’s so F’ing inconvenient – i.e., foodistas who swear that cooking kills; never mind that, for instance, broccoli’s healthful properties – the anti-cancer agents glucoraphanin, sulforaphane & indole-3-carbinal -- are liberated when steamed).
This allows Madre to once again defy expectations, raising the “raw” bar above its normal unroasted / abortive disability by not outright effacing chocolate but instead subtly coaxing it in to the formulation.
And so it presents a classic showcase of over-achiever. Reaches that rare status for the category: beyond edible... actually palatable... & a modern simulation of how ancient Mesoamericans possibly took their chocolate in lukewarm beverages.
ING: cocoa mass, cacáo butter, evaporated cane sugar, chipotle, allspice, vanilla, lecithin
Reviewed January 2011
Unroasted; no mistaking the conche either or lack thereof, felt readily in the Texture, barely minimal / almost negligible at well larger than the industry standard of ~20 microns, putting ever more onus on the quality of the ingredients.
Heated nonetheless by chipotle (& in a sense therefore roasted) &, less so, by allspice as well as that other great spice – vanilla (notable for making 90+% of chocolates the world over into flavored bars, technically speaking). Together they kindle & transform to warm an otherwise problematic “raw" chocolate couverture that inheres with its own resident spice tones (frigid such as they are); the total spice package weighing heavily against the base foundation of cocoa, pressuring it into greater concentrated flavors.
In this respect the formula may have overshot its intended mark (i.e., the market that craves chocolate-colored sheet rock for whom good taste seems inconsequential because it’s so F’ing inconvenient – i.e., foodistas who swear that cooking kills; never mind that, for instance, broccoli’s healthful properties – the anti-cancer agents glucoraphanin, sulforaphane & indole-3-carbinal -- are liberated when steamed).
This allows Madre to once again defy expectations, raising the “raw” bar above its normal unroasted / abortive disability by not outright effacing chocolate but instead subtly coaxing it in to the formulation.
And so it presents a classic showcase of over-achiever. Reaches that rare status for the category: beyond edible... actually palatable... & a modern simulation of how ancient Mesoamericans possibly took their chocolate in lukewarm beverages.
ING: cocoa mass, cacáo butter, evaporated cane sugar, chipotle, allspice, vanilla, lecithin
Reviewed January 2011