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Matina 1-6

by Mars
Info Details
Country USA   
Type Dark   (65%)
Strain Matina   
Source Costa Rica   
Flavor Naked   (+ Earthen)
Style Industrial      
lo
med
hi
CQ
Sweetness
Acidity
Bitterness
Roast
Intensity
Complexity
Structure
Length
Impact
Grisly 'Slaughterhouse 1-6' (as if Billy Pilgrim stumbled upon a discarded Mars bar on the planet Traflamadore &, realizing his find, tosses it to his whitebread son Robert; thank you, Kurt Vonnegut). Aroma & Flavor about as obverse as that proverbial coin: one side ‘opportunity’ backed by the other side of ‘disaster’.

The pros at Mars really burnt these babies good, then covered over the crime scene using 35% sugar. Forensics also had to contend with polymers from the meat locker aka body bag (re: plastic container in which these charred remains were shipped) that melted into a bitter slag before being able to establish probable cause.

'So it goes'.

The sweetest things on Earth may come from Mars but does revenge have to be one of them?
Appearance   2.4 / 5
Color: charnel brown
Surface: cold-blooded
Temper: dim
Snap: a depraved flibbertigibbet
Aroma   8.2 / 10
true cocoa with nice floral ting
Mouthfeel   9.8 / 15
Texture: coarse
Melt: 'so it goes'... unstuck in mercifully fast time
Flavor   23.1 / 50
a short 4-dimensional jumbled-jangle: a) very mild cocoa attendant to b) a candied element -> c) banana malt -> d) burning rubber tires (more or less)
Quality   6.3 / 20
A desperate attempt at serious chocolate.

Matina 1-6 – a homozygous clone based on Amelonado structure & deployed in the millions by the genebank CATIE fromTurrialba, Costa Rica.

Contrary to statements from some experienced hands in the field, rather than acting mutually exclusive of one another with divergent goals, players in this industry share a conspiracy of common interests. Namely, cacáo engineered for disease-resistance / drought tolerance; high yield / productivity; dried beans of standardized size for easy sorting / processing; cheap commodity / cheap retail product.

And who can blame them? Otherwise, reality bends towards a fatal hell where "the burning never stops hurting".

This way the livelihoods of almost everyone along the value chain benefits -- from breeders, & planters to manufacturers plus consumers -- often at the expense of more endemic Criollos of the Americas.

Of secondary consideration in this game of 'ring around the cocoa tree': the environment (usually deluged with high external inputs such as petrochemical fertilizers) & taste (shuttled off to the low-end of the flavor spectrum).

Such are the conundrums facing chocolate in the 21st century. 'So it goes', the saying goes.

Enter Mars to the rescue. The candy giant promises to take care of it. Conducting genetic research & employing teams of specialists, it vows to make right, guided by the enlightened hand of self-interest.

Stranger things have been known to happen. Like Mars engaging in pre-competitive cooperation by sharing their findings, or flipping former foe Vietnam into one of its allies in the embrace of global citizenship.

Let’s hope it all eventually redounds to their presumed core-competency: delivering something that resembles... well, how 'bout just chocolate?

  

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