Carenero 70%
by Franceschi
Impact
On the outside, this bar looks like Lois Lane; a thin waif of an appetizer plate.
Bite into it & the mouth capes open to a big taste. Not quite Superman but a precocious kid that grows on you.
Bite into it & the mouth capes open to a big taste. Not quite Superman but a precocious kid that grows on you.
Appearance 4.1 / 5
| Color: | maroon |
| Surface: | every imperfection know to choc (dust, flakes, micro cracks, voids, swirls, light bloom) & yet impervious to 'em all |
| Temper: | good shellac |
| Snap: | thinly veiled silencer |
Aroma 8.6 / 10
savory appetizer: Carenero noted for its spices but this tilts in a unique direction for the varietal -- olive leaf & oregano oil drizzled on toasted bread crumbs (graham crackers) underpinned in supple chocolate -> those herbs transform into tobacco & warm nuts
Mouthfeel 13.5 / 15
| Texture: | soft suede |
| Melt: | oh-so-patient |
Flavor 45.2 / 50
beautiful cocoa on a wooden counter (bamboo) -> brief plantain, then onto subtle fruit (papaya) that accordions into persimmon -> nuts 'n spices take over the progression (raw filbert + tonka-vanilla-nutmeg)... mite stringent (that persimmon FX)... holds its poise thru to a chocolate end point with a pecan finish, followed by walnut hull & tobacco leaf
Quality 18 / 20
Highly tailored. The kind of bar which entrains tasting rather than eating... pick a piece of wood floating in the river & follow it downstream, keeping constantly on it, without getting ahead of the current. This, then, the way chocolate should be taken: at the pace of the melt.
Generally stout in character though never overbearing or prickly as the tannins stay curbed by sugar in the conch. Then further softened -- perceptually -- by that felt-like Texture, a veritable C-spa for kissy chocolate lipids.
Other than that, precious little bravado or 'wow-factor'; just abled & accomplished to earn respect.
In Postmodernism where vulgarity tries to pass for irony, Franceschi makes chocolate genuine again.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass & sugar; CBS (Cocoa mass / Butter / Sugar ratio): ~6:6:5
Reviewed October 15, 2012
Generally stout in character though never overbearing or prickly as the tannins stay curbed by sugar in the conch. Then further softened -- perceptually -- by that felt-like Texture, a veritable C-spa for kissy chocolate lipids.
Other than that, precious little bravado or 'wow-factor'; just abled & accomplished to earn respect.
In Postmodernism where vulgarity tries to pass for irony, Franceschi makes chocolate genuine again.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass & sugar; CBS (Cocoa mass / Butter / Sugar ratio): ~6:6:5
Reviewed October 15, 2012