PH16
by Lajedo do Ouro
Impact
Cocoa production in Brazil suffered a sharp decline around 1989 due to "witches broom" disease (Moniliophtora perniciosa). Trying to overcome this plague, new resistant cultivars are being designed.
Introducing PH16.
What may sound like some new & improved bar of soap from Neutrogena for scrubbing off facial blemishes is actually a hybrid of 2 "Trinitarios" released by the CEPEC research center in Brazil. In other words, a hybrid of a couple other hybrids. Such passes for "diversity" in cacáo.
Judging by flavor alone, however, it might just be a disease-attractant for fungus & other parasites to gobble up its (initial) tasty appeal.
Introducing PH16.
What may sound like some new & improved bar of soap from Neutrogena for scrubbing off facial blemishes is actually a hybrid of 2 "Trinitarios" released by the CEPEC research center in Brazil. In other words, a hybrid of a couple other hybrids. Such passes for "diversity" in cacáo.
Judging by flavor alone, however, it might just be a disease-attractant for fungus & other parasites to gobble up its (initial) tasty appeal.
Appearance 3.9 / 5
| Color: | dark brown |
| Surface: | casino-size chips / little 5-gram tiles |
| Temper: | semi-gloss |
| Snap: | buttons down |
Aroma 7.7 / 10
deceives of Madagascar with its hi-tang ferment before bottoming out on more South American soil & cocoa
Mouthfeel 12.8 / 15
| Texture: | respectably smooth |
| Melt: | even tempo |
Flavor 35.2 / 50
instant jungle-Skittles® (pitanga; camu-camu; cambuca) however brief -> cocoa butter & mass, the latter of some tannic strength to a bitter agent, offset by fleeting starfruit -> robusta coffee -> resurgent fruit (cherry) -> molasses-berry combo (especially rumberry) undercut by that bitter -> finishes dark & dry cocoa
Quality 12.4 / 20
Broman / cacaotero Pedro C. Magalhães Neto, with an assist from Chloé Doutre-Roussel, hones his cultivation skills at Fazenda Lajedo do Ouro Tesourinh. He does quite well with those facets that are under his direct control. Enough so that he placed highly in the Aromatico Brazil Expo.
Unfortunately he has been dealt an experimental hybrid here.
This PH16 shows promise even as it falters. That near-feral Amma-like beginning fails to blossom. The fruit buds sprout then quickly wilt before fully flowering as substantial volatiles overpower & outlast the esters & the acids in this cacáo type.
Still, those fruited analogues -- always on the verge but never quite vanishing -- hold interest if not hold this bar altogether.
A utiliarian chocolate... marked by the engineering works of a lab-hatched plant to thwart cacáo's mortal enemy -- the dreaded witches broom.
Reviewed November 19, 2012
Unfortunately he has been dealt an experimental hybrid here.
This PH16 shows promise even as it falters. That near-feral Amma-like beginning fails to blossom. The fruit buds sprout then quickly wilt before fully flowering as substantial volatiles overpower & outlast the esters & the acids in this cacáo type.
Still, those fruited analogues -- always on the verge but never quite vanishing -- hold interest if not hold this bar altogether.
A utiliarian chocolate... marked by the engineering works of a lab-hatched plant to thwart cacáo's mortal enemy -- the dreaded witches broom.
Reviewed November 19, 2012