Impact
A bar in line with looking down upon the Cordillera Huayhuash (pronounced “why-wash”) from afar -- some brown but mostly clouds, white stuff, & glaciers.
Such a view renders a poor sense of this prominent but short mountain range (15 miles in length) that boasts 20 steep, sharp peaks. Although only 60 miles from the coast, a half a dozen of them reach above 19,500 feet with the highest -- Nevado Yerupajá, Peru’s 2 highest -- estimated at 21,769 feet.
This chocolate too ultimately feels & tastes distant; & straight out of another huash / 'wash': the washing machine.
Cordillera Huayhuash (courtesy NASA/JSC)
Such a view renders a poor sense of this prominent but short mountain range (15 miles in length) that boasts 20 steep, sharp peaks. Although only 60 miles from the coast, a half a dozen of them reach above 19,500 feet with the highest -- Nevado Yerupajá, Peru’s 2
This chocolate too ultimately feels & tastes distant; & straight out of another huash / 'wash': the washing machine.
Appearance 4.4 / 5
| Color: | dark straddle on the purple / red divide |
| Surface: | perfect front; wide brush strokes on the back |
| Temper: | gauzy |
| Snap: | Capt. Crack |
Aroma 8.6 / 10
recessed
soft, light bush-branches in the morning, right after the mist lifts
thin film of tiny berries (currants)
soft, light bush-branches in the morning, right after the mist lifts
thin film of tiny berries (currants)
Mouthfeel 12.9 / 15
| Texture: | glycerin smooth; rounds into... |
| Melt: | ... firm flesh before abruptly liquifying |
Flavor 34.1 / 50
fleeting spice (Peru balsam) -> choc... chalks into algarrobina (a starchy syrup made from the Black Carob tree) -> nuts (especially peanut skins) & woods (chonta & palo santo) -> low bittering -> good astringency (never really puckers but it does grip & slightly cauterize the trigeminal nerves) countered by yet more roasted nuts (sacha inchi)
Quality 13.5 / 20
Piuras come in 2 types: flavorful & flavorless.
This bar somewhat devoid... certainly of any fruit; little core chocolate; & the flavor tags that appear are nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, on a first encounter with cacáo from this area, even a local Peruvian confided that Piura chocolate "tastes like rice".
Clearly light to white-seeded cacáo. Similarly pigment-challenged cacáos that lack the anthocyanin gene can project a supple, even subliminal, rapture. This hangs on a far more planar level. And yet its generally delicate pitch & interaction taste unusual if not unique.
In that respect, Morin's Puira Perou is worth trying.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
Reviewed April 2, 2013
This bar somewhat devoid... certainly of any fruit; little core chocolate; & the flavor tags that appear are nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, on a first encounter with cacáo from this area, even a local Peruvian confided that Piura chocolate "tastes like rice".
Clearly light to white-seeded cacáo. Similarly pigment-challenged cacáos that lack the anthocyanin gene can project a supple, even subliminal, rapture. This hangs on a far more planar level. And yet its generally delicate pitch & interaction taste unusual if not unique.
In that respect, Morin's Puira Perou is worth trying.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
Reviewed April 2, 2013