Deepest Dark
by Fearless
Impact
Fearless Chocolate Company lives up to its name by scaling this 85%, a daunting percentage made all the more daring by adding NIbs but perhaps without the addition of cocoa butter.
Something else this label acts fearlessly on: owning up, adapting & evolving as its understanding grows.
For example, their wrappers abandon any mention of the word "raw", quite a departure from the past. It evidently intuits both the folly & the integrity-gap to the whole "raw" scene. As such, Fearless CEO Jordan Schuster should receive a purple heart & might consider enlisting in the witness protection program because diehards in the tribal raw cult consider any deviation from orthodox dogma a blasphemy, punishable by.... well, inflicting the heretic with, what else, death by "raw chocolate". That'd exorcize the devil out of anybody -- dead or alive.
Nah, Jordan on the surface appears un-phased & unflappable. Deep down though he lights a burning passion to get to the bottom of all the urban myths surrounding "raw chocolate" pedaled by mufti prophets babbling their silly pseudo-science. Hence his interest & participation in a pending investigation on the properties of "raw chocolate" & their effects on health (for ill or well).
In the meantime, he takes a fiercely different tact. Applying a golden mean of gentle temperature processing to preserve nutrients while enhancing flavor so that chocolate can both be good & taste good.
And just as his bar here turns up the heat low & slow, so to speak, he himself chills like moss.
Of course he probably grinds & munches away deep in thoughts of something even deeper than this Deepest Dark: viz., completely bare-beaning it with no added sugar whatsoever -- an unsweetened 100%.
Perhaps a goal for this label as it continues its climb up to... total darksome.
Something else this label acts fearlessly on: owning up, adapting & evolving as its understanding grows.
For example, their wrappers abandon any mention of the word "raw", quite a departure from the past. It evidently intuits both the folly & the integrity-gap to the whole "raw" scene. As such, Fearless CEO Jordan Schuster should receive a purple heart & might consider enlisting in the witness protection program because diehards in the tribal raw cult consider any deviation from orthodox dogma a blasphemy, punishable by.... well, inflicting the heretic with, what else, death by "raw chocolate". That'd exorcize the devil out of anybody -- dead or alive.
Nah, Jordan on the surface appears un-phased & unflappable. Deep down though he lights a burning passion to get to the bottom of all the urban myths surrounding "raw chocolate" pedaled by mufti prophets babbling their silly pseudo-science. Hence his interest & participation in a pending investigation on the properties of "raw chocolate" & their effects on health (for ill or well).
In the meantime, he takes a fiercely different tact. Applying a golden mean of gentle temperature processing to preserve nutrients while enhancing flavor so that chocolate can both be good & taste good.
And just as his bar here turns up the heat low & slow, so to speak, he himself chills like moss.
Of course he probably grinds & munches away deep in thoughts of something even deeper than this Deepest Dark: viz., completely bare-beaning it with no added sugar whatsoever -- an unsweetened 100%.
Perhaps a goal for this label as it continues its climb up to... total darksome.
Appearance 3.8 / 5
| Color: | brown ink |
| Surface: | whimsical mold... still in motion |
| Temper: | fudge face |
| Snap: | tight but tiny |
Aroma 7.8 / 10
unordinary: móle to bar-b-q sauce (tomato base)
settles into more trad Brazil territory -- woods, leaves (including tea + tobac)
leather
brown sugar cap
settles into more trad Brazil territory -- woods, leaves (including tea + tobac)
leather
brown sugar cap
Mouthfeel 13.4 / 15
| Texture: | smooth with rolling... |
| Melt: | ... intermittent bumps |
Flavor 44.2 / 50
good earth cocoa -> brazil nut skins -> salt mineralizes & complexes the profile to savory móle -> cured charcuterie (as this high percentage reverts to quasi-raw seed character) -> Aromatics (from above) rain down on the pal (for Palate)... a li'l moss green on the edges
Quality 15.5 / 20
True.
Plays it pretty close to the Nib.
Inescapable parallels to Amma's 85% because Fearless sources from them in Brazil. This less processed though by a lighter hand.
Squarely sits at the midpoint that neatly straddles a fine line between raw & refined.
Ditto the rather unique Texture. Plenty of other bars add NIbs to smooth chocolate planks but this one cuts them in so gently, lightly, & fractionally. Just the right proportion here or there, every now & then, just enough to enable detection as a soft exfoliate for the skin.
Salt 'n sugar, more than a mere condiment though less than all-out flavorings, stabilize the progression. The latter -- whole cane Rapadura replete with molasses intact to impart a slight caramel tone -- colors the opening cocoa frame, while the former (salt) adds interest at the mid-palate, then bridges that front to the wilder impressions at the tail.
Fearsome.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, Nibs, unrefined sugar
Reviewed May 17, 2013
Plays it pretty close to the Nib.
Inescapable parallels to Amma's 85% because Fearless sources from them in Brazil. This less processed though by a lighter hand.
Squarely sits at the midpoint that neatly straddles a fine line between raw & refined.
Ditto the rather unique Texture. Plenty of other bars add NIbs to smooth chocolate planks but this one cuts them in so gently, lightly, & fractionally. Just the right proportion here or there, every now & then, just enough to enable detection as a soft exfoliate for the skin.
Salt 'n sugar, more than a mere condiment though less than all-out flavorings, stabilize the progression. The latter -- whole cane Rapadura replete with molasses intact to impart a slight caramel tone -- colors the opening cocoa frame, while the former (salt) adds interest at the mid-palate, then bridges that front to the wilder impressions at the tail.
Fearsome.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, Nibs, unrefined sugar
Reviewed May 17, 2013