Impact
Being well-known can sometimes mean knowing almost nothing about what's known about it. Billy Bragg: No One Knows Nothing Anymore. Fame plays tricks like that.
Take renowned Trinidadian cacao. It can be a real flavor-shifter from bar to bar depending on a variety of factors & circumstances -- everything from genetics, weather, region, barsmith, etc.
But whoever thought a chocolate could create effects similar to the psychopharma med Trazodone. As one reports: "[it] gave me this real intense sensitivity to light. I turned all the lights off. But being in the dark was terrifying. I ended up calling the hospital. The woman said, 'Don't take medicine from strangers.'"
Or, as mom cautioned, candy. Both can lead to permanent confusion.
Domantas Uzpalis of Naive ain't quite a stranger anymore but this bar from Trinidad, which envelopes a Pralus-worthy darkness without the hi-roasting, might taste that way.
Take renowned Trinidadian cacao. It can be a real flavor-shifter from bar to bar depending on a variety of factors & circumstances -- everything from genetics, weather, region, barsmith, etc.
But whoever thought a chocolate could create effects similar to the psychopharma med Trazodone. As one reports: "[it] gave me this real intense sensitivity to light. I turned all the lights off. But being in the dark was terrifying. I ended up calling the hospital. The woman said, 'Don't take medicine from strangers.'"
Or, as mom cautioned, candy. Both can lead to permanent confusion.
Domantas Uzpalis of Naive ain't quite a stranger anymore but this bar from Trinidad, which envelopes a Pralus-worthy darkness without the hi-roasting, might taste that way.
Appearance 3.4 / 5
| Color: | dark corduroy brown |
| Surface: | problem child: chips, voids, bubbles, + micro-caverns on the side walls of the mold... |
| Temper: | ... all exacerbated by plastic wrapper transfer |
| Snap: | harpoons |
Aroma 8.6 / 10
encapsulates an island hopper
triple wind of cocoa / fruit / tobacco
then a cologne wave (Old Spice® bay-leaf rum)
compost in the backwoods
triple wind of cocoa / fruit / tobacco
then a cologne wave (Old Spice® bay-leaf rum)
compost in the backwoods
Mouthfeel 11.9 / 15
| Texture: | gum |
| Melt: | meandering |
Flavor 43.7 / 50
brief bougainvillea -> sweet meal (ground yam) -> treacle generates licorice -> choc bang layered with molasses & carob -> earlier meal produces cake flour for a sticky gingerbread -> light resin + subtle-pepperiness from pimento leaf -> cocoa burlap
Quality 15.1 / 20
Decidedly dark affair despite light roast, offset by lengthy conche (60 hours of what tastes of considerable deep-kneading). And sho'nuff nary a speck of char nor much in the offering of any highlights either.
'Unleavened' so to speak... never truly rises above the baseline.
As if on a grey morning in Lithuania, where this bar is crafted, Naive found companionship in a rather melancholic though warm chocolate to comfort the S.A.D. blues.
A great mood piece for such brooding moments.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
Reviewed June 4, 2013
'Unleavened' so to speak... never truly rises above the baseline.
As if on a grey morning in Lithuania, where this bar is crafted, Naive found companionship in a rather melancholic though warm chocolate to comfort the S.A.D. blues.
A great mood piece for such brooding moments.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
Reviewed June 4, 2013