Impact
Ancient rulers of Madagascar (nicknamed the “Red Island” because of its laterite soil rich with iron oxides) supposedly reddened their hair using a local mushroom. The association of the color red with royalty continues in many parts of the country today.
Of course links between red & chocolate go back centuries on the other side of the world – in cacáo's homeland of the Americas. Chocolate represented the blood & heart in Mesoamerican cultures.
This bar almost collapses of an early royal death due to cardiac seizure caused by high cholesterol (from the palmitic triglycerides found in excess cocoa butter) & from being downright punch drunk.
It miraculously revives itself, however, according to mahandrihono, as spoken in the local Malagasy tongue. Translation: 'he who knows how to wait.'
No panic... take a deep breath... & inhale the chocolate.
Of course links between red & chocolate go back centuries on the other side of the world – in cacáo's homeland of the Americas. Chocolate represented the blood & heart in Mesoamerican cultures.
This bar almost collapses of an early royal death due to cardiac seizure caused by high cholesterol (from the palmitic triglycerides found in excess cocoa butter) & from being downright punch drunk.
It miraculously revives itself, however, according to mahandrihono, as spoken in the local Malagasy tongue. Translation: 'he who knows how to wait.'
No panic... take a deep breath... & inhale the chocolate.
Appearance 4.1 / 5
| Color: | burnt orange |
| Surface: | pin-pricked front & moon-pocked back |
| Temper: | steely |
| Snap: | island lyricism |
Aroma 8.7 / 10
overall mild for Mad
berries 'n cream
specifically, durian-banana-cream over a young bush of a berry fest
backed by a load of vetiver & but a touch of clove (the smoke signals from roasting)
berries 'n cream
specifically, durian-banana-cream over a young bush of a berry fest
backed by a load of vetiver & but a touch of clove (the smoke signals from roasting)
Mouthfeel 11.2 / 15
| Texture: | fine splinters shoot past Beta V crystals |
| Melt: | vulcanized rubber |
Flavor 44.8 / 50
1-2 fruit punch (sweet cranberries & bleeding raspberries) with a good chocolate-vetiver uppercut (hungover from the Aroma) -> things change, drastically: sputters, loses some color on marula (succulent, tart white flesh) & waxes out on butter... stalls... (patience, please)... 'til a newish sensation: citric cocoa-butter toffee, whence the acids come splurging back -- first as a juniper gin tonic + a sweet parting shot: pink grapefruit
Quality 15.6 / 20
Though another Åkesson-sourced cocoa lot, the degree of pink juiciness almost unrivaled for a Madagascan; so too, alas, the butter (Aroma foretold what the Texture beholds). Probably couldn't have one without the other however.
Particularly over the middle concourse, butter gets the best of it... until the mass stages a sweet resurgence. Rózsavölgyi makes the calculation to a) control this origin's substantial volatiles & in so harnessing the acidity b) go for the pulp in a sort of gin 'n tonic / fruit-cocktail. Butter then serves as the long forceps pulling the bar's length & averts disaster in what would've been a total rare miss for this barsmith.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed June 18, 2013
Particularly over the middle concourse, butter gets the best of it... until the mass stages a sweet resurgence. Rózsavölgyi makes the calculation to a) control this origin's substantial volatiles & in so harnessing the acidity b) go for the pulp in a sort of gin 'n tonic / fruit-cocktail. Butter then serves as the long forceps pulling the bar's length & averts disaster in what would've been a total rare miss for this barsmith.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed June 18, 2013