Peru Grand Cru
by Szántó Tibor
Impact
After 3,100 bars, of which about half comprise The Chocolate Census, the C-spot® has seen it all, no?
No.
In another first, a cacáo varietal called Inti.
The Catálogo de Cultivares de Cacao del Perú, an exhaustive survey of that country's Theobroma Cacao trees published by the Minister of Agriculture there, mentions nothing about it.
Either it's a new type, a newly coined trade name, or just some novel creation by a broker to rub off the mystique of the Inca… viz, Inti -- to represent the solar aspect of that empire.
Szántó Tibor channels it into a cold-sun of a chocolate bar.
No.
In another first, a cacáo varietal called Inti.
The Catálogo de Cultivares de Cacao del Perú, an exhaustive survey of that country's Theobroma Cacao trees published by the Minister of Agriculture there, mentions nothing about it.
Either it's a new type, a newly coined trade name, or just some novel creation by a broker to rub off the mystique of the Inca… viz, Inti -- to represent the solar aspect of that empire.
Szántó Tibor channels it into a cold-sun of a chocolate bar.
Appearance 3.9 / 5
| Color: | rose cream |
| Surface: | dimples & grease spatter |
| Temper: | smudge top |
| Snap: | snug |
Aroma 7.2 / 10
Kettle® Potato Chips with Vinegar
petrified wood (cocoa compounds meet mill grind stones)
petrified wood (cocoa compounds meet mill grind stones)
Mouthfeel 11.9 / 15
| Texture: | semi-grain |
| Melt: | dispersal pattern |
Flavor 39 / 50
sweet dragon fruit -> raw cocoa -> vegetal green action -> beany (legumes + P. vulgarism) whence the profile deteriorates... permanently -> inner skin of green banana peel -> sheet rock
Quality 14.7 / 20
Sweet opening frame fails to sustain. Szántó Tibor's super low-impact, relatively cold-processing equalizes this to taste like its Raw Arriba.
Fruit notes promised on the wrapper (click image upper right to enlarge) lurk, if they exist at all, behind a growing film of stringency.
As loose as it all threatens to sunder apart, it hangs together just enough to… collapse & fall to the finish.
Too underdeveloped, which stunts this cacáo's flavor potential.
"Grand Cru" seems, at least in this guise, a bit of a stretch.
Reviewed December 5, 2013
Fruit notes promised on the wrapper (click image upper right to enlarge) lurk, if they exist at all, behind a growing film of stringency.
As loose as it all threatens to sunder apart, it hangs together just enough to… collapse & fall to the finish.
Too underdeveloped, which stunts this cacáo's flavor potential.
"Grand Cru" seems, at least in this guise, a bit of a stretch.
Reviewed December 5, 2013