Solomon Islands
by Daintree Estates
Impact
Solomon Islands... the surprise find of 2013.
No one covered it until the C-spot® began the year with Cravve's 75% version. Then the Minister of Agriculture in Solomon Islands contacted the C-spot® in the wake of that review. It touched a chord & validated that in some small measure what transpires on this site matters. Beyond the indulgences in Flavor & word-play, the livelihoods of the good Bromans / cacáo growers working there, & to a degree everywhere, are at stake.
So it feels only fitting to end the year with another Australian barsmith's offering of the same origin.
Both establish that this chain of islands in the South Pacific harbor cacáo worth exploring.
No one covered it until the C-spot® began the year with Cravve's 75% version. Then the Minister of Agriculture in Solomon Islands contacted the C-spot® in the wake of that review. It touched a chord & validated that in some small measure what transpires on this site matters. Beyond the indulgences in Flavor & word-play, the livelihoods of the good Bromans / cacáo growers working there, & to a degree everywhere, are at stake.
So it feels only fitting to end the year with another Australian barsmith's offering of the same origin.
Both establish that this chain of islands in the South Pacific harbor cacáo worth exploring.
Appearance 3.4 / 5
| Color: | shoe leather brown |
| Surface: | defiled |
| Temper: | vandalized |
| Snap: | piercing "green"-bullet (lead-free) |
Aroma 7.6 / 10
porked, the new euphemism for smoke-dried, somewhat at odds with the green cocoa dust + brined olive leaf that lifts & harkens to Central American cacáo
Mouthfeel 13.3 / 15
| Texture: | upper middleweight of some heft & love-handles |
| Melt: | on island time |
Flavor 42.7 / 50
gentle malted-spice with creamed-cocoa underneath (excellent) -> purple breadfruit -> just a light lining of pork grind detected in the Aroma balanced by sweet cane bagasse (unusually good) -> monk fruit, then star fruit… so far, mostly good… but petro-fuel intrudes without destroying the progression -> ebbs to flickering / fleeting dragon-fruit alongside hot cocoa mix
Quality 15.7 / 20
Suffers a similar affliction (mechanically-dreid) as Daintree's Vanuatu but ends with a much happier fate.
Where Vanuatu is a loose oddball cannon, Solomon Islands plays steadier.
Once more Daintree catalyzes with a healthy 32% raw-sugar count which aligns much better here, never imposing itself on the origin by way of overweening molasses for instance. And while the smoke elements taint the flavor some, they only lurk at the beginning, emerge from the background a bit for the middle, then predominate the final trimester to increase perceptions of bitterness.
Thru it all, however, Solomon cacáo proves sturdy & able to withstand the onslaughts of heat & sweet. Those malted moments, for example, presumably the offshoots of the pyrazine class of compounds in this cacáo meeting the gas of whatever units dried these seeds.
Respectable, as is; with improved post-harvest treatment, this bar would score high marks.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, raw can sugar, cocoa butter; CBS (Cocoa mass / Butter / Sugar ratio): ~1:1:1
Reviewed December 23, 2013
Where Vanuatu is a loose oddball cannon, Solomon Islands plays steadier.
Once more Daintree catalyzes with a healthy 32% raw-sugar count which aligns much better here, never imposing itself on the origin by way of overweening molasses for instance. And while the smoke elements taint the flavor some, they only lurk at the beginning, emerge from the background a bit for the middle, then predominate the final trimester to increase perceptions of bitterness.
Thru it all, however, Solomon cacáo proves sturdy & able to withstand the onslaughts of heat & sweet. Those malted moments, for example, presumably the offshoots of the pyrazine class of compounds in this cacáo meeting the gas of whatever units dried these seeds.
Respectable, as is; with improved post-harvest treatment, this bar would score high marks.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, raw can sugar, cocoa butter; CBS (Cocoa mass / Butter / Sugar ratio): ~1:1:1
Reviewed December 23, 2013