Adsense

Info Details
Country Tobago   
Type Dark   (70%)
Strain Trinitario   (homage to its proximity to Trinidad)
Source Tobago   (St. Paul Parish; Main Ridge; Louis d'Or Estate)
Flavor Crossover   (Fruits/Flowers x Spices/Herbs)
Style Rustic      
lo
med
hi
CQ
Sweetness
Acidity
Bitterness
Roast
Intensity
Complexity
Structure
Length
Impact
Stop & smell the roses, the coffee or chocolate…

The sense of smell, & more specifically the loss of it, indicates impending death. A study among adults whose olfactory sense declined found a greater risk of dying. Participants with the most severe dysfunction experienced a 4-fold increase of passing away within 5 years compared to those with normal sense. While the loss of this sense does not directly cause deaths, it serves as a warning sign of declining health.

Which is scientific proof for advocating arrested development well into adulthood. And prolonged adolescence. Even childhood – that rather leisurely period in life without burdens filled with playtime & stargazing among the flowers, trees, birds, & bees, thunder ‘n lightning, & all the other wonders that surround this world, this beauty all about, often neglected if not abandoned by grownups who lose themselves in hamster cages, offices, imaging they’re doing very important things. How many can recognize flowers by their proper names anymore & birds by their singing? As Jawaharlal Nehru encouraged youth everywhere, “I hope you’ll take a long time growing up”.

The planet shall return the favor.

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet & the winds long to play with your hair -- Khalil Gibran

And it’ll delight evermore to detect this chocolate on the breath.
Appearance   3.3 / 5
Color: antho-brown ("purpling" dark from relatively high anthocyanin compounds)
Surface: cacáo pod motif for the molding; airbubbles & voids
Temper: medium
Snap: brittle & hollow inhabiting the lower frequency
Aroma   7.1 / 10
green pea shoots between cracks in the dry rock with a coral element nearby… all fairly latent
low terrain / mulch
circulates a spiced tobacco & flintstone
Mouthfeel   10.4 / 15
Texture: powdered ropes clumped in a sludge-fest
Melt: naturally round swell (sans lecithin), albeit granular
Flavor   43.2 / 50
a stab of raw green-cocoa edge with invasive weeds develops calmly & nudges toward brownies -> dates pop a black cherry, then onto Turkish fig (a predominating note) -> settles down & in the pocket… of core cocoa -> biscuits 'n cream flow around spices & the progression holds firm from there… almost steady thru to a semi-clean exit -> aft-impression of green-cocoa returns but more nuanced for it also bears the traces of the bar's better aspects plus, alas, fine chalk dust
Quality   15.6 / 20
Quite the fetching modesty.

A friendly chocolate, one which by mid palate exudes a certain self-comfort with its own bio-chems beneath its membrane.

Olando applies moderate processing to suit the cacáo(s) whose pulp, if this bar accurately reflects, exhibits commensurate kind, even meek, sweetness absent hardly any tart acidity. As a result, little in the way of dynamism transfers to the chocolate.

Instead this evolves within a narrow mellow range & confine (consequently, this should enjoy wide appeal in the marketplace), in contrast to the abundant cacáo diversity & flavor one might expect from the island twin of Trinidad with whom Tobago shares a republic. Certainly a browner fruit inlay than neighbor Dunae Dove's Tobago Cocoa Estate cacáo which despite that bar's stern Pralus roasting curve rings with brighter sweetness (excluding the off-season production).

Still very enticing to create cravings larger than the stomach -- neither bitterness nor astringency speaks to Olando's generally assiduous post-harvest prep -- save for some variance picked-up in the opening frame which jars the senses (inducing momentary anxiety of raw chocolate). Ditto in the post-script (some chalk-like analogues).

Mostly the ancillaries prevent it from attaining a higher score (particularly Appearance & Mouthfeel, the latter attributable to probable cottage-level equipment) as the Flavor itself tastes better than this bar's overall rating would indicate.

A classic example of the wrapper, the look, & the feel failing this bar. No worries… it resides all in the Flavor fraught with the usual startup infractions.

So good it becomes nigh impossible not to re-taste it.

INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar

Reviewed February 2, 2014

  

Pin It on Pinterest