Various Bars
by Emily's
Impact
Amidst the current female cultural moment in which women are ascending throughout arts, politics, education & athletics, some things never change -- like falling prey to chocolate.
As spam folders fill with unsolicited emails from mongers hawking their seasonal chocolate coo-coos (hearted-shaped boxes tied up in red ribbons & bows, some including that now old fad Mad Cow's Milk Chocolate), a group in Japan known as Kakuhido (translates roughly as the Revolutionary Alliance of Men) plans to march in Tokyo tomorrow to protest Valentine's Day as a cynical money-making ploy by "oppressive chocolate capitalists".
According to the group’s website, "In order to create a brighter future, we call for solidarity among our unloved comrades so that we may demonstrate in resolute opposition to Valentine's Day & the romantic industrial complex". It continues with "… the love mass media talks about is commercial love… using love to turn people into consumers."
Evidently Japan lurches in the middle of a romantic crisis. Literally. Men & women too busy &/or stressed by work to reproduce.
This year's demonstration will likely to be the group's largest to date.
Good thing Emily's Chocolate operates out of the Okusawa district… just a far enough remove from central Tokyo to avoid the wrath of the Kakuhido. Then again, throwing her bitter brew of solidified chocolate at them might repel their advances more effectively than tear gas.
As spam folders fill with unsolicited emails from mongers hawking their seasonal chocolate coo-coos (hearted-shaped boxes tied up in red ribbons & bows, some including that now old fad Mad Cow's Milk Chocolate), a group in Japan known as Kakuhido (translates roughly as the Revolutionary Alliance of Men) plans to march in Tokyo tomorrow to protest Valentine's Day as a cynical money-making ploy by "oppressive chocolate capitalists".
According to the group’s website, "In order to create a brighter future, we call for solidarity among our unloved comrades so that we may demonstrate in resolute opposition to Valentine's Day & the romantic industrial complex". It continues with "… the love mass media talks about is commercial love… using love to turn people into consumers."
Evidently Japan lurches in the middle of a romantic crisis. Literally. Men & women too busy &/or stressed by work to reproduce.
This year's demonstration will likely to be the group's largest to date.
Good thing Emily's Chocolate operates out of the Okusawa district… just a far enough remove from central Tokyo to avoid the wrath of the Kakuhido. Then again, throwing her bitter brew of solidified chocolate at them might repel their advances more effectively than tear gas.
Appearance 2.8 / 5
| Color: | pewter-purple to cream-blush & mud brown |
| Surface: | battered |
| Temper: | distressed (long way from Japan) |
| Snap: | servile |
Aroma 4.5 / 10
Belize
dried fruit blossom potted in dried dirt
Peru Criollo
more fruit in dirt but galvanizes sweaty cologne
Patanemo
another dried-out stone-ground dirt-mound
back off though & a Chuao-worthy blueberry plume arises… the farther away, the more magnified!?!?!?!?!?
dried fruit blossom potted in dried dirt
Peru Criollo
more fruit in dirt but galvanizes sweaty cologne
Patanemo
another dried-out stone-ground dirt-mound
back off though & a Chuao-worthy blueberry plume arises… the farther away, the more magnified!?!?!?!?!?
Mouthfeel 7.8 / 15
| Texture: | requires some bite pressure to release despite powdered grains |
| Melt: | eternal Zen |
Flavor 22.3 / 50
Belize
kicks in black cherry to black raisin (nice first bite) -> the grape comes to dominate in an almost cloying sickly manner -> maintains composure backed by a semi-bitter bark standing in for core chocolate flavor -> classic nut finish (toasted pili) -> very dry but acceptable tannic coda
Peru Criollo
a mess start on cocoa buttered-dirt then, as if to literally wash it away, laundry soap (folks, watch what you scrub your stones with) -> goes on a cleaning jag & further deteriorates from there -> back of the throat burnt ground nut & coffee grinds -> lockjaw on astringent vice-grip
Patanemo
plum, invasive weeds & bitter tree bark of a practically herbal medicine strength -> another laundry detergent cycle commences, rotating around its own suds & little else except a stray Nib fragment that simulates a nut -> pulls itself together (kind of) for an almondine ending
kicks in black cherry to black raisin (nice first bite) -> the grape comes to dominate in an almost cloying sickly manner -> maintains composure backed by a semi-bitter bark standing in for core chocolate flavor -> classic nut finish (toasted pili) -> very dry but acceptable tannic coda
Peru Criollo
a mess start on cocoa buttered-dirt then, as if to literally wash it away, laundry soap (folks, watch what you scrub your stones with) -> goes on a cleaning jag & further deteriorates from there -> back of the throat burnt ground nut & coffee grinds -> lockjaw on astringent vice-grip
Patanemo
plum, invasive weeds & bitter tree bark of a practically herbal medicine strength -> another laundry detergent cycle commences, rotating around its own suds & little else except a stray Nib fragment that simulates a nut -> pulls itself together (kind of) for an almondine ending
Quality 6.9 / 20
Belize
77%; fares far better than it looks or what the Aroma portends. Clearly identifiable with all the hallmarks of modern Belize cacáo. As such a faithful reproduction.
Peru Criollo
81% wretched upheaval, 29% soap bubbles, 100% abysmal
Patanemo
Sabotage of 80% Venezuelan cacáo.
Japan: the next budding seed-to-barsmith scene. Because of the country's perfectionist streak, expect it to go far afield, leaving behind the cacáo groves in its vicinity to Australian development agencies, in favor of the tree-tops like Venezuela as well as following its emigrant communities in Peru and Brazil.
Reviewed February 14, 2015
77%; fares far better than it looks or what the Aroma portends. Clearly identifiable with all the hallmarks of modern Belize cacáo. As such a faithful reproduction.
Peru Criollo
81% wretched upheaval, 29% soap bubbles, 100% abysmal
Patanemo
Sabotage of 80% Venezuelan cacáo.
Japan: the next budding seed-to-barsmith scene. Because of the country's perfectionist streak, expect it to go far afield, leaving behind the cacáo groves in its vicinity to Australian development agencies, in favor of the tree-tops like Venezuela as well as following its emigrant communities in Peru and Brazil.
Reviewed February 14, 2015