Hawaiian; Nicaragua; Lapsong Souchocolate; White
by Somerville
Impact
The explosion continues…
Years ago the C-spot® stated that where every town once had a baker, a butcher, & a candlestick maker will soon have an artisan baker, boutique butcher, & a premium chocolate maker. If it keeps apace at this rate, it might even be on every corner.
Current Exhibit: Somerville, Massachusetts -- a small subdivision of metropolitan Boston. Also home to Taza, this community adds a second barsmith to its neighborhood, one exuding a neo-European approach (refined without any extra cocoa butter or lecithin) compared to the Old School / retro-American leanings of Taza.
Speaking to this seemingly unstoppable chocolate proliferation, a cocoa guru decried the hundreds upon hundreds breaking into the burgeoning scene, estimating that only a handful are any good; almost akin to those critics who write that there hasn't been any good music since that prefab boy band The Sex Pistols. Another discourses about curation as though chocolate is some static museum piece locked behind glass-enclosed displays when just the opposite occurs: a bar's melt all but guarantees dynamic action.
Chocolate’s a direct hit; it's easy to 'get it'. Humans need potty training in it like the world needs another war. Mere exposure to these barsmithing labs of chocolate experiments sprouting up all over map & the marketplace via digital media will sift thru the results.
As for Somerville Chocolate, just as the C-spot® Daily Review first heralded Fruition, Lonohana, Brasstown (fka it’s chocolate), Rózsavölgyi, Minimal… among a slew of others… this company stands poised to make its imprint.
Residents of Somerville, MA now have a real choice.
Years ago the C-spot® stated that where every town once had a baker, a butcher, & a candlestick maker will soon have an artisan baker, boutique butcher, & a premium chocolate maker. If it keeps apace at this rate, it might even be on every corner.
Current Exhibit: Somerville, Massachusetts -- a small subdivision of metropolitan Boston. Also home to Taza, this community adds a second barsmith to its neighborhood, one exuding a neo-European approach (refined without any extra cocoa butter or lecithin) compared to the Old School / retro-American leanings of Taza.
Speaking to this seemingly unstoppable chocolate proliferation, a cocoa guru decried the hundreds upon hundreds breaking into the burgeoning scene, estimating that only a handful are any good; almost akin to those critics who write that there hasn't been any good music since that prefab boy band The Sex Pistols. Another discourses about curation as though chocolate is some static museum piece locked behind glass-enclosed displays when just the opposite occurs: a bar's melt all but guarantees dynamic action.
Chocolate’s a direct hit; it's easy to 'get it'. Humans need potty training in it like the world needs another war. Mere exposure to these barsmithing labs of chocolate experiments sprouting up all over map & the marketplace via digital media will sift thru the results.
As for Somerville Chocolate, just as the C-spot® Daily Review first heralded Fruition, Lonohana, Brasstown (fka it’s chocolate), Rózsavölgyi, Minimal… among a slew of others… this company stands poised to make its imprint.
Residents of Somerville, MA now have a real choice.
Appearance 3.6 / 5
| Color: | all darksome (except the speckled White) |
| Surface: | divots & dimples |
| Temper: | dim |
| Snap: | limp Triscuit® |
Aroma 7.9 / 10
NIcaragua
black wood (Gliricidia septum), black tea, black leather, black dog
Hawaiian
a second 'black' countenance, of different character though -- coral, stone, volcanic (lava)
Lapsong Souchocolate
heavy smoke hanging in the air
White
rare for the category… a bit of a deciduous forest… ahh, & for a good cause / reason...
black wood (Gliricidia septum), black tea, black leather, black dog
Hawaiian
a second 'black' countenance, of different character though -- coral, stone, volcanic (lava)
Lapsong Souchocolate
heavy smoke hanging in the air
White
rare for the category… a bit of a deciduous forest… ahh, & for a good cause / reason...
Mouthfeel 12.2 / 15
| Texture: | grooved smooth if a bit... |
| Melt: | … rubbery in stretches which tacks on add'l length |
Flavor 45.9 / 50
NIcaragua
aligns to the Aromamatics with a very blackstrap molasses of course +, naturally, black walnut husk -> late-breaking tobacco -> inexplicable white sapote -> black cocoa in the aft-draft
Hawaiian
lava of the Aroma spills over in massive dark chocolate flow on the tongue -> Oreo® cookie sandwich including the cream on the underside -> exquisitely subtle sandalwood-cinnamon
Lapsong Souchocolate
heavy smoke in the house that becomes the mouth -> braised raisin -> rear quince -> road tar 'n nicotine tobacco
White
wondrous cookies 'n cream & nut brittle toffee -> (warm) chocolate-chip ice-cream (melted) -> grows waxy / fatty -> some forest FXs (stripped bark, topsoil, vegetal foliage) -> cashes out caramelized nuts
aligns to the Aromamatics with a very blackstrap molasses of course +, naturally, black walnut husk -> late-breaking tobacco -> inexplicable white sapote -> black cocoa in the aft-draft
Hawaiian
lava of the Aroma spills over in massive dark chocolate flow on the tongue -> Oreo® cookie sandwich including the cream on the underside -> exquisitely subtle sandalwood-cinnamon
Lapsong Souchocolate
heavy smoke in the house that becomes the mouth -> braised raisin -> rear quince -> road tar 'n nicotine tobacco
White
wondrous cookies 'n cream & nut brittle toffee -> (warm) chocolate-chip ice-cream (melted) -> grows waxy / fatty -> some forest FXs (stripped bark, topsoil, vegetal foliage) -> cashes out caramelized nuts
Quality 17.7 / 20
NIcaragua
70% cacáo-content
Intensely dark in tone yet not an ash of char & appreciably sweet.
A strong & good Nica.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
Hawaiian
70% cacáo-content
Another simplex but of tremendous depth & savor. Hawaiian cacáo often inheres with a fruit inlay. This stays pretty even to a cocoa baseline. A dark Dark without roaming into bitter brut territory. Along with the Nicaragua (above), these 2 bars make for compatible companions of hi-CQ (for Chocolate Quotient) fitting the Naked Flavor Profile.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
Lapsong Souchocolate
65% cacáo-content
Dominican cacáo smoked over apple wood. Rekindles the Epoch experiment, of sorts, from Middlebury. Very pronounced, even bold, without aggression / immolation. 35% sugar content helps to douse any such notion. A triumph.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
White
Ever since Askinosie and Danta introduced White Chocolate with Nibs, this combo just keeps on killing it. Somerville sensationalizes it further by omitting vanilla (addition via subtraction). Outstanding gastronomics.
Capsule Summary
Put this barsmith on the must-watch list. Better still, the must-get list.
Reviewed June 8, 2015
70% cacáo-content
Intensely dark in tone yet not an ash of char & appreciably sweet.
A strong & good Nica.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
Hawaiian
70% cacáo-content
Another simplex but of tremendous depth & savor. Hawaiian cacáo often inheres with a fruit inlay. This stays pretty even to a cocoa baseline. A dark Dark without roaming into bitter brut territory. Along with the Nicaragua (above), these 2 bars make for compatible companions of hi-CQ (for Chocolate Quotient) fitting the Naked Flavor Profile.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
Lapsong Souchocolate
65% cacáo-content
Dominican cacáo smoked over apple wood. Rekindles the Epoch experiment, of sorts, from Middlebury. Very pronounced, even bold, without aggression / immolation. 35% sugar content helps to douse any such notion. A triumph.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar
White
Ever since Askinosie and Danta introduced White Chocolate with Nibs, this combo just keeps on killing it. Somerville sensationalizes it further by omitting vanilla (addition via subtraction). Outstanding gastronomics.
Capsule Summary
Put this barsmith on the must-watch list. Better still, the must-get list.
Reviewed June 8, 2015