Nicaraguas: La Dalia; Nicaliso
by Friis Holm
Impact
The Great Dane Mikkel Friis-Holm captures more treasure here from the French House of Bonnat that he begins to take on the myth of Ragnar Lodbrok -- the Viking hero who spent much of his life taking one country after another.
Lodbrok’s favorite tactic involved showing up on holy days, as in 845AD when he arrived in Paris on Holy Saturday with 120 ships. By some accounts, he accepted a "tribute" of 7,000 pounds of silver from French King Charles the Bald.
In receiving however many pounds in bars as payoff from Bonnat, Friis-Holm ends up on the sweet end of the deal in this budding chocolate alliance.
Lodbrok’s favorite tactic involved showing up on holy days, as in 845AD when he arrived in Paris on Holy Saturday with 120 ships. By some accounts, he accepted a "tribute" of 7,000 pounds of silver from French King Charles the Bald.
In receiving however many pounds in bars as payoff from Bonnat, Friis-Holm ends up on the sweet end of the deal in this budding chocolate alliance.
Appearance 3.8 / 5
| Color: | red cast in light brown |
| Surface: | weathered / opaque |
| Temper: | grizzly |
| Snap: | shoots bullets |
Aroma 7 / 10
La Dalia
vinegar in tartar sauce
pineapple
comes around to dry cocoa dust
dried vine
Nicaliso
more of the same except for a distinct fruited sweet-spot
vinegar in tartar sauce
pineapple
comes around to dry cocoa dust
dried vine
Nicaliso
more of the same except for a distinct fruited sweet-spot
Mouthfeel 13.6 / 15
| Texture: | Bonnat's usual butter pad (~6%+) for... |
| Melt: | … extended play |
Flavor 41.8 / 50
La Dalia
the drier aspects of the Aroma + ground nuts & soil -> coffee -> grows vegetal of some bitter salad greens (dandelion / watercress / moringa), recessed citrus fools of a "dressing" -> black walnut husk backed in thin raisin -> stringent exit
Nicaliso
automatic chocolate-mud cake of thick fudge density… sits on this for the longest with a shy sapote -> meanders thru green olive, then green walnut -> draws on nicotine -> earlier sweetness rings truer as rambutan enlivens -> malabar chestnut cream
the drier aspects of the Aroma + ground nuts & soil -> coffee -> grows vegetal of some bitter salad greens (dandelion / watercress / moringa), recessed citrus fools of a "dressing" -> black walnut husk backed in thin raisin -> stringent exit
Nicaliso
automatic chocolate-mud cake of thick fudge density… sits on this for the longest with a shy sapote -> meanders thru green olive, then green walnut -> draws on nicotine -> earlier sweetness rings truer as rambutan enlivens -> malabar chestnut cream
Quality 15 / 20
La Dalia
Nicknamed "The Lazy Cocoa Grower's Blend" (click image upper right to enlarge) &, judging by taste, apparently so… somebody(s) took the day(s) off when post-harvesting rolled around. Incoherent / incohesive. Stiff & stuck flavors in the wrong places. Nothing hangs together to harmonize.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Nicaliso
The dependable NIcaliso cacáo, most recently sampled from A. Morin, & whose benchmark to date may well remain Duffy's with whom Friis-Holm seems to engage in an arms race to see who can re-up the Ingemann-brokered cocoa from Nicaragua the most. Both brands cover the country about as thoroughly as any other. So much so that Friis-Holm designs house blends out of this origin's single-varietals (the stringent Dark-Blend).
This almost follows La Dalia's suit (above)… a atatic first-half to this bar however drives into a confluence of subtle channels that build & accumulate into a rear manifold.
Though short of Rugoso's stature, a solid addition to the Friis-Hiolm catalog.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed June 9, 2015
Nicknamed "The Lazy Cocoa Grower's Blend" (click image upper right to enlarge) &, judging by taste, apparently so… somebody(s) took the day(s) off when post-harvesting rolled around. Incoherent / incohesive. Stiff & stuck flavors in the wrong places. Nothing hangs together to harmonize.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Nicaliso
The dependable NIcaliso cacáo, most recently sampled from A. Morin, & whose benchmark to date may well remain Duffy's with whom Friis-Holm seems to engage in an arms race to see who can re-up the Ingemann-brokered cocoa from Nicaragua the most. Both brands cover the country about as thoroughly as any other. So much so that Friis-Holm designs house blends out of this origin's single-varietals (the stringent Dark-Blend).
This almost follows La Dalia's suit (above)… a atatic first-half to this bar however drives into a confluence of subtle channels that build & accumulate into a rear manifold.
Though short of Rugoso's stature, a solid addition to the Friis-Hiolm catalog.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed June 9, 2015