Peru Marañón 100%
Madagascar 89%
Five 70%
by Fresco
Impact
Few should accuse Rob “Fresco” Anderson of being the Mary Poppins of craft chocolate. She taught school children how a spoon full of sugar helps the meds go down. The placebo effect proves that sugar cubes all by themselves can be medicine.
He practices instead what amounts to sugar homeopathy (re: cuts down the white stuff in favor of the brown stones) for the grownup kid in everyone.
He practices instead what amounts to sugar homeopathy (re: cuts down the white stuff in favor of the brown stones) for the grownup kid in everyone.
Appearance 4.9 / 5
| Color: | aprigenta (magenta-apricot) |
| Surface: | flawless |
| Temper: | stately matte |
| Snap: | gentle spirits |
Aroma 9 / 10
Peru Marañón 100%
marmalades thinking outside the jar & concentrating instead inside the bar, on a biscuit no less, for a full continental breakfast
Madagascar 89%
limestone
black coral
Five 70%
brooding animalism
marmalades thinking outside the jar & concentrating instead inside the bar, on a biscuit no less, for a full continental breakfast
Madagascar 89%
limestone
black coral
Five 70%
brooding animalism
Mouthfeel 13.3 / 15
| Texture: | ultra fine |
| Melt: | lays down well |
Flavor 42.7 / 50
Peru Marañón 100%
pops in candied florals -> lite buttering -> souring tendencies, quite expected from this cultivar…-> bitter tapioca (strange but unusually good) plows into black, top soil bittering -> hickory nut oil -> pecan close
Madagascar 89%
fruit punch, emphasis punch as this knocks the tongue out with solid deep tones rare for Madagascan cacáo, basically sharp cranberry-over-ground swell elements -> flirts apricot-gin -> limestone
Five 70%
Good 'n Plenty® right out of the box… cherry licorice backed in molasses -> sweet chicory -> candy shell dissolves, then cottons thru some berry patch -> mentholated cough drop toward the rear -> passing grain -> clean lemon swipe -> balsam fir needle -> mocha cake -> cream final
pops in candied florals -> lite buttering -> souring tendencies, quite expected from this cultivar…-> bitter tapioca (strange but unusually good) plows into black, top soil bittering -> hickory nut oil -> pecan close
Madagascar 89%
fruit punch, emphasis punch as this knocks the tongue out with solid deep tones rare for Madagascan cacáo, basically sharp cranberry-over-ground swell elements -> flirts apricot-gin -> limestone
Five 70%
Good 'n Plenty® right out of the box… cherry licorice backed in molasses -> sweet chicory -> candy shell dissolves, then cottons thru some berry patch -> mentholated cough drop toward the rear -> passing grain -> clean lemon swipe -> balsam fir needle -> mocha cake -> cream final
Quality 15.8 / 20
Peru Marañón 100%
Recipe 231 -- Medium Roast / Long Conche; Batch 231-15-117; Bar #143
Tracking Marañón cacáo since its inception into the modern chocolate era turns up Seeds, Nibs, Dark bars & Milk bars but no pod-strength unsweetened 100%. Until now.
Exceptional mid-body Texture rather than the more common turgid paste of 100s. The Flavor however somewhat ordinary once past the opening floral & tapioca moments whence this reverts from super-finessed to borderline indelicate. Then again, it is unsweetened.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass
Madagascar 89%
Recipe 231 -- Medium Roast / Medium Conche; Batch E-15-114; Bar #336
Another bar that tips the scales with cacáo-content. Madagascar's volatiles hunger for sugar to catalyze those bright notes on which this source gains renown. Precise percentage (not 90 but 89) indicates Rob Anderson of Fresco really knows his calibration tables on this seed allotment. Indeed the profile reaches possibly the upper limits of where this bar can go without crossing the threshold into harsh bitter territory unrecognizable for this island. Such hi-definition for a low-sugar contrast. It hugs just this nearside of resemblance for an origin that usually produces sweeter tarts that often hang out over little-to-no ballast or bottom support.
Accomplished & formidable.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Five 70%
Batch E-14-087; Bar #023
5 single origins in 1 bar. Less a fully integrated blend & more an assemblage of individuals (each meritorious in their own right) that stand as much alongside one another in a sequential column as they do together (& a smidge at odds in their composite profile / contour).
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed December 2, 2015
Recipe 231 -- Medium Roast / Long Conche; Batch 231-15-117; Bar #143
Tracking Marañón cacáo since its inception into the modern chocolate era turns up Seeds, Nibs, Dark bars & Milk bars but no pod-strength unsweetened 100%. Until now.
Exceptional mid-body Texture rather than the more common turgid paste of 100s. The Flavor however somewhat ordinary once past the opening floral & tapioca moments whence this reverts from super-finessed to borderline indelicate. Then again, it is unsweetened.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass
Madagascar 89%
Recipe 231 -- Medium Roast / Medium Conche; Batch E-15-114; Bar #336
Another bar that tips the scales with cacáo-content. Madagascar's volatiles hunger for sugar to catalyze those bright notes on which this source gains renown. Precise percentage (not 90 but 89) indicates Rob Anderson of Fresco really knows his calibration tables on this seed allotment. Indeed the profile reaches possibly the upper limits of where this bar can go without crossing the threshold into harsh bitter territory unrecognizable for this island. Such hi-definition for a low-sugar contrast. It hugs just this nearside of resemblance for an origin that usually produces sweeter tarts that often hang out over little-to-no ballast or bottom support.
Accomplished & formidable.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Five 70%
Batch E-14-087; Bar #023
5 single origins in 1 bar. Less a fully integrated blend & more an assemblage of individuals (each meritorious in their own right) that stand as much alongside one another in a sequential column as they do together (& a smidge at odds in their composite profile / contour).
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter
Reviewed December 2, 2015