Carúpano
by Cacao de Origen
Impact
Between Venezuela's politics & America's foreign policy toward it, the country struggles through... a kind of mess hall without food. Even its cocoa has been a disappearing act.
Yes, a mess hall, seeing how military generals now double as commodity brokers ever since economic sanctions bit their oil exports hard.
Among the few commodities exempt from sanctions: cocoa. Which means the brass there scrambles to push cocoa beans overseas for desperately needed foreign exchange dollars -- a vital stop-gap in the local Bolivar currency runaway inflation.
This all results in Venezuela's once-exalted cocoa crop, that fetched a premium, faltering into lower quality status (fermentation optional apparently under such circumstances) & bulk pricing (below world rates), probably to the dismay of people such as Alejandro Prosperi, the Carúpano-based president of the cocoa industry group CAPEC.
No doubt he & other insiders still know how to get their hands on the 'good stuff'. Like this bar.
Yes, a mess hall, seeing how military generals now double as commodity brokers ever since economic sanctions bit their oil exports hard.
Among the few commodities exempt from sanctions: cocoa. Which means the brass there scrambles to push cocoa beans overseas for desperately needed foreign exchange dollars -- a vital stop-gap in the local Bolivar currency runaway inflation.
This all results in Venezuela's once-exalted cocoa crop, that fetched a premium, faltering into lower quality status (fermentation optional apparently under such circumstances) & bulk pricing (below world rates), probably to the dismay of people such as Alejandro Prosperi, the Carúpano-based president of the cocoa industry group CAPEC.
No doubt he & other insiders still know how to get their hands on the 'good stuff'. Like this bar.
Appearance 4.6 / 5
| Color: | soft mauve |
| Surface: | slashing lines on the mould |
| Temper: | reserved |
| Snap: | hush-hush |
Aroma 9.3 / 10
pretty Venzy: sweet, mild & light.... generalized as a macadamia vanilla custard to a chocolate cream
Mouthfeel 13.7 / 15
| Texture: | true |
| Melt: | evenflow |
Flavor 45.1 / 50
mac nuts & chestnut -> cream -> fleeting fruit flirt (papaya) -> mocha -> quite tannic of mahogany-strength but velvet tannins absent stringent grips -> vanilla fudge brownie back
Quality 17.8 / 20
Fresh, that is right after processing, this bar left much to be desired. Let it age & .... it turns archetypal. Recalls to some degree Domori's early iterations of this regional cacáo.
Light roasting preserves those tannins which creates a deceptive intensity & yet still free of bitterness -- a tribute to this cacao's DNA. Not to mention the growing stewardship of Maria Fernando Di Giacobbe & her colleagues at Cacao de Origen which deepens by expanding its footprint in every step of the process from seed-to-sale.
Reviewed July 17, 2019
Light roasting preserves those tannins which creates a deceptive intensity & yet still free of bitterness -- a tribute to this cacao's DNA. Not to mention the growing stewardship of Maria Fernando Di Giacobbe & her colleagues at Cacao de Origen which deepens by expanding its footprint in every step of the process from seed-to-sale.
Reviewed July 17, 2019