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Info Details
Country USA   
Type Dark   (72%)
Strain Blend   
Source
Flavor Naked   
Style Classic      
lo
med
hi
CQ
Sweetness
Acidity
Bitterness
Roast
Intensity
Complexity
Structure
Length
Impact
Guittard’s bid - & a strong one – for pure center-point chocolate. show more »
Appearance   4 / 5
Color: deep magenta
Surface: slick front; scaly underbelly
Temper: spit-shine (runs flat... out back)
Snap: hiss of a rattlesnake against granite edge
Aroma   7.4 / 10
low lying, narrow & focused: dessicated cocoa & coconut covered in palm & banana leaf; (dried red fruit curdles underneath)
Mouthfeel   11.6 / 15
Texture: fractured; clumps up
Melt: languishes; slight astringency at finish
Flavor   46.6 / 50
snake eyes of the aroma peer right thru to the taste: cocoa & coconut run the entire length of the baseboard -> black & red pepper replete w/ low heat rising (illusion or mystic trick?) -> light spice (coriander, cardamom, anise) -> background banana custard (suiting texture) & marshmallow -> lone red star apparition (jujube) -> oaken vanilla + coconut shell (which cross tracks w/ earlier spices for cedar) -> backs out chocolate
Quality   17.9 / 20
Simple & docile, though perhaps the most amplified chocolarity (pure naked chocolate flavor) in the 70% class, achieved in part by no added cacáo butter. Tastes a little too manufactured, especially when vanilla rises up, & lacks sublime roundness of Lindt, Cluizel, & Domori’s cracks at center-point chocolate (again, for reasons of butter). But to Guittard’s credit, the real reference is not some overwrought comparisons to another chocolate maker(s), but to itself; specifically, its chef’s-special 61% Semisweet stalwart – here, less a soda pop fizz & more chocolate weight & mass, built on a foundation of West African beans with elements of Chucuri & maybe Ambanja, then roasted over a low but steady fire. A no-nonsense straight shot - right between the cross-hairs.

  

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