Impact
What the Prius is to cars, this is to chocolate - a severe hybrid - with a driver onboard who likes to joyride as if he's a crash-test dummy with only minimal seat-belt restraint.
Appearance 4.8 / 5
| Color: | Arriba-like... dark purple maroon |
| Surface: | smoothly paved |
| Temper: | rear-view mirror |
| Snap: | cuts the ears off screeching; coarse break wall |
Aroma 8.3 / 10
flat-on-its-back chocolate but head notes of orange blossom, cream, & biscuit + cinnamon too (on the rubdown); nice
Mouthfeel 12.2 / 15
| Texture: | so little cleavage / so much breastage (lecithin will do that) |
| Melt: | viscous; a bit dry & thick |
Flavor 38.3 / 50
orange shower -> chocolate caramel -> loving pecans & peanuts -> wrap it all up to go as buttermilk biscuits w/ marmalade but, alas, a bitter crossed by significant astringency snatches it away -> caught on gum resin + soy-lecithin shows up masked as straw; just precursors to... coffee blast thru -> fades over cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, & a welcoming sprig of mint until cream-theme re-asserts (more or less) w/ cocoa powder finish
Quality 16.2 / 20
A seeming mismatch of style to varietal: Pralus' heavy roast technique on a delicate origin, burns off a good amount of nuance. In all fairness, Pralus practices some self-restraint but he works with neither the purest nor best of strains here as these beans bare their hybridized seams (Criollo, Pajarito & Colombia Nacional) like a knock-off evening gown worn by a party girl in her late 40s that he just happened to crash into.