Negro
by Enric Rovira
Impact
Cacáo for one-hundred, Alex
Q: When is a chocolate no longer a bar?
A: Either after it melts or when it more closely resembles freshly laid gravel.
NOTE: Negro means black in Spanish, Rovira's native language, not to be misconstrued with the term used in the USA. Accept it at face value as completely innocuous. But cultural relativists will excuse only so much. Given the global nature of civil rights & the spread of American English as a lingua franca, the name of this bar juxtaposed with the photo adorning it is anachronistic & should be 're-contextualized' (so they speak in the halls of academia). END OF SERMON... now let's break chocolate together in honor of Pedro Alonso Niño (aka El Negro), an African slave who sailed on one of Columbus' voyages & later captained his own Transatlantic expedition in search of riches, only to find them (mainly pearls) & be accused (wrongly?) upon his return of stealing the King's share.
Appearance 5 / 5
| Color: | apt Spanish term for this bar - it’s that black |
| Surface: | |
| Temper: | front-side luster; flipside flat |
| Snap: | clacks; very coarse edging (minimal conche) |
Aroma 8.1 / 10
nose-kicking earth-brick – can worms be underneath?; stiff & solid - Claudio Corallo’s Monka norm torch song: desiccated cocoa, ash, smoke, wood, & espresso the under-&-over-belly to surrounding angelica root, acrid-masked-acids (sour red fruits sopped in drying vinegar)... green olive sneaking up
Mouthfeel 12.3 / 15
| Texture: | deliberately rough & dry; major materiality - nibs, pebbles & stones unwinding to grit |
| Melt: | literally lowers the bar on the jaw, but so much work prolongs the effect in service of the flavor |
Flavor 38.2 / 50
blows out cocoa dust -> red grape distills fab cabernet -> wondrous smoked chocolate -> nut grinder mix (almond, brazil, peanuts & hours of indigestion) chased by dried red currant -> the switch point: upheaval of earth & clumps of dirt... never truly resolves, just labors on hacking thru woods, vines & leaves -> coffee aftermath
Quality 17.1 / 20
1st half some of the nicest balanced Claudio Corallo on the market. Act II strikes with bitter vengeance & craters into a down climb. All aspects very pronounced – long ferment, deep roast, practically no conche lead to dirty fruit you'd feed a camel, maybe, to inspire it to cross the desert (or kick you in the nose). Unrefined by design.