Box Chocolate Review

Nahua

Info Details
Country Costa Rica   
Style Rustic      
lo
med
hi
CQ
Sweetness
Intensity
Complexity
Impact
No slap boxing here. Nahua throws combinations that punch thru.
Presentation   4 / 5
rustic chic from the roots up
simple & stark, & very tastefully designed
almost nothing extraneous, even latches & enclosures cut & fold into the packaging itself
enrobed pieces, transfer sheets, pleated cups the bow to standardization
Aromas   4.7 / 5
spiced jelly forest
woods, pepper, pencil shavings (duly noted from Nahua's bar works)
Textures/Melt   6.9 / 10
Shells: medium-thin
Centers: well bodied
Flavor   44.6 / 50
chocolate the hero, thanks to Nahua's own bean-to-bar grinding, in this world rife with either very pronounced infusions on the one hand (William Dean for a good example) or extremely shy expressions on the other (including chocolate; early stage Genin or Chocolat de H)
modest sugaring lends a more full-on delivery of flavors, including inclusions
several tremendous confluences
only a few misses
Quality   24.8 / 30
Downhome… raised & refined on the farm
Selections
Couverture: in-house
70% Dark -- simple / direct; almost alkali plain… nice cocoa dust-up ending though

Cherry -- pulp & skins included & yet the couverture easily runs shotgun over 'em; stout

Salted Caramel -- soft ooze of the center plays off the slightly granular couverture for Textural contrast while heavy butterscotching at the front yields to a mocha finish; terrific progression; a superb benchmark

Capuchino -- well tendered on both sides of this café-cacáo union to crystallize a Kalua® fusion; stupendous

Límon -- Dark robe on White fondant of lemon; the most pronounced of the infusions in the set; clear, fresh exposition without devolving into Windex®

Pistachio -- green nut meets brown nut & guess what… no simple marzipan but practically a MIddle-Eastern baharat spice mix; disorienting delirium

Orange -- overly-expressed with the citric infusion to a kids candy level; an instance where bitter almond could assuage the matter

Vainilla -- as in the beginning, so too the end… similar to the 70% Dark (above) but sweeter, kinder, & calibrated with precision

Reviewed November 5, 2014

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