Grocer's Daughter
Impact
Kitchen enterprise operating under the motto “a better world chocolate” by employing for its couverture Vintage Plantations which purports to play a role in the Rainforest Conservation Alliance.
Presentation 3 / 5
plain & simple packaging; mostly hand-thrown pieces; (NOTE: chocolates are set in pleated paper cups which fail to hold them in place during shipping, causing surface bruising /minor chipping. This didn’t alter flavors in any way but be mind if sending as a gift)
Aromas 2.8 / 5
recessed
Textures/Melt 6.7 / 10
| Shells: | thick housing; working middle class fudge |
| Centers: | generally more firm than creamy (approximately a1:1.5 ratio) w/ a bit of grit lending a rustic, homemade feel; melts thick & rich |
Flavor 34.8 / 50
inventive highs & creative lows
Quality 20.9 / 30
Employs the rarely-used Vintage Plantations couverture crafted from Ecuador’s famed ‘Nacional’ bean stock – a bold chocolate & choice. Despite this, infusions tend to get the better of the chocolate. Overall, an uneven line, apprenticeship quality; trial-&-error feel short on culinary skill.
Selections
| Couverture: | Vintage Plantations |
Arriba – chocolate stands in well enough on its own; lightly creamed, accenting the Ecuadorian Nacional cacáo’s inherent blackberry notes creating violet floral overtones; sensational
Pomegranate - misnomer ; ginger dominator, pomegranate an acidic extender; both baldly countering deep chocolate tone
Rosemary – initially herbal apparent, then cream comes to the fore; next, a combative chocolate, a combine that never settles in, especially rosemary & cacáo continue to bray & bristle abrasively
Lemon Verbena – opposite of its Rosemary herbal cousin; very relaxed, the verbena employed to alter the path of chocolate’s profile, down climbing the fruit & flowers into more earthen territory
Maya – dried strawberry sits atop this hill of chocolate which accents it until fresh ground hot cinnamon & chili combine to unveil a warm rose corollary that clears out thick blackstrap & balsam; rustic in homage to its Mayan roots & better than childhood Red Hots; excellent
Sea Salt – deceptive; best texture of the set; soft salt & honey caramel, no pull whatsoever (attributable to the sweetener), tapping a beehive seemingly from the Zambezi forest, so darkening it creates major mocha buzz against a play of salt grains
Pomegranate - misnomer ; ginger dominator, pomegranate an acidic extender; both baldly countering deep chocolate tone
Rosemary – initially herbal apparent, then cream comes to the fore; next, a combative chocolate, a combine that never settles in, especially rosemary & cacáo continue to bray & bristle abrasively
Lemon Verbena – opposite of its Rosemary herbal cousin; very relaxed, the verbena employed to alter the path of chocolate’s profile, down climbing the fruit & flowers into more earthen territory
Maya – dried strawberry sits atop this hill of chocolate which accents it until fresh ground hot cinnamon & chili combine to unveil a warm rose corollary that clears out thick blackstrap & balsam; rustic in homage to its Mayan roots & better than childhood Red Hots; excellent
Sea Salt – deceptive; best texture of the set; soft salt & honey caramel, no pull whatsoever (attributable to the sweetener), tapping a beehive seemingly from the Zambezi forest, so darkening it creates major mocha buzz against a play of salt grains