Assortments
Impact
River-Sea, run by the Mariano & Krissee duo, come about as conscientious & comprehensive as anyone in the craft choc world to enacting the changes they want to see in it.
A change in consumption patterns, for starters, away from a consumerist Landfill Economy to one driven by incentives other than “more of everything” in the name of “growth”. A new system of private-sector currency, DeGrowth & decentralization + a cultural shift to a genuinely sustainable (i.e. less perverse and destructive) set of incentives to fix the current broken socio-economic compact. (Meanwhile Harvard economist Ken Rogoff's response to the coronavirus flips the switch on for hyper-growth... hmmmm).
River-Sea maintains its course. Ergo, direct trading & cocoa shipped from Colombia to the USA on a sailboat. Organic just about everything. Biodegradable too.
All adds up to tasteful.
A change in consumption patterns, for starters, away from a consumerist Landfill Economy to one driven by incentives other than “more of everything” in the name of “growth”. A new system of private-sector currency, DeGrowth & decentralization + a cultural shift to a genuinely sustainable (i.e. less perverse and destructive) set of incentives to fix the current broken socio-economic compact. (Meanwhile Harvard economist Ken Rogoff's response to the coronavirus flips the switch on for hyper-growth... hmmmm).
River-Sea maintains its course. Ergo, direct trading & cocoa shipped from Colombia to the USA on a sailboat. Organic just about everything. Biodegradable too.
All adds up to tasteful.
Presentation 4.2 / 5
rustic simplicity
transfer sheets, buttered colors, fit & finish mostly clean with only small feet attached
transfer sheets, buttered colors, fit & finish mostly clean with only small feet attached
Aromas 4.7 / 5
spice lab with robust cocoa foundation
Textures/Melt 9 / 10
| Shells: | thick |
| Centers: | easy gliders |
Flavor 45.2 / 50
Clearly articulated, even pronounced &, so identifiable with balanced cocoa-to-inclusion ratio
Quality 26.6 / 30
In-house couverture for a home field advantage as River-Sea grinds their own beans, an actual chocolate maker with no need to pull blocks off the stores shelves to remelt.
Label displays straight simple execution & all of it well-pitched. Hardly surprising given its confected bars collection.
Reviewed April 16, 2020
Label displays straight simple execution & all of it well-pitched. Hardly surprising given its confected bars collection.
Reviewed April 16, 2020
Selections
| Couverture: | in-house; Peru 72% cacáo-content & Dominican Republic 72% |
Coffee-Coriander -- espresso-level with a warm mulling spice-butter ganache to cut the coffee's strengths; smart combine
Rasperry -- heart-shaped (awww); pretty standard which in any case = pretty good if it were what it fools to be -- dark cherry cordial (even simulates just a drip of cough-syrup FX at the finish) -- but here up-leveled deluxe with raspberry; well-matched chocolate base to the fortified center without overpowering
Capuaçu* -- another dark-on-dark bombone; this the softest texture of the set... juicy tropical flavor mix without the wet drench, just moist; excellent -- first-rate / world-class
* botanical brother & forest friend to Theobroma cacáo (the tree from whose seeds constitute the key ingredient in chocolate), capuaçu (aka Theobroma grandiflorum) is instead harvested primarily for its delicious pulp.
Rasperry -- heart-shaped (awww); pretty standard which in any case = pretty good if it were what it fools to be -- dark cherry cordial (even simulates just a drip of cough-syrup FX at the finish) -- but here up-leveled deluxe with raspberry; well-matched chocolate base to the fortified center without overpowering
Capuaçu* -- another dark-on-dark bombone; this the softest texture of the set... juicy tropical flavor mix without the wet drench, just moist; excellent -- first-rate / world-class
* botanical brother & forest friend to Theobroma cacáo (the tree from whose seeds constitute the key ingredient in chocolate), capuaçu (aka Theobroma grandiflorum) is instead harvested primarily for its delicious pulp.