Impact
Guittard’s bid - & a strong one – for pure center-point chocolate.
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Appearance 4 / 5
| Color: | deep magenta |
| Surface: | slick front; scaly underbelly |
| Temper: | spit-shine (runs flat... out back) |
| Snap: | hiss of a rattlesnake against granite edge |
Aroma 7.4 / 10
low lying, narrow & focused: dessicated cocoa & coconut covered in palm & banana leaf; (dried red fruit curdles underneath)
Mouthfeel 11.6 / 15
| Texture: | fractured; clumps up |
| Melt: | languishes; slight astringency at finish |
Flavor 46.6 / 50
snake eyes of the aroma peer right thru to the taste: cocoa & coconut run the entire length of the baseboard -> black & red pepper replete w/ low heat rising (illusion or mystic trick?) -> light spice (coriander, cardamom, anise) -> background banana custard (suiting texture) & marshmallow -> lone red star apparition (jujube) -> oaken vanilla + coconut shell (which cross tracks w/ earlier spices for cedar) -> backs out chocolate
Quality 17.9 / 20
Simple & docile, though perhaps the most amplified chocolarity (pure naked chocolate flavor) in the 70% class, achieved in part by no added cacáo butter. Tastes a little too manufactured, especially when vanilla rises up, & lacks sublime roundness of Lindt, Cluizel, & Domori’s cracks at center-point chocolate (again, for reasons of butter). But to Guittard’s credit, the real reference is not some overwrought comparisons to another chocolate maker(s), but to itself; specifically, its chef’s-special 61% Semisweet stalwart – here, less a soda pop fizz & more chocolate weight & mass, built on a foundation of West African beans with elements of Chucuri & maybe Ambanja, then roasted over a low but steady fire. A no-nonsense straight shot - right between the cross-hairs.