DISTINGUISHED BEANS
Reviewing the best in craft chocolate
Pump Street
Jamaica Bachelor’s Hall 75%
Aroma: crusty French bread, saltines, graham crackers, a little dusty
Flavor: saltine crackers, seed flavors, stale cocoa powder, faint green and raspberry notes. No bold notes jump out right away. Smooth, low acidity, low bitterness, some lingering astringency.
Recommendation: Recommended with reservations. Pleasant, but a bit bland.
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Batch info: 2015 crop
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Madagascar Ambanja Criollo 74%
Aroma: toasted grains, malt, nutty, cocoa powder, figs
Flavor: Much milder than typical tangy Madagascar Trinitario, this mellow Criollo bar has soft raspberry, raspberry jam, and dried fruit flavors along with hazelnut, brownie and sunflower or flax seed notes and subtle pine, fresh grass, orange rind, and resin notes.
Texture is very thick, almost waxy but not unpleasant.
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Recommendation: Recommended. Mild but pleasant and complex flavors.
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Batch info: 2017 crop
Grenada Crayfish Bay Estate, Saint Mark 70%
Aroma: astringent
Flavor: astringent, some starchiness, chalky, some slight brown fruit flavors like raisin but overall kind of unpleasant. Some bitterness.
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Recommendation: Not recommended - possibly underfermented?
Batch info: Batch no. 91404, 2016 crop, best before August 2020