The second bar of chocolate sent to me from owner Shawn Askinosie. As mentioned in the review of Davao, Philippine 77%, I was sent samples from Askinosie after reviewing the Soconusco 75% bar. Since the previous two reviews mention a lot about Askinosie, I will just jump right into the review of this chocolate bar.
Askinosie Springfield, MO.
Askinosie San Jose De Tambo, Ecuador 70%
Bean Varietal: Arriba Nacional
Type: Bittersweet 70%
Choc-o-lot # 030309
Sample Size: 85g or 3oz.
Ingredients: Cocoa beans, organic cane juice, cocoa butter.
From the website:
San Jose Del Tambo is located in Ecuador near the Andes Mountains. No map this time but a description from the website give some details.
Appearance: Smooth and shiny deep dark brown, black-brown in coloring, with standard Askinosie molding.
Score: 94
Snap: Good snap sound. A little more subdued than the Davao, Philippine 77%, but still top notch snap with clean break, no crumbling.
Score: 93
Aroma: Big lavender and jasmine nose, honey, spicy, mild tobacco notes, slight hints of tar.
Score: 99
Taste: Lightly bitter, low acidity, very delicate flavors despite big full body, lavender and jasmine tea, honey, hints of orange peel, extremely mild hints of green bananas, subdued and muted wood and cereal grains from retro-olfaction.
Score: 95
Texture: Smooth, hard mouth feel, very slow melt, big body once it's fully opened up, finishes very dry on the palate, it nearly wipes the slate clean with a drying effect.
Score: 75
Upon smelling this chocolate, the word sexy comes to mind. Very feminine with the big honey, jasmine and lavender nose, but the hardness from the texture doesn't match the aroma. Once this chocolate finally melts a little on the palate and opens up the taste is big, but again feminine with low acidity and beautiful lavender notes. It finishes clean on the palate.
I gave the texture score a lower number, because it's too hard, and takes almost too long to open up. The aroma and the eventual flavor of this chocolate is beautiful but is almost trapped by an extremely slow melt time on the tongue. This would be fabulous if it had softer edges to match it's soft flowery nose and taste. Soft and faster melt time.
Arriba Nacional beans are very interesting but I am not entirely sold that they are my cup of tea. They are the forth group of beans, a cousin to Forastero. They have no bitterness while their cousin Forastero has big bitterness. But with it's big spicy, flowery nose, the taste is so light and finishes super clean. I think I like the chocolates with more robust flavors. This is a chocolate meant for those who want to take it easy with their bitter chocolates.
Final Score: 91.2
B+
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