Fresco Artisan Chocolate
Madagascar 70% Recipe 290 Medium Roast, Medium Conche (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .9 oz. (25 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 136.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: (Part of a $57 chocolate tasting for 5 different bars)
Purchased from: Fresco Artisan Chocolate/Chocolopolis tasting, online order
Welcome to Day #2 in a series of five different single origin bars obtained as part of a New Origin Fresco Chocolate Tasting. (Thank you to Rob and Amy at Fresco Chocolate and Lauren Adler at Chocolopolis.com for the great remote tasting experience.)
Today's new Madagascar 70% (Batch 21-454) Medium Roast, Medium Conche* (bar) was made by Fresco Chocolate (Lynden, WA) . The beans used to make this bar were from the (Bertil) Akesson plantation in the Sambirano Valley of Madagascar--a region known for its flavorful cacao.
Aroma notes (in order of appearance) for this chocolate included faint green, floral, green stalks, a faint, flickering bitter dark chocolate note, bread and butter, cooked rice, diffuse faint fruit (peach, persimmon, lemon), brown sugar, and barely there tart green (oxalis). The texture and mouthfeel were very satisfying and buttery smooth.
Flavor notes included rich, sweet dark chocolate (dark chocolate torte), and, most significantly, a blooming of bright, tart fruit: a blend of sweet, round, white wine grape juice and golden raisin mixed with pink grapefruit and red berry. (Other fruit notes present in later re-tastings: cherry, orange, mango and ripe, sweet pineapple.) All these fruit notes presented a jump up from (contrast with) the relatively subdued aroma notes.
Bright red berry and citrus notes are often associated with chocolate made with Madagascar cacao; but today's Fresco bar presented a festive yet sophisticated variation on this theme.
I enjoyed tasting this newly unveiled, rich, flavorful and well-executed dark chocolate bar from a company that recently celebrated receipt of their 50th International award for their chocolate.
Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter
Allergen-related information: "Free from: gluten, dairy, nuts, soy"
*Conching follows the initial cacao grinding process. Fresco describes conching as "heat, motion, aeration and time producing chocolate's final flavor." The maker notes: "adjusting these variables can produce dramatically different flavors." (Thank you to Rob at Fresco for allowing us to experience this in your chocolate line-up, geared to edify even the most seasoned of chocolate palettes.)
No comments:
Post a Comment