Pump Street Chocolate
"The Fermentation Project" Tulloch Estates, Jamaica Ltd. Ed. (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 197 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order
Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Jamaica Theme Week.
Today's Limited Edition 76% "The Fermentation Project" bar--created using cacao beans from Tulloch Estates (farm) in Jamaica--was crafted by the bakers and chocolate makers at Pump Street Chocolate (Suffolk, UK).
This chocolate had a very attractive, complex botanical aroma, with notes that included: tea (iced green tea with maple syrup), very faint, light aromatic (pipe) tobacco, very faint fresh baked bread, very faint wood (and woody nut) notes, and naturally sweet plants, roots and fruits (maple, maca lucuma, sweet carrot/yam, vanilla bean, purple grapes/raisins, mangosteen).
The relatively thick bar had a hearty, smooth texture with a very slight fruit/tea/clean mineral astringency; but this "dryness" or granular/puckery mouthfeel (as you might encounter in pomegranates, persimmons and certain berries) did not interfere with the enjoyment of this unique and special chocolate.
The 76% dark chocolate also had a trace of light, balanced dark bitterness (think chocolate stouts), which came to forefront more the second day after it had been opened, perhaps after some of the more volatile aroma bouquet notes mentioned earlier had faded.
What makes this chocolate unique? A "sourdough-style starter" was added to newly harvested cacao beans to "kick-start and equilibrate" the fermentation process. (Not surprisingly to hear that the Pump Street chocolate makers (who are bakers and bread makers as well) looked into this.) Given the interesting results, perhaps we'll see more special fermentation projects in the future.
I love botanical flavors and I thank the farmers, fermenters and makers for their attention to detail and for enabling, highlighting and preserving so many subtle chocolate flavors in this bar.
Ingredients: "Cocoa beans, cane sugar and organic cocoa butter (minimum cocoa solids 76%)."
Allergen-related information: "We also handle dairy, gluten, nuts and seeds on the premises."
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