Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Review: Amano Montanya

Lindy's Rating: 8.0 (previously ***)
Richard's Rating: 8.0 (previously ***)

chocolate makerAmano
barMontanya
regionVenezuela
plantation(blend)
cacao treesCriollo
year(unknown)
size56g ~ 2.0oz
cocoa solids70%
added fatcocoa butter
sweetenercane sugar
emulsifier(none)
flavoringvanilla
other ingredients(none)
list price$8.95

colormedium-dark brown
PANTONE 19-1317
Bitter Chocolate
texturesmooth with text imprints and scoring
aromaearthy (musty, grassy), hint of vanilla
snaphard
tastesweet, fruit (berry, cherry, apple, melon, apricot), roasted marshmallow, hint of tannin
meltsmooth
lengthshort
finishslightly astringent
Amano Montanya is made from Criollo cacao beans from some remote farms in the mountains of northern Venezuela. The two ounce bar of 70% cocoa solids came wrapped in gold foil inside a glossy black package with the print of a painting of a cacao tree by Cary Henrie. The best before date was December 2012.

This Montanya bar was scored into 15 pieces, each with an imprint of "AMANO Artisan Chocolate" and their tiny emblem of a small branch of a cacao tree. The color of this chocolate was a medium dark brown Bitter Chocolate (PANTONE 19-1317).

The aroma of Montanya was earthy, with clear musty and grassy scents. I also smelled a hint of vanilla. The bar had a hard snap.

As we tasted this chocolate, we noticed several fruit flavors after the obvious sweetness. After an initial bit of berry or cherry, apple and melon flavors seemed strongest, though it sometimes tasted of apricot, too. Underlying these fruits was the marshmallow advertised on the wrapper. Lindy clarified that flavor as roasted marshmallow. In addition, she tasted a hint of tannin.

Montanya had a smooth melt. The length of this chocolate was very short, just 5 to 10 seconds, exceeding the 5 second threshold of short duration, but not by much. The final aftertaste was slightly astringent. Lindy found it stronger than I did, and also experienced some of the roasted marshmallow taste remaining with her.

Lindy and I both rated this chocolate ***. Amano Montanya won a Silver in the bean to bar dark chocolate category at the 2009 Academy of Chocolate Awards. For reference, the Montanya bar we reviewed was from lot number 3/4/84C with a best before date of December 2012.

You can purchase Amano Montanya online directly from Amano for $8.95, or at Chocolopolis for only $8.25.

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