Thursday, November 8, 2012

Review: Pacari Piura Quemazón

Richard's Rating: 8.0
chocolate makerPacari
barPiura Quemazón
regionPeru
plantation(blend)
cacao trees(unknown)
year2012
size50g ~ 1.8oz
cocoa solids70%
added fatcocoa butter
sweetenercane sugar
emulsifiersunflower lecithin
flavoring(none)
other ingredients(none)
list priceN/A
colorlight brown
PANTONE 19-1431
Fudgesickle
texturesmooth, scoring, uneven sheen, adhered bits, scuffing
aromafloral, spice (cinnamon), sweet (caramel), fruit (citrus, orange, berry), earth
snapmedium hard
tastefloral, spice (cinnamon), fruit (citrus, grapefruit, mango), sour, sweet (caramel)
meltsmooth
lengthlong
finishtannin, somewhat sour, slightly acidic
Pacari recently won several categories at the 2012 World Final of the International Chocolate Awards. Their Piura Quemazón won an overall silver in the unflavored dark chocolate bar category.

Piura Quemazón was made with cacao from Peru. This is the first chocolate bar Pacari has made with cacao sourced outside Ecuador. It contained 70% cocoa solids (cacao beans plus added cocoa butter), cane sugar, and sunflower lecithin. As with all of their chocolates, Piura Quemazón was USDA and EC certified organic.

The 50 gram bar came enclosed in a plastic pouch inside a paper box. The bar was scored into 15 pieces. There was no production or best before date.

The chocolate had an unusually light brown Fudgesickle (PANTONE 19-1431) color. The surface of the bar was smooth, with an uneven sheen and adhered bits. There was some minimal scuffing. The snap was medium hard.

Piura had an interesting and strong aroma, with floral, cinnamon spice, sweet caramel, fruit and earth scents. The fruit contained a general citrus scent along with orange and a little berry.

The taste of this chocolate began with flavors from the aroma: floral and cinnamon spice. Fruit flavors were soon revealed, including citrus, grapefruit and mango. A sweetness of caramel from the aroma was also present along with some sourness.

The melt was smooth. The length was remarkably long, with the flavor lasting about 45 seconds after the chocolate was gone. The finish was tannin, somewhat sour, and slightly acidic.

Unfortunately, Pacari Piura Quemazón is not currently available for purchase online, but you should definitely try it once you can.

1 comment:

  1. I think this is my favorite,I like the spicy notes and as always the typical tast of Pacari is surrounded with pleasure, thanks for the review, available in my shop for Belgium, thanks to Santiago.

    ReplyDelete