Chocolate Alchemy labels this Peru Oro Verde Criollo bean as "a light balanced cocoa bean with notes of soft tropical fruits and nuts." The more detailed write-up says that the flavors are vibrant and dynamic. Fruits galore: banana, strawberry, plum, mango, and other general tropical fruit flavors, but no one flavor dominates so you get a very soft fruitiness.
I can't wait to try it!
Saturday, January 28, 2017 - 9:00 pm - Batch #4 begins....
After the issue with husks in the last batch, I pick through this bag but found very little in the way of husks. I ended up with 912 grams of nibs. I put 1 cup into the melanger and let her rip. I also had to keep the cover on the melanger because it was spitting out nibs left and right. I even got one in the eye. Talk about hurt!!
I think I may have added to many nibs at once. The melanger got seriously bogged down...
9:15 pm - I had to added 40g of melted cocoa butter to keep it happy...
The melanger was okay for a short while, but it started straining again as I added more and more nibs.
9:30 pm - All the nibs are in but the melanger is struggling again. I didn't want to add any more cocoa butter, so I took out my "chocolate" hair dryer, and heated the nibs so they would release the cocoa butter locked inside.
9:45 pm - The mass is flowing somewhat, but still very chunky. The granite wheels seems to be jump and skipping a lot. I guess I added the nibs too quickly. Lesson learned.
10:15 pm - I've been sitting in a room next to the melanger, and at about 10:15 I noticed that the melanger was running smoothly. No more jumps and skips due to large nibs. I removed the plastic cover so the moisture and volatiles could escape. I also put my improvised bug guard over the meleanger. Don't want any nasty stuff falling into the open bowl.
Sunday 5:00 am - I let the melanger run all night, and by 5:00 am on Sunday everything was flowing smoothly.
10:15 am - After 13 hours of run time I added the sugar.
11:40 am - After an hour of refining the sugar, the mixture still looks grainy but it feels smooth in the mouth. Taste Test: You can really taste the fruit in this one, and there is a sharp bite at the end. Not bitter, just a bite.
1:11 pm - Off while we leave the house. 16 hours of processing time so far.
5:15 pm - Back on.
9:30 pm - Off. 20 hours of processing time so far. At this point I would normally add the cocoa butter, but I ran out. Oops. I have some scheduled to arrive on Monday. Thank you, Chocolate Alchemy!
Monday, 9:00 am - The chocolate has hardened to a solid block overnight, so I had to use the hair dryer to melt it. It took about 30 minutes.
9:30am - Everything melted, finally able to turn the machine back on.
3:15 pm - Yeah, the cocoa butter has arrived. Added 234 g of Natural Cocoa Butter and let her rip. I'm going to give it about 4 hours to incorporate everything. I can't wait to taste it, and see how it differs from the Peru Chuncho I did last week.
Monday, January 30, 7:45 pm - Finished !! Approximately 30 hours of processing.
So how does this Peru Oro Verde Criollo taste? In a word: Fruit-Bomb. (Or is that two words?) Lots of fruity flavors, and sweet. I can't wait to temper and mold this stuff to see how it tastes once it is solid.
One thing that concerns me is the presence of a oily looking sheen on top of the chocolate. (The sheen doesn't photograph well so I didn't include a picture.) I wonder if the melanger is leaking some lubricant??? I will have to read the manual.
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