Art Inspired By The Blind Chocolate Tasting #1
Kristina Aleksynaite's Response After The Podcast
If you are new or have landed on Tarantula: Authors and Art for the very first time, welcome to the art by Kristina Aleksynaitè inspired by our first podcast The Transformational Power Of Chocolate. This is the first of four works by the Tarantula: Authors And Art crew. If a friend forwarded you this article, double welcome; if you like it, share it or why not subscribe?
To listen to the podcast that inspired Kristina’s art click here. The chocolate was generously donated to us for this experiment by Taman Chocolates.
SAMPLE No. 3 by Taman Chocolates
BEAN-TO-BAR CRAFT CHOCOLATE, INDONESIA - RANSIKI - WEST PAPUA, Single Cooperative Cacao
Chocolate made of beans grown and harvested by the cooperative Eiber Suth in the area of West Papua’s Arfak Mountains, home to Vogelkop Superb, a newly discovered bird of paradise species.
The velvety-textured chocolate brings out a range of aromas and flavors, from mild fruit acids to the deep sweetness of the dark fruits with a pleasant bitterness at the end.
The third piece of chocolate definitely dipped into the water. The first taste was of an infinite sea, which kept expanding to infinity. The second taste was my river Merkys, where we spend our summers in Lithuania. I felt both darkness and light in one piece, just like the splashes left by a person who has just been submerged. I took a picture of a begonia that was blooming in the garden, which at that moment I associated with the feeling of discovery I had when tasting chocolate. Later I made an image of the river and the flower in one picture.
SAMPLE No. 1
BEAN-TO-BAR CRAFT CHOCOLATE, PHILLIPINES - MANA - DAVAO, Special Selection Cacao
Chocolate produced from the MANA cacao, a special selection of cocoa beans selected by the Auro Organization from the Davao region in the Philippines is considered one of the best cacao growing regions in the world.
MANA Chocolate brings a well balanced flavor profile of dried fruits, rum, caramel, raspberries, chokeberry and tobacco. It has a mild and creamy mouthfeel with a medium long aftertaste of a pleasant and mild citrus bitterness
This chocolate reminded me of a summer evening as the sun was setting. And the shadows falling into the sea from the low, hardy, windswept trees. I saw the same image on the wall of our house. My daughter started dancing in the living room, where suddenly there was a beautiful shimmering shadow. It reminded me of the taste in my mouth left over from tasting chocolate. A nostalgic memory of summer by the sea.
Film by Kristina Aleksynaite
SAMPLE No. 2
BEAN-TO-BAR CRAFT CHOCOLATE, MADAGASCAR - ANTSAMALA - SAMBIRANO, Single Plantation Cacao
Organic cacao beans with a unique flavor profile, unlike typical Malagasy cacao, come from the Antsamala plantation, which is one of the eight plantations of the Mava Estate, in the Sambirano valley.
On nose, the chocolate opens with floral aromas with nuances of prunes and cacao gradually developing flavors of tropical fruit, peach, fennel, and pink peppercorn. It has a rather fast melt and a delicate bitterness in the aftertaste.
This piece of chocolate took me back to autumn, with the very distinct taste of the plums I had just picked from the tree. Like all those ripe, bitter fruits in my mother's lush garden. It was the taste of the richness of autumn and the hands of people close to me. So I opened the door to my garden in Stockholm and picked a few blossoms that reminded me of plums and autumn.
Stay tune for art works from the rest of the Tarantula: Authors And Art’s Creatives!
ABOUT TAMAN CHOCOLATES
„Taman” has two meanings in Croatian. The first one means “dark”, you know, just like chocolate. The other meaning doesn't have an English equivalent. The most accurate explanation would be that “taman” describes that liberating intimate sense when something feels just right - not too little, not too much, the right thing in the right moment, everything perfectly aligned. This is the philosophy we follow in our boutique manufactory and this is the exact feeling that we want you to experience when tasting our internationally awarded chocolate products.
For our bean-to-bar chocolates we choose cacao with exciting flavors as well as aromas that we want to preserve and highlight with the least amount of processing. Besides amazing flavors, we want our chocolates to tell a story of where the chosen cacao comes from and of the people who grow it. We use only high quality cacao of controlled origin, which we procure in cooperation with trusted partners to ensure that the cacao is well cultivated, fermented and dried; and that all those involved in the cultivation and processing of cacao are adequately paid for their work.
All our products are hand-made and crafted in micro batches with lots of love and passion.
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