Lindt Excellence
70% Cocoa (no inclusions)
Smell: Sweet fruity chocolaty candy. Sweeeet sweet. Thought of robin's eggs. Smooth. Cool. Florid? There's a flavor I'm having trouble articulating. It's a cool underneath breeze, a whirlpool summer wind swirling in the shade beneath a raised wooden porch. This is a calm happy chocolate for sipping an iced drink while watching kids play on tricycles. I'm also getting a little smoke at the end. This is really quite good. When I say that, though, there's a small part of me that objects. There's an element I'm conflicted about, and it's the part that reminds me of robin's eggs. Something in here reminds me of really cheap Easter candy, and part of me is throwing quick, identity-protecting dismissal about it. But what is it like to experience as itself, freshly? A little bit flat and waxy, like paraffin or canola oil. Yeah. But anyway, this is overall quite delightful. If this were a boat, it would be a tiny sailboat built by a little boy, just big enough for three children to sail across the pond.
Roasted Hazelnut
Smell: Reminds me of hazelnut coffee, and very sweet. Oh man such sweet taste. Nutty. A slight sharp that balances well with the sweetness. The crunch is a lot of experience. Quite a bit sharper than the plain version. Playful, but not especially high energy. Kids playing Dungeons and Dragons in a comfy basement in fall, not long after the start of a new school year. Comfortable close young masculine friendship. It's easy to think of warm mugs on a fall porch in the evening as well, sweater sleeves pulled down, knees tucked up against your chest in the chair, looking out at the pumpkin patch that's almost ready for harvest.
Chili
Smells sweet and a little spicy. Sweet. Took twenty seconds to get the chili, but it's here now. Not overpowering. I feel it as a hot prickling, especially toward the back of my palette. There's a lot of childhood in all of the Lindt chocolates so far. This one is a stick fight in the rain. Sometimes you get whacked and scratched up a little and it stings, but that's part of the joy of it. Thank god you're not stuck at a desk at school during this glorious mudpuddle downpour. You're the Dread Pirate Roberts, and you are not left-handed either.
Intense Orange
Oh what it actually has orange pieces in it? Also almonds? Smells like dried candied oranges. So sweet. Surprisingly, it's not resonating much with "chocolate oranges". Almond pieces pretty distracting. My brain says "overly sweet". Some kind of drink. Tang, maybe? No, sangria. This is older than the other Lindts, spiritually. My association network insists that this is a warm holiday drink, but it's not one I've ever actually had. It's hot mulled cider, but orange instead of apple, with cream and perhaps also whiskey. A crackling fire and a whole party of people talking and listening to quiet lute music in the background.
