The frighteningly dark purple-black of this chocolate can be seen right through the cellophane - an indication of its obviously Forastero derivation. Once unwrapped, the bar reveals itself to be a little hastily moulded with clear bubbling and unevenness, but nicely tempered. It's easy, however, to look past the look in favour of the very distinctive aroma, dark and teaky with smoky hints and a whack of molasses. The depth and magnitude really draws one into the experience.Forasteros often take well to a dark roast and this sign bodes well.

Unfortunately Pralus falls flat, literally, when it comes to flavour. After an abortive attempt at asserting an almond character, it bottoms out completely into an utterly flat cocoa/coffee, completely devoid of any dimensionality whatsoever. Bitterness pervades throughout and the bar makes no attempts to jolt back to life, sitting there simply DOA. Eventually the sensation is so complete it's as if taste might be being sucked out of the mouth - as it were, a *negative* intensity. It's simply a chocolate that is going nowhere fast.

As for the texture, it's not bad, but not wonderful either, above-average in smoothness but a bit dry and dusty, much like the feel in one's mouth after the astringency the chocolate possesses. In the end, then, the sensation is much akin to eating dirt, recalling the Boynton passage on carob, said to be able to be made to approximate the colour and consistency of chocolate - "of course, the same arguments can as persuasively be made in favor[sic] of dirt".

Pralus is capable of much better, but with Ghana it appears he has simply taken on a bean inimical to his style. It's easy to identify that the flavour problems could be solved with a ligher touch at the roaster, but this would sacrifice Pralus' own personality. It is quite literally a case of a bean and a chocolatier being basically incompatible.

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The deep purple tissue obscures the dark slab contained within, but appropriately so, since the chocolate itself is so dark that it seems to be cloaked in the black drapery of the night. There's some moderate swirling on the backside, but as usual, the impeccable sheen is more than engaging with its mirror-like effect. Detecting the aroma is too much of a struggle, but I still manage to find the typical Pralus smokiness cringing deep in the background. It is, however, slightly chocolaty but again, there simply is no intensity whatsoever.

Ghana is at first coy to deliver its package but eventually the pure chocolatiness it possesses unfolds on the palate in such a limited manner that its simplicity is almost acceptable. Pure as it may be, though, it's still extraordinarily mild which causes one to wonder if the roast was perhaps too dark since ultimately the chocolate comes off as submissive and even flat, a fact of which isn't necessarily ameliorated by the smooth and creamy melt. Indeed, the texture is probably too smooth, a victim of excessive cocoa butter embellishment, which compounds Pralus' usual roasting methods.

As Theo has proven Ghana cacao can bear some defining characteristics, but in this chocolate, nothing of illustrious esteem positively comes through since Pralus, as if surrendering to Ghana's limited range and his usual style of dark roasting, took the origin shamelessly and produced a chocolate that tastes washed out, ala Hachez. It's by far the weakest and least memorable of the Pralus range, but at the same time, it's perhaps the most agreeable to the palate. However, as reserved as it may be, it just might be this characteristic that causes Ghana to engrain itself into the mind since, after all, it's the most neutral. Ultimately, though, this should not be used as an introduction to Pralus. Instead, there are other bars more suitable for this purpose.

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