LATEST REVIEWS
We have published thousands of coffee reviews and espresso reviews since 1997. The reviews below appear in reverse chronological order by review date. Older reviews may no longer accurately reflect current versions of the same coffee. To search for a specific roaster, origin or coffee use the Advanced Search Function.
Price: NT $1200/8 ounces
Very sweet, gently bright, delicately fruit-toned. Lush flowers, cidery apple and tart, raspberry-like fruit in aroma and cup. Softly bright acidity; silky to lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Very sweet in the finish.
Crisply sweet-toned, balanced, subtly complex. Cocoa, plum, peach, hints of dusk flowers and pungent cedar in aroma and cup. Gently bright, juicy acidity; light but silky mouthfeel. The layered, delicate flavor fades slightly in the dryish finish.
Buttery caramel, gently pungent cedar, baker's chocolate and a slight, pineapple-like tartness in aroma and small cup. Full, syrupy mouthfeel; the chocolate note in particular sweetens and lingers in a long, deep finish. Delicate in two parts milk; caramelly chocolate and a continued hint of pineapple-like fruit.
Evaluated as espresso. Complex, cherry-and-chocolate notes in the small cup with hints of flowers and brandy. Syrupy mouthfeel; rich, long, cherry-toned finish. Turns crisp in two parts milk, with less fruit and more nut in the chocolate.
Evaluated as espresso. Round, balanced, chocolaty. Dark chocolate, gently pungent cedar, plum-like fruit in aroma and small cup. Full, lightly syrupy mouthfeel; clean, cedar-toned finish. The plum-toned dark chocolate and fresh cedar retain their pleasing balance in two parts milk.
Deep, rich, chocolaty. The chocolate is nut-toned and fudge-like and complicated by raspberry-like fruit, night flowers and a hint of pungent cedar. Gentle, juicy acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor fades slightly in the finish, but remains sweet and chocolate-toned with perhaps a deepening hint of savory.
Evaluated as espresso. Crisp, round, balanced. Fresh-cut cedar, baker’s chocolate, orange, toasted almond in aroma and small cup. Medium body, very lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Dryish, flavor-saturated finish. At its best in two parts milk, where it complexly expresses sweet chocolate and cedar-toned orange.
Evaluated as espresso. Plum, peach, pungent cedar, dark chocolate in aroma and small cup, with the dark chocolate intensifying in the cup. Impressively round, creamy mouthfeel. Flavor fades rather quickly in the finish. In two parts milk the chocolate predictably rounds and sweetens, with continued echoes of plummy fruit.
Brightly acidy but also very sweet, almost sugary: ripe plum, lily-like flowers, almond in aroma and cup. Acidity is gently rich when the cup is hot; rather dominating as it cools. Smooth, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The finish is sweet and balanced in taste with distinct floral character, though rather sharply astringent in mouthfeel.
Balanced, quiet blend with just a hint of dark-roast character. Caramel, cedar, plum and hints of dark chocolate in aroma and cup. Gentle, roast-rounded acidity; smoothly light mouthfeel. The caramel turns toward chocolate in a simple but agreeably balanced finish.
Price: $32.00/16 ounces
Cedar, plum, almond, and a delicate, sweet-toned dark chocolate in aroma and cup. The chocolate moves forward and gracefully dominates in the cup. Soft, roast-rounded acidity; silky mouthfeel. Chocolate sweetness balances a slight roasty astringency in the finish.
Price: NT $1600/8 ounces
Crisp baker's chocolate and heavy, lush, cherry-like fruit and brandy hints in aroma and cup. Wine-toned acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Rather heavy, sweet-salty finish.
Attractive dark chocolate, apricot, hints of fresh-cut cedar and orange in aroma and cup. Delicate, balanced acidity; light but smoothly silky mouthfeel. Recollections of chocolate and a rather zesty orange survive in a relatively fast-fading finish.
Great sweetness is balance by crisp lemon and blackberry. Bright but very sweet acidity; light, silky mouthfeel. Chocolate rounds the lemony blackberry in the cup. Flavor and sweetness both carry deep into a rich finish.
Price: HK $98.00/200 g.
Evaluated as espresso. Crisp with ripe citrus and dark cocoa notes that carry persuasively and pleasingly from aroma to short milk. The body is light to medium in weight, but smoothly lively in mouthfeel. The lemon-orange-chocolate notes persist deeply into the long finish. Delicate in two parts milk, with the chocolate tendency predictably sweetening.
Price: NT $950/16 ounces
In structure sugary sweet yet dry in the mouthfeel. Aromatics are shifting and complex: cedar, raspberry, pineapple, spicy rose, unsweetened cocoa. Brisk, gentle acidity; silky to lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Sweetness prevails in a fruit- and spice-toned finish.
Price: HK $88.00/200 g.
Tart but deeply sweet: honey, fir, lightly roasted almond, sour cherry, hints of freshly turned earth. Richly tart acidity; smoothly syrupy mouthfeel. Round, deep finish resonates with the lemony cherry note in particular.
Price: NT $1200/16 ounces
Evaluated as espresso. Richly and sweetly tart in aroma and small cup: fresh-cut cedar, dark chocolate, zesty orange, hints of flowers and pipe tobacco. Full yet buoyant, lively mouthfeel. Flavor carries into a long, deep finish. Tart fruit, softened by a backgrounded chocolaty sweetness, continues to dominate in two parts milk.
Sweetly tart, pungently dry berry dominates, softened by a backgrounded dark chocolate and perhaps a hint of savory clove. Rich acidity; very smooth, silky mouthfeel. The dry-sweet berry notes carry into a balanced finish.
Nectar-like sweetness with distinct floral and apricot notes; hints of cocoa and pungent fir. Delicate, lucid acidity; light but very silky mouthfeel. Simplifies just a bit in a sweet but drying finish.