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.
(As brewed in a Keurig Platinum B70 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 6-ounce serving): Tart, lemony berry enveloped in a caramelly sweetness. The delicately layered aroma is further complicated by suggestions of cocoa and flowers. Quietly balanced acidity; lively, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Sweet, clean finishing with pleasant but subdued aromatics.
Gently brisk, complex. Zesty lemon and almond in the aroma; a hint of cocoa becomes explicit in the cup, deepening and rounding the zesty citrus. Rich, balanced acidity; silky mouthfeel. Flavor saturates a long, clean finish.
Price: NT$1400/16 ounces
Evaluated as espresso. Impressive range and complexity. Pungently sweet grapefruit, blackberry, rose-like flowers, fresh-cut fir in aroma and small cup. Full, buttery mouthfeel. Rich, flavor-saturated finish; a hint of astringency in the short smoothes out to cocoaish chocolate in the long. Delicate, berryish fruit and sweet milk chocolate dominate in two parts milk.
Price: NT$950/16 ounces
Evaluated as espresso. Sweet, pungent citrus – grapefruit, orange – and crisp cocoaish chocolate in aroma and small cup. A hint of roses. Full, buttery mouthfeel. The cocoa and sweet, ripe citrus carry into the finish and persist with graceful softness in two parts milk.
Evaluated as espresso. Deep and balanced aromatics that suggest tart green apple, sweet plum with jasmine-like flowers that follow into the small cup and comingle with cocoa powder, citrus zest, walnut and a spicy note that is reminiscent of cinnamon or ginger. Leanish mouthfeel with a slightly syrupy edge. Cocoa powder turns to a bakers chocolate and the spicy note transforms into cedar-like aromatic wood in a dry finish. Nicely balanced in two-thirds milk; bakers chocolate persists while the steamed milk adds a sweet nuttiness.
Price: $18.50/16 ounces
Balanced, quietly complex traditional Sumatra profile. Gently pungent, sweet-toned in aroma and cup: ripe lemon, dark chocolate, cedar, a hint of earthy fresh-fallen leaves. Round, functional acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Clean, rich finish.
Price: $17.35/16 ounces
Sweetly tart: ripe citrus, pungent cedar, sweet almond, hints of cocoa and a not unpleasant dry earth. Round, juicily tart acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. A hint of salt and savory complicate an otherwise sweetly rich finish.
Price: $17.35/16 ounces
Very sweet-toned coffee: roasted cashew, brown sugar, roses, a hint of pear-like fruit. Delicate, crisp acidity; very silky mouthfeel. Flavor tends to fade in a sweet, resonant, though simple finish.
Evaluated as espresso. Cherryish brandy, peach, dark chocolate in the impressive aroma. Round, syrupy mouthfeel with a dry edge that carries into a complex small cup: cherry, dark chocolate and tart, zesty citrus. Two parts milk develops the dark chocolate tendencies, turning the fruit toward a rich raisin.
Honey, fresh-cut fir and deeply layered, savory-sweet fruit: nectarine, table grape, black cherry, citrus zest. Rich, wine-like acidity; syrupy mouthfeel. The finish is long and flavor-saturated.
Gracefully intense aromatics with suggestions of lemon blossom, tart plum and apple round into a sweet-toned cup: honey, lemon, stone fruit. Tartly bright acidity; dry but lightly syrupy mouthfeel; long floral and lemony finish.
Price: $15.99/12 onces
Intense, sweetly bright, crisp yet lush. Layered fruit – berry, nectarine, green apple – are complicated by fresh-cut fir and almond in aroma and cup. Rich, roundly tart acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The powerful aromatics fade just slightly in a drying finish.
Tart, sweetly bright, complex. Lemon, jasmine-like flowers, cocoaish nut, fresh-cut fir in aroma and cup. Fine, wine-like acidity; light but smooth, silky mouthfeel. The flavor-saturated finish is drying in the short but sweet and juicy in the long.
Balanced, quietly rich: orangy citrus and pungent berry, rounded by a caramelly cocoa in aroma and cup. Gentle, complexly expressed acidity; smooth, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The finish fades rather quickly.
Robust, strong-gestured coffee. Nut, citrus, fresh-cut fir and a deep, apricot-like sweetness in aroma and cup. The acidity is rich and complex though slightly astringent; the mouthfeel full though a little rough-textured. Rich finish with a salty-savory edge.
Impressive aroma: caramelly chocolate, almond, lemon, grape, a hint of flowers. Tartly rich acidity; fullish though rather rough mouthfeel. Aromatics persist but simplify a bit in the cup and finish.
Pleasing aroma: sweet-toned and deep; orange, fresh-cut fir, a rounding hint of caramel. The acidity is quiet, perhaps muted; the body is light though the mouthfeel hints at silkiness. Aromatics simplify in the cup, dampened by a slight woodiness. Fades very quickly to a mild astringency in the finish.
A straightforward, rather plain coffee. Most complex in the sweet, gently pungent aroma: raisin, cedar, dark chocolate. Sweet-toned but subdued acidity; slightly lean mouthfeel. The attractive aromatics persist but simplify in the cup and finish.
Sweet-toned, balanced but rather monotoned. Pineapple, orange, cedary dark chocolate in aroma and cup, dampened throughout by a woody flatness. Muted acidity; slightly lean mouthfeel. Clean, round but simple finish.
Delicate, perhaps a bit subdued. Vaguely sweet-toned, slightly cardboardy aroma with hints of flowers, nut, and raisiny dark chocolate. Gentle, muted acidity; smooth, almost silky mouthfeel. Very simple in the cup; bare hints of lemon, cocoaish nut, flowers perhaps. Clean finishing; rich in the short but flavor fades quickly in the long.