LATEST REVIEWS

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 6-ounce serving): Sweet-toned, soft, balanced, with a grapy, Riesling-like fruit and hints of dark chocolate and flowers. Muted aroma and short (if rich) finish. Best in the cup: bright, delicate acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel and gently complex flavor.

(As brewed in a Nespresso single-serve brewing device to produce a 4-ounce serving): Orangy fruit, floral and aromatic wood notes in the aroma deepen in the rich and sweet-toned cup. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel; tartly fruit-toned acidity. Flavor fades rather quickly in a sweet, softly dry finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 6-ounce serving): Sweet-toned aroma with hints of tart cherry, flowers and fir. The sweetly tart fruit animates a refreshingly crisp cup, lush yet delicate. Clean, simple finish.

(As brewed in a Bunn My Café single-serve brewing device to produce a 6-ounce serving): Rather lively, savory-sweet profile with ripe tomato and dark chocolate suggestions carrying from aroma through cup to finish. Smooth mouthfeel, lemony acidity. The aromatics are only fully expressed in the cup; the aroma is a bit muted in intensity and the finish pleasing but short.

(As brewed in a Nespresso single-serve brewing device to produce a 4-ounce serving): This blend was designed for brewing as espresso rather than a longer black coffee, accounting for the dullish acidity, but otherwise impressive in the 4-ounce format: round, deep, chocolate-and roasted-nut-toned in aroma and cup; fat body and smooth mouthfeel. Flavor fades in an otherwise sweet, rich finish.

(As brewed in a Tassimo single-serve brewing device to produce a 6-ounce serving): Intense aroma: raisin, nut, dark chocolate. In the cup rich, roast-muted acidity, full body, continued deep-toned dark chocolate and raisin-like fruit. Considerably bitter astringency mars an otherwise sweet, chocolate-toned finish.

(As brewed in a Senseo single-serve brewing device to produce a 4-ounce serving): Despite the limitations of its paper pod format, achieves some of the deep, pungent, chocolate-toned character that lovers of dark-roasted coffees enjoy. A woody flatness sits on the richness, but it rises to the occasion of a rather impressive finish.

(As brewed in a Nespresso single-serve brewing device to produce a 4-ounce serving): Soft, sweet-toned cup with a gentle, integrated acidity and a fermented fruit character that reads persuasively as a brandyish dark chocolate. A hint of flowers at the top. Flavor fades in an otherwise rich finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 6-ounce serving): Straightforward and smooth. Soft hints of roasty aromatic wood, caramel and a faint orangy, floral-toned fruit. Flavors linger gently in a very slightly astringent finish.

(As brewed in a Tassimo single-serve brewing device to produce a 4-ounce European-style black coffee): Pruny fruit and dark chocolate, with an undercurrent of slightly salty wood. Leanish mouthfeel; gently rich astringency in the dark-chocolaty finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 6-ounce serving): Pungent aromatic wood and prune-toned fruit with a hint of orangy citrus in aroma and cup. Roast-muted acidity; slightly rough mouthfeel; bittersweet finish.

(As brewed in a Bunn My Café single-serve brewing device to produce a 6-ounce serving): Lots of promise in aroma and the first few sips, but falls off as the cup begins to cool. Gently bright aroma; winey acidity; full, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The aromatics seem to vanish in cup and finish, however, leaving only a sweet-toned wood with an herby/salty edge.

(As brewed in a Senseo single-serve brewing device to produce a 4+-ounce serving): Some genuine Sumatra character lifts its head out of a woody astringency probably related to paper pod brewing generally and the water quality of our sample Senseo machine in particular. On the positive side, pruny sweetness and a hint of earthy, butterscotchy Sumatra pungency in aroma and cup.

(As brewed in a Tassimo single-serve brewing device to produce a 4.+-ounce serving): Hints of caramel and tart fruit in the aroma, but turns salty and empty in the cup before sweetening slightly in the finish. Listless acidity, lean mouthfeel.

(As brewed in a Senseo single-serve brewing device to produce a 4+-ounce serving): Good sweetness, but otherwise muted acidity, lean mouthfeel, woody flavor with a soapy/salty edge, empty finish. Probably produced from a mildly defective green coffee, with the mildly medicinal character of the coffee intensified by the tendency of pod brewing generally and our sample Senseo machine in particular to mute aromatics.

(As brewed in a Bunn My Cafe single-serve brewing device to produce a 6-ounce serving): Simple sweet-toned fruit notes never fully manifest under the weight of a hard, nagging medicinal note that becomes more prominent in the finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Soft, balanced aroma highlighting hints of caramel, aromatic wood and anise. More intensity in the cup with a distinct orange note complimenting the sweet anise-and-aromatic-wood tendencies. Two parts milk rounds and sweetens the intensity of the straight shot without muting its authority.

Round notes of cherry and tea rose in the aroma. Gentle fruit-toned acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel and delicate yet deep flavors that continue the spicy floral aromatic theme with complications of plum, cherry and sweet chocolate. Chocolate in particular is sustained in the sweet-toned finish.

Hints of caramel, stone fruit and baking spice in the aroma. A pungent but balanced cup, with a deep fresh-cut fir character complicated by spice-toned chocolate and stone fruit that grow more prominent as the cup cools. Rich dark chocolate persists in the finish.

Big, deep, syrupy. The aroma and flavor express the complexity of the pure coffee fruit: sweetly tart, lemon- and cherry-toned, with a crisp, backgrounded nut and fresh-cut fir, all of which soften in a long, resonant finish.