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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.
Intense, roundly balanced aroma with mildly pungent roast character and orange, nut and cedary chocolate notes. In the cup low in acidity, medium in body and agreeable but rather simple aromatically: bittersweet, woody, with only a hint of cedary, perhaps earthy, chocolate. Not a long finish, but sweet and rich.
Low in acidity, with a sweet, mildly fermented fruit that struck me as a bit too cloyingly sweet (banana-ish fruit, cut flowers past their prime) in the aroma, but cleaner and more attractive in the cup (banana, slightly fresher flowers, syrupy mouthfeel) and especially in a rich, fruity, if mildly astringent finish.
Sweet-toned, softly pungent aroma with wood and molasses notes. In the cup syrupy body and very sweet in structure, with continuing distinct molasses notes and some woody underpinnings. In the finish fades almost immediately.
Decent but flawed ultra-dark-roast. Begins well: Roundly and gently charred in the aroma with hints of dark chocolate and butter. In the cup medium body and a simple but richly, buttery charred character with a continued slight suggestion of chocolate. A rather rich astringency in the short finish grows more insistent in the long. As the cup cools the hints of chocolate regrettably give way to hints of rubber.
Intense, sweetly pungent small cup with dark chocolate, cedar, banana-toned fruit and a hint of ferment that contributes a slight brandyish nuance. Syrupy body, mildly astringent though very sweet finish. Heavily dominates short milk but blooms and balances beautifully at four parts milk to one part coffee, rounding toward a rich, minty dark chocolate.
Aromatically a rather simple coffee, but an attractive one. Deep aroma dominated by a cherryish milk chocolate with hints of cedar and banana. Sweet-toned, roundly balanced cup with quiet acidity, fullish body and continued cherry-toned chocolate carrying into a plain but long finish.
Delicately but richly nuanced throughout the profile with cherryish fruit, flowers, honey, milk chocolate. In the cup the acidity is tart but luxuriously sweet and the mouthfeel lightly syrupy. Flavor saturated and flawless finish.
Impressively intense, sweetly pungent aroma: flowers, chocolate, hints of butter and fresh-cut cedar. Rich, round, smooth-bodied and syrupy in the cup, with pleasing but limited aromatics: dusk flowers and hints of chocolate and dry berry that fade in the rich but simple finish.
Sweet- and low-toned aroma with orangy fruit and cedar and nut notes. In the cup very well-structured with a rich slightly wine-toned acidity and silky mouthfeel but rather simple aromatically: a genial but limited orange- and cherry-toned fruit. A floral hint surfaced in the otherwise simple finish.
A deep, roundly low-toned coffee with pleasingly deep, round, low-toned aroma with distinct lemony (perhaps orangy) chocolate notes. In the cup smooth, balanced acidity, silky mouthfeel, and tart cherry and continued lemon-toned chocolate notes. A note that could be called banana appears toward the long, flavor-saturated, very slightly astringent finish.
Pure, finely articulated coffee with notes of coffee fruit (tart cherry), orange and a crisp, minty, distinct but uncandylike chocolate. The chocolate note carries into a finish that remains on the delicately rich side of astringent.
Sweetly rich in aroma and cup, with ripe orange, clayish earth, caramel, roasted nut and grapefruit notes. The body is medium but the mouthfeel silky. The finish is particularly impressive: rich, sweet and long, saturated to the end with distinct, pleasing grapefruit notes.
Low-toned, simple but resonantly deep coffee, with variants of smoke and chocolate notes running from aroma to cup. As the cup cools the smoky character subordinates itself to delicate chocolate and orangy floral notes. Very clean, sweet finish. The smoke notes, by the way, appear to be a variant on the musty/malty character of the unroasted monsooned beans, not a symptom of a darker roast.
A classic Sumatra balance of sweet fruit and rich earth notes animate aroma and cup. The fruit displays a distinct black-cherry and orange character, particularly in the aroma, though flavor fades rather quickly in the very mildly astringent finish.
Impressive and unique aroma: sweet-toned, delicate yet heavy with notes of night flowers, orange, honey, and moist fallen leaves. In the cup soft acidity, silky mouthfeel, and continued lush notes of honey, fresh fallen leaves and night flowers. The sweetness carries into the finish though the flavor fades quickly. A hint of a note that I associate with raw nuts surfaced now and then. I do not care for this note and neither do most coffee cuppers; otherwise I would assign a rating of well over 90 to this quite unique sensory profile.
The aroma is sweet and soft with surprising and agreeable floral and fresh orange notes that carry into a heavy, sweet, lushly floral-toned cup. An odd note in both aroma and cup that for me suggested raw, unroasted nuts dampened my enthusiasm for this otherwise distinctive and impressive coffee. This background note struck me as cloying and on the edge of unpleasant, but if you like it then you will no doubt like this coffee, because the dominating floral and orange notes are both unusual and attractive.
Sweet-toned, deep, complex aroma: spice notes (ginger, cardamom) and sweet clayish earth that suggests a sort of butterscotch. In the cup syrupy mouthfeel, very sweet, almost candyish. Some surprising floral hints surface, and the spicy earth notes turn toward a dark chocolate. The finish is sweet with a slight astringency. A hint of an off note resembling raw potato in some cups discouraged a higher rating for this complex, interesting coffee.
Distinct musty notes in the aroma read as aromatic wood, black pepper, orange, grapefruit. In the cup medium body but syrupy mouthfeel, with continued musty notes that are more explicit here than in the aroma, with aromatic wood, pepper and raw nut dominating. Simple, sweet, mildly astringent finish.
Intense, low-toned aroma with semi-sweet chocolate, crisp nut (walnut?) and hints of cedar and clay. In the cup fullish body, muted acidity, and a continued intense presence with complex chocolate, walnut and earth notes. A rather heavy astringency when the cup is hot softens as it cools.
Intense, deep aroma: distinct dark chocolate, spicy cedar and hints of orange and nut. In the cup low in acidity but rather astringent, with a rich, attractive cocoaish chocolate. Both chocolate and astringency carry into the finish, where the shadow nut tones turn (to my palate) slightly cloying.
