LATEST REVIEWS

Evaluated as espresso. As a drip coffee fell quite short of 80. As espresso revealed some virtues. In the aroma sweet-toned with distinct chocolate and butter notes. In the small cup medium bodied, round-toned and sweet, with earth, aromatic wood and herbal notes (I read fennel) and hints of nut and chocolate. The finish was simple in the short and mildly astringent in the long. Surprisingly disappointing in milk: leanish in mouthfeel with banana and chocolate in front but a slight though disturbing note toward the finish that for me suggested salted meat.

Evaluated as espresso. In the aroma rather bright, high-toned, fruity: cherry, cherry-toned milk chocolate. In the small cup medium-bodied with a lightly syrupy mouthfeel and a continued tart sweetness that reads as a citrus-toned cherry. Clean, rich, simple finish. In milk softens to a delicate milk chocolate with a continued slightly tart edge.

Evaluated as espresso. Crisply sweet though rather simple aroma with some complicating hints: fruity chocolate, fresh leather. In the small cup fullish body, smooth mouthfeel, roundly rich but rather neutral in nuance: cedar, semi-sweet chocolate, nut. Recovers in a sweet, clean, distinctly chocolate-toned finish and blooms opulently in milk: round, deep, chocolaty, long-finishing.

Evaluated as espresso. Muted, nicely modulated fruit ferment notes read as a brandied chocolate in the aroma. In the small cup sweet and deep with fullish body, slightly rough mouthfeel and cedar, flowers and continuing brandied cherry and chocolate. Long, flavor-saturated finish. Sweetens nicely in milk with good chocolate character, though fades and thins a bit toward the finish.

Sweet-toned, delicate aroma: distinct flowers (lilac?) orange, hints of honey and muted cedar. In the cup soft, sweet acidity, flowering grass, cocoa, orange. A slight grassy astringency in the finish suggests that at the time we cupped this coffee it was a bit too young. It may improve in the months following this review.

Crisp, intense, yet sweetly lyric coffee. In both aroma and cup black currant, blackberry, orange, cherry; in the cup hints of cocoaish chocolate and merlot-like red wine as well. Long, sweet finish just on the rich side of astringent.

Sweet-toned, deep aroma with cedar, flowering grass, earth notes. Full-bodied in the cup, where the earth notes intensify (think moist, freshly fallen leaves) with nuance that suggests butterscotch and perhaps walnut. Rich, simple finish.

Deep, complex aroma: smoke, grapefruit, berry, hints of butterscotch and dark chocolate. In the cup delightful in front: crisply sweet, delicately roasty with grapefruit, dry berry and cocoaish chocolate notes. Remains quite sweet and rich in the short finish; grows slightly heavy in the long.

Sweet-toned, deep aroma: cedar, walnut, hints of orange, chocolate and flowers. In the cup sweet, roasty but delicate, with continued walnut, orange, and a cocoaish chocolate. The mouthfeel is silky but a roasty astringency begins to dominate as the cup cools. The finish is rich, sweet and chocolate-toned; it grows slightly heavy as it fades but a sweet chocolate has the last word.

Crisply roasty in the aroma: gently scorched cedar, cardamom, with a softening hint of semi-sweet chocolate. In the cup lean but silky mouthfeel and a simple but properly robust impression of scorched cedar, spicy nut and a suggestion of dark chocolate. Finishes on the impressively rich side of astringent with good flavor persistence.

Deep, sweet-toned, roasty aroma: smoke, butter, flowers, cedar. Simplifies in the cup, where the roast dominates, though with some delicacy: continued smoke, cedar, butter, flowering grass notes. The aromatic notes soften and consolidate toward chocolate in the rich, sweet finish.

Sweet-toned, quietly intense aroma: jasmine, sweet citrus, cocoa. In the cup the mouthfeel is silky, almost syrupy, the acidity intense but delicate with shimmers of white wine. Orange, lemon, cocoaish chocolate, floral notes. Long, deep, flavor-saturated finish.

A very light-roasted, naturally sweet coffee that stays just on the rich side of raw. Low-toned but intense aroma: nut notes (raw cashew?) with hints of flowers and butter. In the cup soft acidity with a shimmer of wine, substantial body, continued sweet raw nut notes with hints of butter, chocolate and flowers. Rich, long, slightly heavy finish.

The surprise here is how well this blend performs in longer milk drinks. As a straight espresso it is agreeable enough, dominated in the aromatics by low-toned, musty notes that read as a raisiny semi-sweet chocolate or perhaps a spicy, cantaloupe-like fruit. The body is medium to full, the finish simple and rich with a slight astringent edge. The blend exerted a powerful though heavy dark-chocolate presence in short milk, but with more latte-like quantities of milk it bloomed with great sweetness and vivacity.

Intense, exuberantly complex aroma: orange, grapefruit, honey, cedar, black currant. In the cup the acidity is intense and sweet, the mouthfeel syrupy, the flavor continuingly complex, dry yet lush: black currant, grapefruit, wine, a hint of milk chocolate. The finish is superb: saturated with grapefruit and chocolate, sweet, rich, long.

Co-cupper Miguel Meza (92) finds bergamot and flowers in the aroma, Ken (94) finds flowers as well as cherries, red wine, and hints of chocolate and butter. In a cup that is "sweet" for Miguel, "rich and opulent" for Ken, both read cherries and blueberry and a positive fruit ferment note which Miguel nicely describes as 'Grand Marnier" and Ken more prosaically as red wine. In either case a slight, pleasing (more so to Ken?) hint of ferment complicates a round, deep, lavishly fruity cup.

Co-cupper Miguel Meza (94): "Intensely fragrant: strawberry, kiwi, cherry, amaretto. The cup is powerful, well-structured and dynamic, [progressively revealing] a whole universe of fruit flavor. Only a lingering sharp astringency, perhaps a side effect of he same process that developed the incredible range of flavors ..., limits this coffee from near perfection." Ken (92) found the lavish aroma and rich acidity particularly impressive, but like Miguel he found a slight nagging astringency in the finish, a shadow to this coffee's monumental yet seductive aromatics.

Miguel Meza (93): "An intense but slightly flawed cup. The coffee is so luscious and passionate[, however,] that such misgivings are easily forgotten. A dizzying array of ripe and dried berry flavors mingles with banana, lime and chocolate." Ken (93) agrees, finding a rich mix of "brandyish cherry, crisp cocoa/chocolate and ripe orange" notes. He is more specific about the flaw, which for him is a slight salty astringency that "softens as the cup cools, allowing the ripe fruit notes to fully bloom."

Miguel Meza (94) found only purity and ripeness in this opulent coffee; Ken (92) was impressed as well but felt just slightly let down by a limiting simplicity once past the aroma. Miguel Meza: "Vibrant, pure and ripe ... Creamy mouthfeel with vanilla-like floral notes. Full and balanced with a juicy acidity that hints of peach, orange and berries in the long, clean finish." Ken (92) admired the ripe, lush aroma every bit as much as Miguel for its "true dark chocolate, mint, floral and berry" notes, but observed that once past the aroma the cup simplified despite remaining "rich and berry-toned." Miguel and Ken diverged most strongly over the finish, where Ken detected a shadow astringency amid the memories of aromatic complexity where Miguel found only clean flavor.

Intense, complex aroma. Quite tropical for co-cupper Miguel Meza (92) who cites guava, pineapple, and orange; Ken's (92) associations are more temperate: blueberry, cherry, orange, honey. In the cup both Ken and Miguel find cherry and chocolate, and most likely Miguel's "mango and caramel" and Ken's "candyish butterscotch" both are efforts to find descriptors for the same sensation, a pleasingly pungent sweetness. Miguel passes on the finish; Ken finds the usual flaw haunting this style of coffee: a slight salty astringency hiding amid the lovely fading trajectory of fruit.