LATEST REVIEWS

Fine aroma: high-toned, elegant, combining suggestions of flowers, lemon, cedar and peach in a single suave, tight-knit aromatic gesture. In the cup delicately rich, light-bodied but not lean, gently acidy. The peach-floral-lemon gesture deepens and leans toward chocolate. Only the finish is disappointing: short and slightly but distractingly astringent.

Gently pungent cedar and pear-toned fruit in the aroma. In the cup sweetly and richly acidy with a continued pungent edge that hints at chocolate. The long, robust-on-the-edge-of-rough finish suggests that the attractive pungency of the profile may in part be powered by a slight, felicitous mustiness in one of the blend's green coffees.

A cup either pleasingly delicate or disappointingly simple depending on taste and expectation. Balanced, gentle aroma with a very fresh, foresty cedar and a suggestion of pear-toned fruit. In the cup the cedar and fruit tones finally settle into a sweet, raisin-toned chocolate. Reader Laura Cheng nominated another Central American coffee from Caffe Vita that was not available, so we took the liberty of ordering this one instead.

In the aroma cedar plus flowers and roast-influenced caramel and banana notes. A roast-muted acidity gently lifts the cup, where the cedar and caramel notes persist while the banana-toned fruit notes drift toward chocolate. Quiet short finish with a slight astringency in the long. Reader Ed Escobar says he has been "impressed by the consistent quality and freshness" of the coffees he has been buying from Old Bisbee Roasters.

The aroma is dominated by a very sweet scorched cedar and a spicy banana-toned fruit. Both carry nicely into the cup, which retains sweetness and a relatively rich mouthfeel despite the very dark roast. In the finish the sweet roastiness manages to outlast a slight astringency. One reader calls this the "best coffee I've ever had."

Very sweet-toned, quietly complex aroma: smoke, semi-sweet chocolate and tart berryish fruit notes. Little of the aromatic complexity survives in the lean-bodied cup, only wisps of nut and crisp, smoky chocolate that fade quickly in the finish, leaving behind faint sweetness and a muted astringency.

Deeply roasty aroma: cedar, cardamom, caramel, raisin, a hint of flowers. In the cup sweet, almost syrupy with continued caramel, raisin and floral complication. A sharp astringency shadows the cup, however, and grows in intensity as the coffee cools. The short finish is cedary and rich, but fades toward a nagging astringency in the long. Reader Sheri Flagler is a fan and regular customer of Beanstock Roasters.

The roast dominates the coffee, though gently. Toast, cedar and a hint of chocolate in the aroma. Sweetly pungent but simple in the cup, with slightly scorched cedar and Mediterranean herb notes and a continued hint of chocolate. The chocolate intensifies in the finish.

A gently sweet, ingratiating coffee. In the aroma caramel, cedar and orange notes with a hint of flowers. In the cup very sweet, with a dominating fruit-toned cocoa that carries into the long, clean finish.

Deep, pungently sweet aroma with cocoa, caramelly cedar, raisin, date and honey notes. In the cup rich, low-key, gently bittersweet with continued, very distinct cocoa and honey/date notes. Long finish with excellent flavor persistence. The cup flattens slightly as it cools.

Simple profile but deep, roasty and rich, quietly complicated by pungent cedar and suggestions of semisweet chocolate and yellow fruit, apricot perhaps. The mouthfeel is plump with a slight, not unpleasant roughness. The short finish is a touch astringent but quite rich; the chocolate tones linger nicely in the long.

Sweet-toned, intense aroma with walnut and chocolate notes and a hint of peach-like fruit. In the cup gentle, delicate, sweet, with a pleasantly vegetal cocoa character, a continued hint of fruit, and walnut tones that turn just a bit flat and woody as the cup cools. Delicate, pleasing but simple finish with continued walnut notes.

Intense aroma: brandy, chocolate, caramel. In the small cup medium in body but smooth in mouthfeel, crisply pungent yet caramelly sweet, with a tightly knit, understated complexity: brandy, caramel, cedar and flowers, hints of which persist in the roundly rich finish. Masters milk with a gentle, brandied chocolate authority.

Deep, very sweet-toned aroma, with chocolate, flowers, walnut, and a hint of carnal fruit - peach or papaya. In the small cup very full body, but not heavy - the mouthfeel is lively, almost effervescent. In flavor very sweet, very deep, with cedar and a gently spicy semi-sweet chocolate. Superb finish: long, caramelly, rich. Exerts a simple but powerful presence in milk: sweet milk chocolate with perhaps a shimmer of flowers.

Vivid, sweet-toned aroma: flowers, pear, apple, shimmering over a deeper-toned chocolaty base. In the small cup smooth, full mouthfeel, but rather simple in flavor: gentle, pungent cedar with a hint of chocolate. Great presence and fine balance in milk: fresh leather, milk chocolate, a hint of flowers.

Delicate but deep aroma: flowers, orange, peach, with a suggestion of chocolate. In the small cup smooth, substantial mouthfeel, sweetly crisp in flavor with hints of cedar, lemon, and dry-toned peach. Resonant, impeccably clean finish. Chocolate and fresh leather in milk, with continued complicating hints of peach and orange.

Delicately soft aroma: dusk-blooming flowers, lemon, a hint of milk chocolate and caramel. In the small cup medium to light in body but smooth in mouthfeel, with continued lemon and floral top notes working above gently pungent cedar and semi-sweet chocolate mid-tones. Sweet, long, roundly lemony finish. In milk just on the edge of thin-bodied, but the lemony chocolate flavor notes are distinctive and superb.

Superb fruity, caramelly aroma with distinct brandy and chocolate notes. In the small cup medium body, dominated by caramel and cedar notes with only a hint of cherryish brandy intrigue. The fruity brandy tones intensify in the finish, though with a very slight bitterish edge. They reach their apotheosis in milk, however, where they finally free themselves from their slight bitter shadow and bloom with lush, powerful expressiveness.

Crisp, lemon- and chocolate-toned aroma with a hint of flowers. In the small cup medium in body and slightly lean but effervescent in mouthfeel. Sweet, balanced and lively in flavor, with a cedar-toned dry chocolate. Masters milk with a deep, simple authority and a sneakily lush, minty chocolate.

Very deep, richly fruity aroma: banana, raisin perhaps, hints of chocolate and rose-like flowers. In the small cup the body is full and syrupy, the flavor simple, deep-toned, with cedar and tart fruit notes - tamarind perhaps - the finish rich and long. Masters milk with an understated balance and a soft persistence of banana, cedar and chocolate notes.