LATEST REVIEWS

High-toned, complex aroma: lemon, flowers, sweet herbs, perhaps a cedar-toned, semi-sweet chocolate. Smoothes and quiets in the cup, with the semi-sweet chocolate, lemon and herb notes dominating. Slight but pleasing astringency in the finish.

A crisp, malty fruit runs through the profile, suggesting a low key bouquet of possibilities: peach, cedar, chocolate, black currant, cherry. The finish is particularly impressive, rich, sweet, long, and nuanced with persistent berry and cherry tones.

Extraordinary aroma: high-toned, delicate but intense, lilac and a chocolaty lemon. The chocolate-lemon and floral notes carry into the cup, but are backgrounded by a sweet but intense acidity. Clean, sweet finish.

Slight cedary roastiness in the aroma, with a peach- or banana-toned dark chocolate that carries into the cup with a rich, pungent sweetness. The low-toned fruit lingers pleasingly in the long finish.

A quiet but deeply rich coffee. Fresh-cut cedar and semi-sweet chocolate carry from the husky aroma through pungently sweet cup to an impressively long, resonant finish.

A quiet, very sweet, delicately chocolate-toned coffee. Caramel and chocolate tones dominate in aroma and cup, gently complicated by floral top notes. Slightly astringent in the long finish.

Gently bittersweet aroma with chocolate, cherry and cedar notes. Roundly rich in the cup, with distinct dry cocoa and surprising floral notes. Sweet and rich in the short finish, with a slight astringent bite in the long. Gains in power and quiet complexity as it cools.

Smoky, cedar- and cherry-toned fruit in the aroma. In the cup round, rich, bittersweet, with a tart, cherryish chocolate - think pie cherries rolled in unsweetened chocolate - and a sweet, floral-toned acidity. The finish strikes me as slightly too astringent.

Intense aroma: cedar, caramel, and a hint of fruit that reads as semi-sweet chocolate. Round and full in the cup, with the pungent, cedar-toned chocolate complicated by a shimmer of orange citrus. The pleasingly pungent cedar tones turn a bit heavy and astringent in the finish.

Lushly complex but delicate aroma, alive with floral and low-acid fruit notes: apple perhaps, even banana, leaning toward chocolate. In the cup displays a simplifying sharpness when hot, but softens and sweetens as the cup cools. The seductively low-acid fruit notes persist from aroma into cup, reading as red wine and chocolate. The finish is long and rich with a slight astringent edge.

A refined, quietly understated espresso. Delicately complex aroma with vanilla and milk chocolate innuendos. Medium body, smooth mouthfeel in the small cup, balanced in flavor with a slight cedary sharpness and semi-sweet chocolate notes. Maintains its dry chocolate, muted fruit elegance nicely in milk. Co-taster Ted Lingle's rating: 91; Ken's: 89. Nominating reader Teri Bolla remarks accurately on this blend's balance, "total finesse" and "fruit/cocoa floral" character.

Both Ken and co-taster Ted Lingle remarked on the "lush but elegant" (Ken) aroma and fat, buttery body of this single-origin espresso. In the small cup, dry berry notes and semi-sweet chocolate. Blooms sweetly and richly in milk. Ken found the flavor in cup and milk a bit too simple, limiting his score to a 90, but for Ted the profile throughout was complete, classic, and worth a resounding 95. Nominating reader Teri Bolla clearly agrees with Ted: "incredibly balanced, round, extremely smooth, shows total finesse, abundant chocolate...thick and rich on the palate."

An impressively sweet, smooth, deeply dimensioned, softly complex espresso. Co-cupper Ted Lingle (92) used the term "resonant" twice to describe flavor and finish in the small cup. Ken (90) was most impressed by the details: a fresh-cut cedar character that was pungent but sweet and round, and wine-toned fruit notes. Bloomed in milk with discreet balance and a rich chocolate. Reader Chris Horn nominated another of Supreme Bean's espresso blends, but we ended up reviewing this one instead (don't ask).

A crisply classic espresso. Fresh leather and spice notes in the aroma. In the small cup the mouthfeel is a bit lean but the flavor complex: dry berry, wine, semi-sweet chocolate, cedar. The wine and berry notes persist in the long, clean finish. In milk perhaps a bit lean in mouthfeel, but the cedar and berry notes bloom sweetly. Ken's rating: 90. Co-taster Ted Lingle's: 93. Turns out this espresso was nominated by the roaster, Peggy Sue herself, but roasters are readers too.

Exceptionally complex espresso that maintains aromatic intrigue from aroma through a rather majestic finish in milk. Elegant aroma with deep-toned fruit and herb notes. In the small cup smooth in mouthfeel and medium-full in body, slightly sharp and acidy in structure but with a continued fruity complexity that reads persuasively as chocolate. Both co-cupper Ted Lingle (92) and Ken (90) were particularly impressed by this blend's performance in milk: lavishly fruity and chocolaty with a rich, clean finish. Blue Bottle's espressos were nominated by reader Christopher Losa.

A smoky, cedary espresso with a deep-toned fruit that in the small cup suggests semi-sweet chocolate or perhaps a rich port wine. Ken (90) and co-taster Ted Lingle (93) differed a bit on this blend's impact in milk: Ted found this blend mastered milk with an impressive sweetness and richness; for Ken the chocolate carried nicely into milk but the mouthfeel was a bit lean. Nominating reader Christopher Losa testified to his admiration for this blend in almost lurid terms: "rich, thick, and chocolaty...the way it syrups out of the portafilter is absolutely sexy...comparative to a California Zin or a Petit Syrah fruit bomb wine.'

A full-bodied espresso with exotic aromatics. Floral and fruit tones throughout the profile, with pungent notes that read as herbal for co-taster Ted Lingle (90) and licorice-like and smoky for Ken (89). For Ken the full body and heavy mouthfeel seemed partly to stifle flavor in the small cup, but for both Ken and Ted this blend came into its own in milk, where it rounded and sweetened richly without losing power or nuance. Nominated by Kemp LaMunyon of Las Vegas.

Ken (90) liked this espresso with its earthy-musty influenced aromatics considerably more than co-taster Ted Lingle (87). In the aroma, vanilla, floral, earth, leather and fruit notes. In the small cup medium body, leanish but smooth mouthfeel, with a rather sharp, musty/fruity flavor that persisted in the mildly astringent but resonant finish. Probably at its best in milk, which rounded and softened the coffee, turning the musty fruit toward a pleasingly complex chocolate. Reader Adam Harvey testifies that "Simply put, [this] is the best espresso I have ever tasted. And I have tasted plenty."

Delicate floral and vanilla-toned aroma, clean and precious. In the small cup medium-bodied, with a sweet, softly fruity character that suggests banana, perhaps, or papaya. Long, sweetly resonant finish with a slight astringent bite. Co-taster Ted Lingle (88) felt this soft, delicate blend faded a bit in milk; Ken (88) found it limited perhaps in nuance but sweet and substantial in presence. Nominating reader Martin Freeman exclaims that this "best espresso blend ever ... rich, creamy ... deep, fragrant ..." is "WORLD CLASS."

An attractive if underpowered espresso. Muted notes of flowers, fruit and chocolate in the aroma. In the small cup medium-bodied, supple in mouthfeel, but limited in flavor: some floral hints persist but the main impression is a thinnish pungency that Ken (87) called smoky and co-taster Ted Lingle (86) spicy. Nevertheless, rounds and richens in the finish, and reveals a round, semi-sweet chocolate character in milk. Nominating reader Andrey Akselrod says simply "It is one of my favorite espressos."