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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.
A big, centered, complete Central-America- style coffee. Brightly acidy in the upper ranges, richly sweet in the lower, with hints of flowers and cedar in the nose and distinct chocolate in the finish. Displayed its true character as it cooled -- rather than falling apart, it opened up, revealing still more nuance.
A classic Central-America coffee dominated by a richly powerful acidity, a fat body, and a round, sweet, chocolaty finish.
Medium bodied, high-toned but smooth, a quintessential American cup, from the vanilla-nut, sweetly acidy nose to the long swoon of the chocolaty finish.
Classic, clean, complete, elegantly powerful. The acidity sings rather than stings: It is bright yet full-toned and winy. The aftertaste is richly dry without sharpness.
Powerful yet smooth and sweetly balanced. The acidity is round and ripe. High-toned fruit -- pears perhaps -- deepen toward roasty dry prune and bittersweet chocolate in the finish.
Irrepressibly buoyant, superbly balanced. The acidity shimmers in the heart of a meadow of floral-toned sweetness. The aftertaste is clean, long, lavender. Exquisite, elegant, precious.
A classically sweet, chocolaty, fruity Yemen Mattari flawed by a slight touch of baggy staleness. Some on the panel were more than willing to overlook the staleness. "This [coffee] has character!" exclaimed one. "Hint of staleness, but then nice depth."
Floral notes float shimmering atop the rather sharp, bitter, burned tones of the roast. Not much sweetness, but the subtle perfume of the flowers compensates.
A sharp, monotoned flatness sits in the middle of the profile. Under and around it a delicious, delicately floral-toned sweetness peeks out. Pleasant dry fruit undertones.
A solid if unexceptional Latin-American cup: Clean, bright acidy notes are complicated by a roasty bitterness, but the cup misses the enveloping sweetness that would bring both into harmony.
Nicely balanced sweetness and chocolate-toned roast pungency, complicated by a touch of pruny fruit. A bit simple and monotoned, but pleasantly and deeply so, like good minimalist music.
A light-bodied but complexly nuanced coffee: brightly acidy, floral toned, with fruit tones that hint at chocolate in aroma and aftertaste. Not quite enough sweetness to offset the roast-induced bitterness, however.
A hint of ferment pleasantly hovers between chocolate and cherry-toned, overripe fruit. The darkish roast turns the sweet fruit dryly rich.
A ripe, almost overripe, sweetness carries giddily from aroma to finish, anchored by a discreet touch of roast pungency. The lush fruit tones flirt with ferment but stay on the sweet side. A wonderfully juicy, deeply dimensioned coffee.
Acidy but balanced, softly powerful, saturated by elegantly dry cocoa tones and a touch of deep-toned, winey fruit. The cocoa tones linger exquisitely in the aftertaste.
A classic Guatemala in the lighter, softer mode: floral, gently acidy, high-toned but deeply dimensioned. Flowers permeate even the slight bitterness of the roast. A coffee as pure, sweet-toned and brightly complex as a Guatemalan weaving.
The quintessentially smooth, deep, rich Pacific coffee. Not so much complex as dense with sensation. Refined, crisply seductive cocoa tones carry elegantly from aroma to aftertaste.
A rather sharp pungency dominates this dark-roast blend, looming over some rather cowed dry fruit tones. A spicy sweetness shimmers here and there, notably in aroma and aftertaste.
Dry but not acidy, dominated by a pleasantly smoky-toned cocoa sensation that sweetens toward chocolate in the finish. As usual, the Swiss Water Process simultaneously deepens and dampens taste: The body is full but the flavor understated.
An uneven coffee, heartbreakingly uneven, given that some of the cups are extraordinary: exhilarating floral tones are balanced by a dry pungency, all wrapped in a comforting, enveloping sweetness. Other cups, however, lack the floral sweetness and are merely pungent bordering on bitter.
