LATEST REVIEWS
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 coffee that meets us with a smile, giving everything out front: gently brisk acidity, a touch of wine-toned fruit, floral sweetness. Thereafter it stands pat, light-bodied and balanced, perhaps a bit shallow in dimension.
A big-bodied darkish blend with hints of sweet fruit that doesn 't quite get off the ground. The heart of the coffee remains sweet and full but rather inert. Perhaps best in the long aftertaste, when the sweet tones are freed of the gritty encumbrances of body and texture.
A dry but lively dark roast with a nutty, spicy twist at its pungently roasty heart. Rather light, roast-attenuated body, but the finish is buoyant, almost effervescent, with a subliminal hint of chocolate.
A pure, classic dark-roast gesture. Unusually full body for a roast this dark: smooth, balanced, round in the cup, with a sweetness at the core of the dark-roast pungency that opens like a glimpse of a meadow through a curtain of pines.
Pleasant and interesting, although to my taste the coffee component is not quite sweet or heavy-bodied enough to completely support the spice. A sharp tickle of pepper and clove with a hint of cinnamon sweetness complicates a straightforward, low-key cup.
The earthy tones of the Indonesias dominate, sweet in the nose but dry and cocoa-like on the palate. A hint of winy fruit tries to raise its head above the dry earth and cocoa but subsides into the taciturn briskness of the cup.
Understated, barely felt dry tones animate a roundly balanced cup embellished by teasing hints of deep-toned fruit and a shimmer of flowers. In the rich, long finish the fruit modulates toward chocolate. As the coffee cools a slight flatness mars the profile, perhaps a drying fault. I evaluated this coffee mainly on the basis of its full, lovely balance when hot.
This intriguing, low-toned coffee is neither balanced nor coherent, but definitely engaging. The rather hard first impression instantly softens and sweetens, revealing odd, richly herbal notes. The herbal notes persist in the aftertaste, haloed by sweetness.
Dry acidy tones combine nicely with a restrained roasty pungency. Good, deep dimension, but little sweetness to support the deeply tart fruit notes.
The aroma is magnificent: high, sweet and singing. The cup is gently bright, with a pear or apple sweetness and a touch of pungency in the mid tones. The slight green tones are so sweet they 're more meadowy than grassy.
Alive with the slightly wild fruit and dry-wine tones of the great dry-processed coffees of Yemen and Ethiopia. In the wonderfully long, sweet finish the fruit tones darken deliciously toward chocolate.
Full yet majestically buoyant. The aroma soars with sweet nut notes, the cup glistens with fruit and flowers, the entire impression is gentle but enormous. The finish is aggressively dry but saved from astringency by rich cocoa tones.
The famous Yirgacheffe flower tones are brighter and sturdier than usual here: less levitating, more grounded, fresh but rich, accessible, gently acidy. The cup darkens toward cedar and chocolate in the finish, the aftertaste is long and richly floral.
A pleasant roast-driven pungency balances a sturdy, assertive acidity. Dry and authoritative. Something seems to be flattening nuance, however. Either the five blend components are canceling one another out or the forceful roast has driven out some aromatics. In any event, more sweetness and lift would make a pleasantly hearty Oakhurst morning even rosier.
Classic vanilla-nut aroma and a solid, authoritatively dry cup, bright but not brassy. Not a lot of nuance, but outstanding range and balance.
Pungent Sumatra tones wrap around the Ethiopian flowers and Yemen fruit. The deep, aromatic wood tones modulate to a fruity, cherryish chocolate in the finish. The pungency turned slightly flat as the cup cools, slightly shadowing an intriguing and dramatic cup.
A light, bright breath of acidity shimmers inside an amazing bouquet of sweet jasmine and darker, woodier fragrances. The cup soars in a delicious, reeling dizziness of flowers, then immediately relaxes into spicy shadows. Somehow, all of the range and complexity remains precariously, elegantly in balance.
Smoky, resiny tones turn the Harrar fruit richly winy. In the finish everything softens and sweetens. The cabernet fruit tones deepen toward chocolate and the smoke tones turn toward fresh tobacco.
This coffee opens opulently, with a complex, enveloping aroma alive with nutty, spicy, bittersweet tones. In the cup the profile is smoky sweet, discreetly brightened by a touch of acidity. As the cup cools, however, the sweetness fades and the smokiness reveals hard, musty undertones. My rating faded too, from a high of 87 to a final landing at 81.
A dark roast that tip-toes past burned to achieve a smooth, integrated bittersweetness, enlivened by a hint of acidity and a touch of fruit.
