LATEST REVIEWS

Impressive because, unlike many of the coffees in the cupping, it displays some acidy brightness. May not generate enough sweetness to round the acidity, however, leaving the cup just a touch on the sour side. Not much nuance but solid body.

Balanced, refined, exquisitely complete, though a bit underpowered. Mild pungent tones are softened and rounded by sweetness. Clean yet resonant straight through to aftertaste.

Pleasant though restrained aroma; outstanding cup. The acidity is floral, levitating, fresh, with the floral notes sweetening and carrying into the heart of the coffee. Pleasant nuance in the upper registers and a solid bottom with suggestions of richness. Medium body.

Whether deriving from the unorthodox roasting style or the coffee itself, a spicy pungency weaves its way through this rather soft, medium-bodied profile. At moments this flavor complex suggests chocolate, at others the earthy tones associated with some Indonesian coffees, at others a dark fruitiness-just-short-of-ferment. In the context of the overall sweet, intriguing, broad range of this coffee I tolerated this taste, even liked it, though purists may find it distracting.

Liveliest and most resonant of the dark-roast samples in the cupping: Less overbearingly pungent, sweeter, with a touch of vanilla in cup as well as aroma. The entire profile deepens, smooths, and balances in the finish.

Virtually all sweetness has been driven out of the coffee by the roast: distinct burned tones in the aroma give way to a hard, smoky pungency in the cup and a rather astringent aftertaste. Milk rounds out and sweetens the pungency, though even here the sharp, hard tones prevail.

Levitating with sweetness, clean, complete, balanced, powerful yet elegant, this blend displays tremendous development and dimension. By development I mean the profile transforms in subtle modulations from aroma through aftertaste -- in this case from chocolate and toast notes in aroma and cup to sweet spice tones in finish. Dimension means sensations resonate and expand in nose and on palate rather than standing pat at first impression. In milk this blend remains pleasantly nutty-sweet and complete, but surrenders the complexity and intensity it displayed in the demitasse.

Only a touch of sweetness survives to balance the sharp tones of a very dark roast, but the sharpness is complicated (perhaps rounded) by chocolaty, pruny tones. The aroma is crisp, alive, even elegant, but the profile tends to simplify in the cup and trail off into dimensionless astringency in the aftertaste. At best medium body. Turns sweet and smooth in milk but remains underpowered.

For me this rather dark-roasted blend's smoky pungency displayed pleasantly fruity tones in the demitasse, and remained (if precariously) on the soft side of bitter. I particularly liked this blend in milk: The pungency carried nicely through the dairy, broadening and softening without losing itself. My tasting partner didn't agree, and found the dark-roast profile a touch carbony in the demitasse and thin in milk.

A clean, simple pop across the palate. No carbon, not sharp, but not much sweetness or nuance either. Nut tones surface in the finish. My tasting partner was more specific: peanuts. Delivers a straightforward, clean cup in milk, neither particularly sweet nor pungent. A generous assessment would call this profile balanced and forceful; a critical one might accuse it of simplicity and overstatement.

The dry, dark-roast pungency avoids burned or excessively bitter tones. The pleasantly smoky bite displays a touch of sweetness in the finish and the aftertaste is comfortably free of astringency. In milk rich and balanced.

The elegant, sweetly complex nose of this coffee translates disappointingly to the cup, where sharp, rough tones distract from the lingering traces of spice and fruit. The aftertaste is long but rather astringent. Handles milk with authority but without much resonance or complexity. The robustas in the blend contribute a very dense, fine-textured crema in the straight shot.

For an espresso this coffee is relatively light-roasted, allowing cup characteristics of the green coffee to emerge in the demitasse. The vanilla-nut tones characteristic of many Brazil dry-processed coffees weave pleasantly through the profile, appearing with particular clarity in aroma and aftertaste. Unfortunately, the herby, earthy sharpness of some dry-processed Brazils also surfaces, especially in the aftertaste. All earthy peccadilloes disappear in milk, however. The sharp, earthy tones mute, the nut tones bloom, and the entire profile relaxes and turns sweet yet forceful.

This smooth, understated blend displays an impressive variety of nuance throughout its development, from elusive vanilla-nut tones in the mild aroma through smoky and spicy notes in the cup to a touch of fruit or chocolate in aftertaste. In milk the profile is clean, sweet and balanced.

In the demitasse this blend is complexly crisp and pungent; richly dry chocolate notes are supported by an understated sweetness. Perhaps the heavy, smoothly balanced body accounts for the splendid impact this coffee makes in milk. The dairy relaxes the crisp chocolate notes and the coffee richly suffuses the milk rather than penetrating it.

Several panelists described distinct wine tones, which seemed to be the main nuance that separated this Kona from the others clustered in the middle of the cupping. Otherwise, the familiar Kona profile emerges: bright yet gentle acidity, medium body, balanced flavor, clean aftertaste. Although one panelist felt the coffee generally left a "thin" impression, no taints or weaknesses were cited. In fact, the words "clean" and "fresh" each came up four times in respect to aftertaste.

The Kona song is the same, but this coffee sang it a little stronger and cleaner. No taints or weaknesses whatsoever were cited for this sample. Characterizations of overall flavor, which with the somewhat lower-rated Konas tended to be evenly divided between naysaying "bland" and yeasaying "balanced," here clearly settled on balanced. Occasional little pleasured exclamations turned up on the cupping forms: "very enjoyable"; "the nutty characteristics remained in the cup from beginning to end."

The clear winner in this cupping, as it was in the 1997 Kona Coffee Cultural Festival Cupping Competition. The reason: it clearly transcends the pleasantly mellow limits of the classic Kona profile. It displayed power, complexity, and an uncompromising, authoritative acidity, laid right on top of the usual soft, brightly sweet virtues of a typical Kona. Even the Kona-bashers on the panel liked this coffee. (Well, all but one.) Nobody raved, but there were lots of approving noises: "excellent," "very interesting, very clean on the palate," "nice depth." However, this excellent coffee might be too authoritative for those who like to slip into the softness of a more typical Kona. Lovers of Kona's sweeter, gentler side may prefer one of the less acidy profiles like the Guyer, Hamasaki, or Bayview Farms mill selections. The rather powerful acidity of this coffee casts doubt on the specialty coffee truism that only high growing altitudes (usually defined as over 4,000 feet) can produce solidly acidy coffees. The average elevation of the Fitzgerald Estate is around 1,600 feet. Apparently microclimate can mimic the conditions that, at higher altitudes, produce acidy profiles.

This medium-bodied, fruit-toned coffee attracted strong support from several panelists, who apparently admired its solid acidity, balanced, low-key intensity and fruity nuances. Two panelists detected a faint hardness or bagginess in the aftertaste, although both assigned the coffee respectable scores anyhow.

Majority opinion: Nutty or lightly herbal in the nose, with an acidity both bright and sweet, medium body, flavor nuanced with tones variously described as chocolaty, spicy, or nutty, and a fresh aftertaste. In other words, a classic Kona with dry rather than fruity nuance. One dissenting panelist described the flavor as tinny, and several others ho-hummed their way through the cup without comment. I was impressed by this coffee, particularly by its sweet nuance and what I call dimension -- the way it opened up in repeated little waves of sensation rather than making its statement and standing pat.