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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.
The exhilaratingly bright, complexly winy acidity turns slightly hard and herbal as it settles on the palate, limiting the vivacity of the first impression. As the coffee cools the profile relaxes, allowing some rich sweetness to emerge behind the acidity.
Rich, round, complete. The aroma in particular displayed an impressive range, from sweet nut tones through a dark pungency. This pleasing bittersweet balance prevailed through to finish. A good example of a coffee brought to a darkish roast style tactfully enough to avoid carbon while maintaining sweetness. Little discernible acidity, but enough to keep the profile from going flat.
Solid from top to bottom. The power in the lower ranges is particularly impressive for a coffee brought to a medium roast. Don't look for tickle, inspiration or sweetness, however. The grace notes, if any, tend toward herb or tobacco.
An exceptionally luxuriant cup, from the deep, vibrant bottom to the lush but muted acidity. I particularly admire this coffee's dimension, the way it continues to develop in waves of gentle revelation from aroma through finish. The problem: as the coffee cools the fruit tones turn slightly overripe and gamey. The positive fruit and complexity come from the same place as the suspect gaminess, of course: One of the blend components is probably a small-grower, hand-processed coffee, probably either an Indonesia Sulawesi or Ethiopia.
The high point was the dazzling aroma, full of heady vanilla tones shimmering over a rich pungency. Subsequently, things went downhill. A hardness emerged in the aftertaste, and as the coffee cooled the entire profile stiffened and lost its sweetness. Perhaps the coffee was not sturdy enough to sustain its aromatics in the moderately dark roast style.
"Distinct fruity, pruny carbon tones; not much else," I wrote the first time I cupped this coffee. I used almost the same words the second time around. Simply not enough going on here. The carbon is not the thin, burned-out sensation of overdone French roasts, by the way. More the taste of very dark toast with a memory of marmalade.
A substantial coffee without much in the way of surprise or intrigue. Odd smoky or pruny tones surfaced in the aroma and finish. Displayed enough acidity to avoid flatness but not enough to excite. The absence of sweetness and nuance in the upper ranges more than anything else relegated this coffee to the agreeably ordinary.
I found this coffee's profile interesting but rather odd. It displayed a heavy, dull-yet-rich quality, reminiscent of some Indonesian and East-Indian coffees, plus a distinct earth taste. Literally earth; this coffee is neither dirty in the general sense nor earthy in the romantic sense; rather, the cup simply tastes a bit like dirt. There are other intrigues as well: delicate vanilla-toned high notes shimmer atop the aroma and dark prune-tobacco tones emerge in the finish. Despite all of the olfactory action I still wouldn't call this coffee complex, since everything seems controlled by a rather stolid inertia at the center of the profile.
A sweet nuttiness dominates here, startling in its clarity. This taste complex, typically a bit player in coffees, takes extravagant control of this one, upstaging everything else. True, a hint of wine made itself heard above the sweetness of the acidity. Perhaps some slightly hard, metallic or tobacco tones flitted across the stage just as the lights went down.
The aroma was curiously flat, the body ordinary, but the acidity splendid: powerful without shrillness, complex, alive with muted wine tones. Smoky hints in the cup turned slightly hard and tobacco-like in the finish, but softened again in the rich aftertaste. .
My rating for this coffee rose steadily as it cooled. At first the profile seemed pleasant yet inert, without lift or innuendo. But as I came back to it the coffee seemed to elevate, lighten and sweeten, and in the end the combination of substantial body and unassuming sweetness won me over.
A complete but rather simple profile; decent acidity balances the pungency of the moderately dark roast. Hints of vanilla intensify and the entire profile sweetens as the coffee cools.
Some attractive grace notes teased their way through the balanced, unassuming profile. I read them as herbal in my notes on aroma and chocolate when I got to the cup. Either way they're on the low-toned, pungent side of the taste ledger rather than the high and sweet.
High, wild, winy notes rip through this coffee, first thrilling us, then turning uncomfortably lush in the finish, finally leveling out in a relatively clean aftertaste. American coffee culture hasn't made up its mind about this overripe, edge-of-compost taste. Is it a strange and wonderful gift of nature to be treasured, like the carefully cultivated mold in certain cheeses? Or do we dismiss it as a symptom of poorly-handled coffee?
This coffee could be condemned for its lack of power or admired for its soft refinement and vanilla- and nut-toned sweetness. I bought in on the sweetness side. The vanilla-nut tones displayed remarkable persistence, complicating the aroma and lingering in the aftertaste with surprisingly clarity and richness.
This one keeps coming; vistas of completeness unfold in small, repeated waves of exhilarating revelation. The profile is built around a deep-toned version of the classic vanilla-nut-toned flavor complex. Sufficient acidity; not strikingly sweet but sweet enough.
A superbly balanced coffee, with a low-toned, slightly winy acidity, a touch of vanilla in the nose, and a solid, dark-roast bottom with little in the way of carbony distraction.
A tribute to dimension and balance. A complete, classic coffee; medium-bodied, with a discreetly wine-toned acidity and just a touch of darker-roasted pungency. Even displays a hint of carbon in the finish, which I could do without, but which some may take as a sign of completeness.
A distinct bouquet of floral and fruit notes enlivens and complicates the chocolate-vanilla Espresso sweetness while freshening and brightening the aftertaste. Altogether a rather remarkable Espresso: sweet, fragrant, and virtually without carbon or bitterness. Fades a bit in milk.
The clear winner in the tasting, perhaps because it showed pungent dark-roast character without losing sweetness or complexity to carbon. Distinct chocolate notes, good dimension, substantial body, smooth balance of bitter and sweet tones, although the bitterness does get the upper hand in the aftertaste. Fills out nicely in milk without losing authority or complexity.