The Budget Aficionado: Top Value Single-Origin Coffees

A simple but poised and elegant coffee. Crisp nut notes with a lean toward chocolate dominate the aroma. In the cup round, sweet acidity, medium body with a lightly syrupy mouthfeel, and continued nut notes with a ripe cherryish fruit and perhaps a drying hint of lemon. Simple, rich, long finish.

Lush tropical fruit mixes with citrus and flowers in the aroma. Bright acidity; smooth and silky mouthfeel. The fruit and floral aromatic characteristics continue elegantly into the cup, ending cleanly with a slight hint of chocolate in the long finish.

A classic morning cup. Delicate but lush, crisp yet voluptuous, with cherryish fruit and hints of chocolate and tart orange carrying from aroma through finish. Balanced and well-integrated acidity, medium weight but silky mouthfeel, clean, lingering finish with a slight walnut-like astringency in the long.

The aroma is delicately balanced between orangey tartness and toasty sweetness. Surprisingly full-bodied, with soft acidity. Subtly complex in the cup with flavors ranging from citrus, berries and flowers to hints of nut and chocolate. Cocoa notes linger in the long finish.

Sweetly and intensely earthy, with distinct nut notes, fresh-cut fir, and a balancing molasses and cherryish fruit. Medium to full body, quietly lively acidity, and a finish that fades with rich dignity toward a mild nutlike astringency.

Quiet, balanced aroma with faint hints of cocoa, lemon, flowers, nut, cedar. This muted complexity resolves into a quite distinct and pleasing cocoa in the cup, supported by a soft acidity and a delicate, silky mouthfeel. Clean, straightforward cocoa-saturated finish.

Simple nutty aroma with a sweetness hinting at caramel. Soft, round acidity, with a full, smooth mouthfeel. Soft nut, cedar, and sweet tobacco notes in the flavor and a long, dry nuttiness in the finish.

Straightforward crisp, citrusy and floral aroma, with a touch of winy brightness. The flavor is round and sweet with soft fruit notes and hints of chocolate. A lightly nutty quality persists into the sweet finish.

A sweetly tart aroma with hints of toast, fruit and nut. Simple, balanced acidity, medium body and a rather lean mouthfeel. Nutty flavor with notes of dark chocolate, fruit and a hint of wood. The nuttiness carries into the finish, flattening to a mild astringency.

Deep-toned, simple aroma with fir and molasses notes. In the cup low-toned acidity, syrupy mouthfeel, continued fir and molasses notes, caramel, and perhaps a slight fruity tartness suggesting dry berry or tamarind. Sweet, simple, rich finish.

A simple roasty earthiness in the aroma, with hints of baking spices and wood. Soft acidity, with a full, yet slightly lean body. Nuttiness emerges in the cup with more earthy tones and a hint of cocoa. A roasty finish, with a hint of bitter-nut astringency.

Deep, rather richly roasty aroma: charred cedar, dark chocolate, hints of flowers and raisins. In the cup thin-bodied and shallow, almost watery, with continued charred cedar notes hinting at dark chocolate together with a little additional tickle of flowers and perhaps menthol. The finish is sweet and rich in the short, mildly astringent in the long.