Intense, crisp, molassy sweet aroma: coffee cherry, aromatic wood, dusk flowers. In the cup soft but powerful acidity with a wine, or perhaps better, apple cider nuance. Delicate, silky mouthfeel, very sweet, continued coffee cherry, molasses, nut, aromatic wood, a hint of dusk flowers, all of which suggest at moments the most subtle milk chocolate imaginable. Smooth, clean, lightly flavor-saturated finish.
REVIEWS FOR:
Holiday Gift Coffees 2008: The Rare, the Exceptional, the Weird
By Kenneth Davids
December 2nd, 2008
A fresh, buoyant sweetness carries through the profile like a spring reverie. In the aroma: cherryish fruit, flowers, nut, a hint of honey. In the cup tartly rich acidity, syrupy mouthfeel. In the cup flowers and a perfectly ripe but pungently crisp fruit with a hint of lemon. Rich finish.
An intensely complex aroma: flowers, lemon, plum, pungent fresh-cut pine, toast. Fruit tones persist in the sweet acidity and delicately juicy mouthfeel. Balanced, rounded flavor: orangy sweetness to heady flowers to gentle chocolate notes. Finishes cleanly, with mild citrus notes that sweeten in the long.
Intense aroma, sweetly and richly pungent with aromatic wood, orangy citrus, leather. In the cup the acidity is powerful but rounded by sweetness. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel; continued orange, aromatic wood and leather notes. Clean, rich, tart finish.
Intense, bright aroma: tart coffee cherry, honey, a hint of fir, flowers. In the cup tartly sweet acidity, honeyish mouthfeel and flavor, with molasses, pipe tobacco and deep, rose-like floral notes. Very sweet, fruit-saturated, perfectly clean finish.
Roasty, rich aroma: charred wood, pungent pineapply fruit, dark chocolate, a hint of flowers. Very sweet in the cup; continued gently roasty, crisp with grapefruit and moist fallen leaves. The fruit notes hint again at dark chocolate in the sweet-toned, resonant finish.
Rustic ferment notes in the aroma read as aromatic wood, coconut, baking spices, mango. Full, smooth mouthfeel with a range of complex flavors including tropical fruit, smoky bittersweet chocolate and aromatic wood. Dry, sweet finish, with suggestions of grapefruit and cocoa.
Full floral aroma with hints of cherry, syrupy berries and grapefruit. Sweet, yet pungent acidity, creamy mouthfeel. Flavors of tart lemonade, flowers and sweet fruit. Clean, sweet citrus finish with a slight shimmer of acidity in the long.
Intense aromatic notes of flowers, blackberry wine and grapefruit. Sweet floral acidity and juicy mouthfeel. Big, floral-toned flavor with cherry, lemon and a hint of black currant. Clean, sweet finish with a slight cocoa note.
Balanced, quietly complex aroma: ripe tomato, lemon, nut, flowers, milk chocolate. The aromatic notes deepen in the big-bodied cup; the chocolate darkens, an earth note turns up, tart lemon and sweet floral notes persist. Clean, rich finish.
Elegantly delicate, lightly floral aroma, with tartly-sweet acidity and medium body. The delicacy carries into the cup with notes of sweet citrus rounding and softening toward candied-nut. Very clean finish, with a slight astringent note in the long.
Gracefully sweet in the aroma, with soft fruit and floral notes. In the cup, sweet-toned acidity, medium body and delicate flavors of blossoming flowers, honey and summer fruit. Very clean finishing with a lingering sweetness.
A very comfortable coffee. Sweetly balanced aroma: dark chocolate, raisiny fruit. In the cup low-toned, gentle acidity, roundly silky mouthfeel, continued dark chocolate and raisin notes supported by aromatic wood and perhaps a hint of lemon. The chocolate notes persist in the quietly rich finish.
Wild aroma, combining a sweet ferment that reads as wood, blueberry and dry grass with a distinct musty/earthy note. Medium to full body, slightly leanish mouthfeel. An unusual combination of sweet and bitter nut flavors, with notes of wood and caramel. The woodiness continues into the long dry finish, with suggestions of baker's chocolate. Given the utterly atypical character of the cup, this coffee could rate anywhere from 50 to, well, 87.
Soft, sweet aroma with hints of cinnamon, nuts and toast. Bright acidity, medium body, with a lightly syrupy mouthfeel. In the cup, sweet orange-toned citrus, fading to walnut, baking spices and dark chocolate. Slight astringency in the finish, with faint nut and cocoa notes.