Micro to Macro: Southern California Coffees

Complex, rich, deep. Flowers, lemon and a crisp baker's chocolate dominate aroma and cup and saturate a long, resonant finish. Delicately rich acidity, silky mouthfeel.

The genius of this coffee is expressed in a grand but seductive acidity: big, juicy and tartly sweet-toned with black cherry and lemony complication. In the cup the acidity is enveloped in a background caramelly softness that assumes control in the rather quiet finish.

Sweet fruit ferment influences a deep, brandied chocolate and cherry character in both aroma and cup. Round, lush acidity; full, syrupy mouthfeel. The brandied chocolate/cherry notes carry straight into an expansive short finish; a hint of salty astringency develops in the long, though still softened by a ringingly sweet fruit.

Sweet floral-toned milk chocolate and raisiny fruit notes in the aroma. In the cup soft, round acidity, creamy mouthfeel, very sweet with complexly layered suggestions of dusk flowers and lush fruit that suggest the tropics: coconut, pineapple. Flavor carries into a rich finish with just a hint of dry astringency in the long.

Soft but crisp aroma: flowers, nut, fresh-cut wood, baking chocolate. In the cup gentle, balanced acidity; smooth, lightly creamy mouthfeel; superb balance. A hint of lush dusk flowers and a sweet, nut-toned cocoa note carries gracefully from cup to finish.

Lushly intense floral and lemony chocolate notes carry from aroma into cup. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The spicy, rose-like floral notes deepen to a moist pipe tobacco in the finish.

Deep-toned, balanced coffee. Gently tart acidity, lean but silky mouthfeel. Cherryish fruit with a hint of lemon and a lean toward chocolate dominate aroma and cup, coasting into a long, sweet finish.

Very sweet-toned coffee with a balancing dry berry character that under the influence of the sweetness inclines toward dark chocolate. Brisk, balanced acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Very impressive finish: rich, sweet, flavor-saturated.

Balanced and quietly complete. Sweetly and gently acidy, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Dark chocolate, fir, caramel and, particularly as the cup cools, an orangy, raisiny fruit. The chocolate in particular carries into a rich, very sweet-toned finish.

Sweet-toned, softly pungent aroma with considerable complexity: caramel, milk chocolate, nut, raisin, a hint of flowers. In the cup delicate, floral-toned acidity, lean but silky mouthfeel, and continued understated complexity: milk chocolate, raisin, dusk flowers. Good flavor continuity in a sweet finish.

Unusually smooth ultra-dark roast. Intense, sweetly pungent aroma: aromatic wood, raisin, nut, dark chocolate. In the cup lightly syrupy mouthfeel, muted bitterness, considerable sweetness, dark chocolate, raisin, nut, a suggestion of charred wood. Only a hint of roasty astringency surfaces in an otherwise sweet-toned, rich finish with convincing chocolate allusions.

The ferment tones in this dried-in-the-fruit coffee take on a particularly intense brandy character. Rich, brandy-inflected acidity and flavor complicated by dry chocolate, cherryish fruit, and a hint of herby mint. Sweet short finish with a slight saltiness lurking in the long.

Sweet-toned, gently pungent aroma: orangy fruit, nut, hints of caramel and flowers. In the cup delicate acidity; silky mouthfeel; sweet cocoa, caramel and raisin notes with continued hints of flowers and orangy fruit. The clean, mildly sweet finish fades rather quickly.

Muted acidity, smooth mouthfeel with a shadow dry astringency. In aroma and cup distinct dark chocolate notes and pungent complications of aromatic wood with hints of flowers and raisiny fruit. Sweet and rich in the short finish; a touch astringent in the long.