Blind Assessment

Rich, low-toned, deceptively simple coffee. Co-cupper Jim Reynolds (89) found it a quietly complete cup, though "somewhat shy" in acidity. Both Jim and Ken (90) wrestled with a very slight hint of what cuppers call "bagginess," a faint mildewed note that appears in coffees that have suffered exposure to too much moisture during shipment or storage. The coffee's essential richness and floral cocoa tendencies overcame this shadow note, however, allowing the underlying beauty of the coffee to resonate in cup and long, flavor-saturated finish.

Notes

Burundi is a small, landlocked country in Central Africa. Most coffee is grown in the mountains of the north, bordering Rwanda. Benefiting from ideal growing conditions and large plantings of the heirloom Bourbon variety of Arabica, Burundi coffee has an excellent reputation, though it is better known in Europe than in the United States. Described on the bag as "Fairly Traded," although the trade-marked seal of TransFair USA, the sole American certifier for the Fair-trade Labeling Organizations International (FLO), does not appear. With two locations in Southern California's Orange County, Kean Coffee is an in-house coffee roaster and retailer established by Martin Diedrich of the famous Diedrich coffee family. The Kean slogan, "Martin knows his beans" should be true, considering Martin grew up in Guatemala where the family owned a coffee farm.Visit www.keancoffee.com or call 949-933-9164 for more information.

Who Should Drink It

Those who enjoy complexity and richness but avoid assertive acidity in a medium-roasted coffee.

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