Blind Assessment

Understated but quietly distinctive. The aroma is round, caramelly and (quite literally) buttery; patience may turn up little cedar and chocolate revelations as well. The butter and caramel notes carry into the cup, where the fruity chocolate intensifies. The short finish is deep, sweet and rich; a memory of chocolate resurfaces in the long.

Notes

A prize winner in the 2004 El Salvador Cup of Excellence competition, where as a green (unroasted) coffee it placed seventh out of hundreds of entries, attracting a score of slightly under 90 from an international jury. An unusual coffee in two respects: It was produced from trees of the large-beaned Pacamara variety of arabica and is composed entirely of the peaberry grade of that variety. Peaberries result when the coffee fruit develops only a single, oval bean rather than the usual pair of flat-sided beans. Peaberries produce a somewhat different (often better) cup than normal beans from the same crop, from which they may or may not be separated during grading. Grown at an elevation of approximately 5,300 feet on the Montecarlos Tablon Crater farm. Intelligentsia, under the leadership of coffee buyer Geoff Watts and president Doug Zell, has become a leading supporter and buyer of Cup of Excellence coffees. Visit www.intelligentsiacoffee.com or call 888-945-9786 for more info.

Who Should Drink It

Those who know the difference between flash and substance.

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