Africa Reviews

Sweetly tart berry notes suggest black currant, blackberry, black cherry. Rich floral and rounding oak complication. Roast-rounded, balanced acidity; silky mouthfeel. Long, deeply flavor-saturated, sweetly drying finish.

Delicately intense. Very complex aroma and flavor: flowers (plum blossom), ripe lemon, watermelon, moist pipe tobacco, roasted cacao nib. Bright but balanced acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Long, flavor-saturated finish. Turns especially sweet and juicy as the cup cools.

Intense; complex floral and citrus. Honey, ripe lime, night-blooming flowers and a softening suggestion of milk chocolate in aroma and cup. Sweetly bright acidity; very silky mouthfeel. Flavor, particularly flowers, saturates a long, resonant finish.

Complexly and richly floral: crisp lavender and sweet honeysuckle in particular in aroma and cup, with backgrounded suggestions of roasted cacao nib and walnut. Delicate, gently brisk acidity; light but lively mouthfeel. Long, sweet finish with a slightly drying walnutty edge.

Evaluated as espresso. Ken (91) liked this bright, zesty espresso; his co-taster (92) liked it even better. Both admired the citrus and floral vivacity of the aroma and flavor. Ken and his co-taster both accepted the smooth though rather light mouthfeel as an appropriate complement to the lively aromatics; both enjoyed the emergence of a lower-toned fruit (fig, roasted cacao nib) in the finish. Ken found the sweet-citrus impact in three parts milk a bit more pleasing than his co-taster did, though the co-taster offered an apt descriptor for it: “key lime pie.”

Evaluated as espresso. Both Ken (93) and his co-taster (91) admired the wine-like intensity of this dried-in-the-fruit profile, though Ken read more complexity, in particular floral top notes, in flavor and finish. Both tasters cited a creamy mouthfeel and consistent finish. Especially impressive in three parts milk, where the shot bloomed with a complex expression of fruit-toned chocolate.

Evaluated as espresso. Both Ken (93) and his co-taster (91) enjoyed this crisp and rather cleanly wine- and brandy-toned dried-in-the-fruit profile, though Ken enjoyed it two rating points more. The co-taster read “berries, pineapple and dried fruits” in the small cup; Ken’s associations ran to parallel descriptors of grape, orange, apricot and fresh-cut cedar. Both admired the shot in three parts milk, citing a deep, balanced sweetness that for Ken was pleasantly viscous and “banana-like.”

Delicate, buoyant, sweetly bright. Flowers, honey, orangy citrus, roasted cocoa nib in aroma and cup. Gently bright, juicy acidity; light, silky mouthfeel. Citrus and honey carry into a richly drying finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Deep, resonantly complex. Orange, jasmine, dark chocolate, hints of anise and fresh-cut cedar. Velvety, rich mouthfeel; flavor consolidates but persists in a long, gently drying finish. Full, substantial presence in three parts milk; orange, chocolate and jasmine notes in particular persist.

Crisply sweet, intensely complex. Honey, brandy, apricot, brandy, citrus flower, a hint of walnut in aroma and cup. Round, brandyish acidity; very lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Honey and walnut in particular persist in a deeply flavor-saturated, gently drying finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Crisp, finely structured, quietly distinctive. Dark chocolate and a shifty, anise-toned fruit (orange, blackberry, grape) dominate in aroma and small cup, with backgrounded complications of cedar and butter. Creamy, full yet buoyant mouthfeel. Berry and chocolate in particular persist in a rich, deep finish. Round, quietly balanced in three parts milk.

Hazelnut, orangy citrus, night-blooming flowers, brown sugar in aroma and, more intensely, in the cup. Juicy, round, ripely lemony acidity; silky mouthfeel. Flavor consolidates but persists in a rich finish.

Floral notes stretch from evanescent, delicate top notes to lushly rich, jasmine-like mid-notes in aroma and cup, with roasted cacao nib and kiwi/lemon complications. Round, rich acidity; lightly syrupy, lively mouthfeel. The finish is drying but long and flower-saturated.

Crisp, with a spicy, savory edge. Fresh-cut cedar, roasted cacao nib, hints of cumin, sage and sweet root vegetable in aroma and cup. Balanced structure; soft acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The chocolate suggestion sweetens in the finish.

Sweetly and pungently bright; complex. Honey, flowers, black currant, roasted cacao nib, a pungent hint of pine in aroma and cup. Sweet, softly lively acidity; plush, velvety mouthfeel. Clean, rich, slightly drying finish.

Crisp, lively, very complex. A wide, shifting range of aromatic and flavor notes suggest roasted cacao nib, walnut, apricot, flowers, baking spices, more. The cup is gently dry but sweet with a savory hint. Bold but balanced acidity; buoyant, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The finish is sweet, deep, flavor-saturated.

Immense and intricate in flavor and aroma, balanced in structure. Crisp, nut-toned chocolate; lush night-blooming flowers; ripe tangerine; pungent sandalwood in aroma and cup. Sweetly tart acidity; full, syrupy mouthfeel. Quietly but profoundly flavor-saturated finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a Keurig-compatible capsule to produce a 6-ounce serving). Bright, juicy, complex. Concord grape, ripe grapefruit, a hint of dark chocolate in aroma and cup. Delicate, lively acidity; light, silky mouthfeel. The fruit notes consolidate and carry into a clean, sweet-toned finish.

Savory-sweet and lushly floral-toned. Flowers, plum, dark chocolate, raisin in aroma and cup. Delicately balanced, crisply sweet acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Rich, deeply flavor-saturated finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Complex flowers and citrus, high-toned but smooth. Flowers, butter, grapefruity citrus, roasted cocoa nib in aroma and small cup. Smooth, lightly syrupy mouthfeel; rich, long, chocolate-saturated finish. Superb in two parts milk, sweetly and richly chocolate-toned with a gently tart fruit that resonates with particular distinction in a long finish.