Blend Reviews

Rich aroma with layered nuances of sweet cherry, stone fruit, nut and chocolate. In the cup, gentle but sustained acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel and softer fruit flavors, tending toward tarter cherry and sweet citrus. Chocolate remerges in the finish along with a note of aromatic wood.

Notes of pipe tobacco, cherry and pungent aromatic wood in the aroma. Simplifies slightly in the cup, with continued aromatic wood and hints of baker's chocolate and nut. Pungent, roast-toned, softly astringent finish.

A big winner in four parts milk. Co-taster Andy Newbom (90) had it at 9 in milk while Ken (93) went to the limit at 10. Both keyed on a big, round, peachy fruit complexity and fine balance of milk and coffee. As straight espresso dominated by fruit as well: ripe, apricot-toned, a little wine-like, with a tart "sparkle" (Andy) of citrus. But the whole sensory package bloomed in milk with particular power and completeness.

Evaluated as espresso. Crisp cocoa and pungent fruit dominate in the small cup with impressive vanilla and floral top notes nuancing the aroma. Medium body, smoothly syrupy mouthfeel. Co-taster Andy Newbom (91) particularly admired a "complete and elegant" structure that balances sweet with a pungent hint of savory. The savory drops away in milk where both Ken (91) and Andy found impressive chocolaty sweetness ("Cocoa pops!" Andy exclaimed) deepened by a rich, fig-like fruit.

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 10- and 12-ounce servings): Caramel, toast and a suggestion of orange in the aroma. Simplifies somewhat in the cup, with intensified caramel and fleeting hints of orange, chocolate and cedar, all more noticeable in the 10-ounce serving size. Sweet finish.

Sweet-toned aroma and flavor: caramel, dark chocolate, aromatic wood and a hint of fruit. Soft but distinct acidity and a round, silky mouthfeel. A richly sweet short finish gives way to a slightly papery astringency in the long.

Sweet and delicate in aroma and cup. Fruit-toned cocoa, flowers, nut in both aroma and cup. Gently balanced acidity, light but silky mouthfeel, very sweet finish with a continued clear cocoa note.

Light-roasted blend with striking aromatics. Intense aroma: fresh-cut wood, perfume-like flowers, molasses, ripe lemon, pine nut, all saturate the intense aroma and carry into a delicately bright cup. Silky to lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The flavors soften and consolidate in a sweet-toned, rich finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig Platinum single-serve home brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce an 8-ounce serving size): Sweet-toned aroma with suggestions of caramel, smoky scorched wood and toast. In the cup, medium-bodied and lightly syrupy in mouthfeel, with a continued bittersweet, gently scorched wood character complicated by muted caramel and chocolate notes, all of which carry into a rich, briskly astringent finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig Platinum single-serve home brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce an 8-ounce serving size): Sweet but subdued aroma, with toasty and vaguely fruity notes. Soft and delicate flavor, showing hints of caramel and perhaps, honeydew melon-like fruitiness. The simple caramel sweetness lingers into the finish.

Sweet-toned, fresh aroma, with hints of orangy fruit, dry berry, dark chocolate. In the cup very soft acidity, plush mouthfeel, and an almost sugary sweetness with continued hints of dry berry. The sweetness carries into the finish, where a suggestion of the chocolate revives.

Pungent aromatic notes of roasty cinnamon and a muted fruitiness. In the cup, full body, smooth acidity and continued pronounced pungency with the fruit note becoming more distinct and cherry-like. The dry finish leans toward the bitter side of bittersweet chocolate.

Crisp, sweetly pungent aroma: tart berry, lemon, nut, aromatic wood. In the cup delicately rich acidity, silky mouthfeel. Continued tart yet lushly sweet berry notes with a hint of earth complicate the aromatic wood notes. Long, flavor-saturated finish.

Sweet, round-toned aroma with distinct cherryish fruit and aromatic wood notes. Intense and complex in the cup; the cherry tones deepen and sweeten to dessert-wine complexity with complicating suggestions of dark chocolate, herb and flowers. The chocolate carries into a long, dry finish with continued hints of wood and Mediterranean herbs.

Richly and sweetly acidy coffee with delicate complexity and depth. Cherryish fruit and nut notes in the aroma carry into the cup, with the fruit taking on a Riesling-like tart sweetness. Clean, crisp finish.

Aroma and flavor display intense, pungent pine and cedar wood with soft hints of earth, cocoa and grapefruit. Balanced acidity, medium to full body. The flavor characteristics are sustained in the long, dry finish.

Intense, complex, roughly rich cup. In the aroma lush fermented fruit, moist fresh-fallen leaves and a hint of anise-like herb. In the cup the fruit ferment turns toward a minty, herb-nuanced dark chocolate or perhaps spiced apricot, with continued undercurrents of fresh earth and moist leaves. Complex, flavor-saturated finish shadowed by a very slight astringency.

Delicate but rich. Distinct milk chocolate notes and hints of butter and apricot-like fruit in aroma and cup; a suggestion of earth in the cup. The chocolate carries into a clean, sweet-toned finish.

Poised and balanced in aroma and cup, with cocoa-toned fruit, nut, aromatic wood, and a hint of mint-like herb. Delicately rich acidity, lightly syrupy body. The finish reveals a hint of astringency.

Balanced notes of pungent cedar, sweet-toned chocolate and a whisper of sage in the aroma. Intense in the cup: sherry, nut, earth and a continuing dry cedary or herb-like pungency, all persisting in the long, dry finish.