Blend Reviews

Simple but centered, a classically solid Espresso. Once past the low-key, caramel/toast/chocolate nose I didn't register much in the way of grace notes, but neither was I oppressed by carbon. My taster colleague picked up muted wine-fruit tones. In milk, sweet and substantial.

Herbal tones in the aroma turn spicy and fruity in the cup. The fruit nuances in the acidity lift the top of the profile and keep it light and shimmering all the way through to finish and aftertaste. Enough bottom for resonance.

This coffee arrived pre-ground (not available whole bean), perhaps accounting for its flatness in nose and cup, although some herbal or prune notes survive in the thin, carbon-toned acidity.

This classic medium-dark coffee gives us solid, mouth-filling dark-roast pungency, though the carbon notes seem to co-opt its sweetness. Some acidity survives the roast, and fills out the top of the profile nicely.

This coffee is so complex at the top that it positively levitates, alive with sweet, light vanilla tones. In the finish whatever is left of the body vanishes, the vanilla tones fade, but the sweetness lingers.

This coffee gets better as it goes, probably owing to its heavy body. The dark tones of the aroma modulate with increasing power through the cup to a complex finish.

An exquisitely balanced traditional American-style coffee. The acidity is dry without astringency, alive with slight fruit or wine notes. Enveloped in the matrix of the body, it is always present but never dominant.