Central America Reviews

Round, sweet-toned aroma: flowers, molasses, spice. In the cup intense but sweetly balanced acidity, silky mouthfeel, lemon, floral and caramel notes. Sweet, rich, citrus-rind- and nut-toned finish.

Bright-toned lemony aroma, with hints of blackberry, flowers and butter. Tartly sweet acidity in the cup, with medium body and a smoothly juicy mouthfeel. Lemon-like flavors are balanced with floral and cocoaish chocolate notes. Finishes cleanly, developing sweetness in the long.

A pungent but sweet fruit character, subtle but striking, carries from aroma to finish, suggesting at various moments black currant, grapefruit, fresh-cut fir, butter, raisin, perhaps something one could call butterscotch. Very rich, sweetly clean, long finish.

Sweet ripe citrus aroma with hints of flowers and mulling spices. Lively, assertive acidity, medium body, and a soft, round mouthfeel. Complex flavors range from flowers to sweet lemon to butter and toast. Clean, floral-toned finish, with a suggestion of milk chocolate in the long.

Aromatic notes of chocolate, peppery spices, nuts and soft, sweet-toned fruit. Rounded, balanced acidity, with full, buttery mouthfeel. Sweet raisin-like fruit notes in the cup fade toward dark chocolate and nut. A cocoaish chocolate carries into the finish.

Sweet-toned, soft aroma with wood and molasses notes. In the cup medium body, very soft acidity, with flavor notes that in their sweet wood and fruity herb character distinctly resemble date. Clean, sweet, rather fast-fading finish.

A coffee distinguished more by a gently pungent, quiet richness than by any aromatic complexity. Restrained acidity, silky mouthfeel. Dark chocolate and nut hints carry from aroma through cup to the particularly sweet finish.

Richly and sweetly bright aroma with aromatic wood, peach-toned fruit and cocoa notes. In the cup quietly acidy, elegantly crisply sweet, deeply floral, with distinct peach-toned fruit and hints of cocoaish chocolate that carry into a long, flavor-glistening finish.

Mildly tangy aromatic notes, with soft hints of nuts and chocolate. A bright acidity is softened and rounded by faint suggestions of fruit. The balance continues in the cup with tart lime tones standing out in front, fading to a pleasant nuttiness. Hints of chocolate, spice and aromatic wood linger in the long, dry finish.

In the aroma round and balanced, with dusk flowers, orange and nut notes. In the cup continued classic balance: quiet but assertive acidity buffered by great sweetness, crisp fruity cocoa and continued nut and floral notes. Clean, sweetly rich, long finish.

A light-roasted coffee rather too bright and lean-bodied to fulfill conventional expectations for espresso, though shimmeringly floral and citrusy throughout the profile. "Very clean and floral in the aroma" for co-taster Heather Perry (87). In the small cup refreshingly if rather sharply citrus, with "delicate butter and floral notes" (Ken, 87) that carry into an impressive, sweetly dry finish. The delicate floral and citrus profile fades in milk, however, retaining a tart sweetness but quite lean in mouthfeel.

High-toned, simple, classic aroma: orange, sweet tomato, hints of cedar and milk chocolate. In the cup a rich, roundly sweet-toned acidity dominates, with continued orange and milk chocolate notes that grow more distinct as the cup cools and the acidity softens. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Long, tartly sweet finish.

Delicately but richly nuanced throughout the profile with cherryish fruit, flowers, honey, milk chocolate. In the cup the acidity is tart but luxuriously sweet and the mouthfeel lightly syrupy. Flavor saturated and flawless finish.

The aroma has great depth and range of sensation: flowers, butter, cherry, hints of chocolate and cedar. In the cup rich acidity, supple mouthfeel. The aromatics simplify slightly in the mouth but retain great depth and power: tartly pungent though ripe cherry, distinct honey, a continuing hint of chocolate. Clean, sweet finish.

A quiet, very soft coffee with delicate but lush aromatics. In the nose distinct flowers, lemon, butter. The cup displays a gently bright acidity, silky, buttery mouthfeel, and a finely balanced bouquet of coffee fruit, cocoa and lemon. The cocoa softens toward chocolate in the long finish.

Rather simple aromatically, but sweet-toned, balanced and rich. In the aroma butter, cedar and a hint of white wine. In the cup gentle, deep acidity, round mouthfeel, continued cedar and white wine notes with a hint of flowers.

A soft, balanced, gently lively coffee. In the aroma orange, flowers and a cedary chocolate. In the cup medium body with silky mouthfeel and quiet but distinct floral and orange notes, perhaps with some molasses-toned hints suggesting moist pipe tobacco. Sweet, clean, floral-toned finish.

A grandly classic coffee, very sweet and deep in the aroma, with berry- and cherry-toned fruit and a balancing hint of crisp lemon and cedar. The cup is dominated by a full, lush acidity: gently tart yet almost sugary sweet. The dry berry and cherry notes persist in the rich finish.

Crisp, elegant espresso with dry berry and floral notes. Shows a hint of sweet, tomato-toned acidity in the aroma along with caramel and flowers. In the small cup surprisingly full-bodied with cedar, dry berry and a continuing shimmer of flowers. Clean, rich finish. Masters milk with a delicate, dry-chocolate-toned authority. The floral notes survive with startling clarity in milk, persisting far into the finish.

Very sweet-toned, exquisitely balanced aroma with floral, candied lemon and sweet herb notes. In the cup intense, tartly sweet acidity and buoyant mouthfeel with white wine and continued sweet lemon notes. The barest hint of chocolate in the cup blooms with soft explicitness in the surprisingly sweet finish. The cup stiffens ever so slightly as it cools.