Dark Roasts Reviews

A fine example of the French-roast archetype. The carbon notes, as integral to French roasts as smoky notes are to Scotch whiskey, are discreet. The main taste complex here is sweet vanilla, floating above a dry, light pungency. Carbon notes prevail in the aftertaste, though a persistent low-toned sweetness gives them a run.

Not nearly as dramatic as the Olympic mountains, but satisfying and substantial. Straightforward, low-toned, agreeably balanced, vibrant and solid in mid-range, fresh and sweet in finish, complicated by a touch of intrigue that could be called chocolate. As the cup cools the sweet tones grow rounder, fuller and more distinctly chocolate.

Aromatic and gently complex. Delicate, sweet-vanilla nose. In the demitasse smooth, balanced body and well-nuanced flavor, with pungent chocolate modulating to sweet chocolate in the finish. Slight fruit flourishes. Tends to fade in milk, but retains a light, pleasingly fruity chocolate character.

Virtually all sweetness has been driven out of the coffee by the roast: distinct burned tones in the aroma give way to a hard, smoky pungency in the cup and a rather astringent aftertaste. Milk rounds out and sweetens the pungency, though even here the sharp, hard tones prevail.

Only a touch of sweetness survives to balance the sharp tones of a very dark roast, but the sharpness is complicated (perhaps rounded) by chocolaty, pruny tones. The aroma is crisp, alive, even elegant, but the profile tends to simplify in the cup and trail off into dimensionless astringency in the aftertaste. At best medium body. Turns sweet and smooth in milk but remains underpowered.

For me this rather dark-roasted blend's smoky pungency displayed pleasantly fruity tones in the demitasse, and remained (if precariously) on the soft side of bitter. I particularly liked this blend in milk: The pungency carried nicely through the dairy, broadening and softening without losing itself. My tasting partner didn't agree, and found the dark-roast profile a touch carbony in the demitasse and thin in milk.

A darkish roast style asserts itself here, turning the heavy Sumatra center distinctly pungent. A slight sweetness emerges in the finish, but the mildly astringent pungency dominates in the aftertaste. A vibrant aliveness in the center of this coffee is its most attractive feature.

Herbal, pungent tones, a bit too sharp for earthy, dominate the profile, reverberating in its characteristically solid Sumatra heart. Only a touch of sweet nuance, but the herbal tones are intriguing. They turn slightly hard as the coffee cools.

Another Sumatra carried to a dark roast with enough tact to avoid carbon. But, alas, not enought to save the sweetness and nuance. What's left is a balanced dry heaviness that can be read as richness.

The dark roast style leans toward carbon here but remains on the flavorful side of it, turning the Sumatra richness pungent and darkening the sweet tones with hints of what a publicist might call chocolate. If this coffee had showed some development I would have rated it higher, but the profile made its statement and stood pat from there. As with the other Café d'Alma coffees in the cupping, I suspect a loss of aromatics in shipping.

An understated sweet liveliness lifts the rather stolid heart of this coffee. I can't cite any grace notes, simply a very pleasant, sweet lift. Good dimension, but (for a Sumatra) a rather shallow bottom.

This coffee was roasted so darkly and probably at such high temperatures that little was left to taste except overwhelming carbon plus a hint of high, singing sweetness that emerged in aroma and finish. The green coffee the roastmaster started with may well have been excellent, but the roast certainly wasn't.

A rather complex dark-roast cup. Clear carbon, but the roast was conducted with enough deliberation to preserve some richness and a touch of sweetness. The most engaging complication was in the dry center of the profile: a pruny, complex pungency that read as chocolate in the aroma. The carbon reasserted itself in the aftertaste.

Solid, full-bodied dark-roast cup. Carbon tones dominate the sweet side of the dark-roast equation, and only the hints of prune and chocolate relieve the ultimately rather austere profile.

The elements of the dark-roast complex -- sweetness, pungency and carbon -- all work together smoothly here until the aftertaste, when carbon tones linger past any memory of sweetness. Until that moment, this coffee achieves an unassuming dark-roast completeness.

A dark-roast on the dry side. Preserves some of the bright, acidy tones of lighter roasts, balancing them with prune and tobacco in the mid ranges. No carbon, but not much sweetness either. Good range from top to middle of the profile, but short on depth and dimension.

A complete but rather simple profile; decent acidity balances the pungency of the moderately dark roast. Hints of vanilla intensify and the entire profile sweetens as the coffee cools.

The clear winner in the tasting, perhaps because it showed pungent dark-roast character without losing sweetness or complexity to carbon. Distinct chocolate notes, good dimension, substantial body, smooth balance of bitter and sweet tones, although the bitterness does get the upper hand in the aftertaste. Fills out nicely in milk without losing authority or complexity.

A carbony bite suggests this blend may have been roasted too quickly. Otherwise a very agreeable, rather straightforward Espresso, with solid body and a satisfying balance of sweet and pungent tones. The profile fades rather quickly in the finish, perhaps owing to a rushed roast that burned off aromatics.

The aromatics of the vanilla-chocolate complex fade fast under the impact of the carbon, although the clean-sweat pungency will please lovers of extremely dark roasts. The blanketing astringency of the carbon reaches a climax in the aftertaste, but even there sweetness balances and pungency complicates.