Dark Reviews

Powerful and complex. Extraordinary aroma: spice, a fresh, nostril-tingling cedar, low-toned tropical fruit, bananas perhaps. In the cup a tingle of sweet acidity, more cedar, and fruit that turns sweetly and richly tart - grapefruit, tamarind. Memories of this complexity persist in the finish, softening a mild astringency. Reader Amy Bowser nominated this coffee, calling it "clean but with huge depth and character."

Deeply and opulently sweet, big-bodied, with a bracing, bitter edge of spice, herb and cedar. The cup reveals undercurrents of wine-toned fruit. The short finish is rich, the long leaves us with a slight astringent saltiness.

Lushly high-toned, remarkably complex aroma: flowers (tea-rose?), temperate fruit (pear perhaps), milk chocolate. Slumps toward a lower-key bittersweet character in the cup with only occasional glimpses of chocolate, but the giddy floral top notes persist. Slightly shallow finish.

In the aroma cedar, spice, papaya, and a hint of semi-sweet chocolate. Delicate in the cup, with very sweet citrus notes, pink grapefruit perhaps, and a distinct cedar character with a continuing hint of chocolate. Rather heavy finish for such a light-footed coffee.

Rich, low-key, smoky, with an agreeably mild musty ferment that reads in aroma and cup as raisins and semi-sweet chocolate. In the aroma complex, in the cup balanced but a bit simple; surprisingly clean, soft finish.

At its best in the aroma: rich, deep, smoky, cedary, with undercurrents of sweet dark chocolate. Crisply bittersweet in the cup, with rich, slightly charred cedar and hints of spice-toned cherry. Sweet and chocolaty in the short finish, though rather sharply astringent in the long.

Agreeably dominated by the roast. Deeply and gently charred cedar in aroma and cup, with hints of low-key fruit ? banana or papaya ? and chocolate. The astringency in the finish is nicely wrapped in a rich memory of fruit and chocolate.

The roast dominates the coffee in this extreme dark-roast profile. Intensely but roundly and sweetly charred in the aroma, with a gingery, cedarish complication. The cup is dominated by charred tones that remain just on the pleasantly rich, aromatic cedar side of flat-out burned.

A gentle, sweet coffee whose balance and understated depth and completeness genuinely merits the word elegant. A delicate, dry chocolate flits through the profile from aroma through finish; the acidity is soft, rich, and sweet with pink grapefruit notes.

The roast takes equal place with the coffee in the success of this darker roasted Yirgacheffe, proving, in co-cupper Christy Thorns' (91) words, "the amazing roasting range that a fine Ethiopian coffee can withstand." Christy finds "stone fruit, licorice, black pepper, citrus, rose petal and lavender" in the aroma and cup. Ken (90) also admired the rich floral and sweet citrus character.

The roast dominates the coffee, but agreeably so. Co-cupper Christy Thorns: "Multi-layered with roasty bitter chocolate, stewed prunes, raisins, and sweet spice. (89)" Ken: "Rich, deeply roasty and bittersweet, excellent dimension, dry berry and floral tones shimmer behind the roastiness. Chocolate toward the finish. (88)" Christy concludes that, although the profile may lack top-notes, a "syrupy body makes for a powerhouse of a cup."

Dry fragrance: lemon, flowers and freshly laundered linen. In the hot aroma dark molasses and licorice on the pour, rich ripe fruit and milk chocolate in the break. While the floral, citrus and deep-red fruit notes remain intact from first sip through last (a neat trick in such a dark roast) these flavors assemble themselves differently with each taste as the cup cools. Complex and beautifully structured cup (Lindsey Bolger).

Minty and fresh tobacco notes in the dry fragrance. In the hot aroma dry fruit notes of prune and wisps of spicy sweet chocolate. In the cup the dark roasting amplifies body, but mutes many of the attributes specific to this elegant origin. For me this coffee ultimately suggested a lovely old-master painting, sparkling with jewel-toned detail that centuries of darkened varnish have dulled. Nevertheless, it displays the depth and intensity of a well-crafted and classic French roast. (Lindsey Bolger)

Big, pungent, flame-born phenols boldly emerge in the dry fragrance. In the hot aroma, lush and mouth-watering double chocolate cake. A dense and chewy coffee with an elegant, silky velvet finish - surprisingly sweet for a coffee pushed to its limits during the roast. (Lindsey Bolger)

In the aroma liquored and slightly fermented fruit are accompanied by dark chocolate notes, all of which mask hints of coffee oils going slightly rancid. A heavy body with gritty mouthfeel dominates the cup. Long, rather oily finish. (Lindsey Bolger)

The aroma is rather flat and charred, but the cup is sweetly roasty with some nut and cleanly bracing burned tones, together with a sweetly tart fruit -- orange perhaps, or ripe pineapple.

The aroma is elegantly simple: toasty and sweet with low-key fruit notes suggesting ripe apricot. Superb in the small cup: velvety mouthfeel, substantial body, deep-toned but crisply dry chocolate and apricot notes, with a long, clean, sweet finish. Solid, chocolaty presence in milk, but the glory here is in the classic but powerful straight shot.

Fresh cut cedar and fruit. The fruit richly and sweetly dominates in the aroma. In the small cup the cedar complicates and gives a resiny authority to the fruit. The fruit and cedar turn to an intriguingly pungent chocolate in milk.

Superb single-shot espresso distinguished by its fruit tones and general resonant depth of sensation. The aroma is robustly fruity and sweet, the small cup roundly and sweetly roasty with toast and chocolate notes. Simplifies slightly in milk but still agreeably expresses a high-toned, fruity chocolate.

Richly and elegantly roasty and bittersweet in aroma and small cup with high-toned, pear-like fruit shimmering at the top. The finish is heavy and slightly bitter, a liability in the small cup but an advantage in milk, where the dairy turns the cup deeply yet lyrically sweet with a whole candy-counterful of sophisticated chocolate tones.