Dark Reviews

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 10- and 12-ounce servings): Roast-toned aromatic wood in the aroma. In the cup light body, especially in the twelve-ounce serving size, good sweetness and a soft smoky chocolate. The roasty aromatic wood carries into the finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 6- and 8-ounce servings): Round, roast-toned aroma with a suggestion of aromatic wood. In the cup light body, especially in the eight-ounce serving size, good sweetness and a soft smoky chocolate. The roasty aromatic wood carries into the finish. Displays most intensity when brewed at the six ounce serving size.

In the aroma smoky dark chocolate with soft, backgrounded aromatic wood. In the cup, leanish mouthfeel and gentle hints of earth, more dark chocolate, lightly charred wood and distant cherry-like fruit. The dark chocolate is sustained in the long finish.

Unusually smooth ultra-dark roast. Intense, sweetly pungent aroma: aromatic wood, raisin, nut, dark chocolate. In the cup lightly syrupy mouthfeel, muted bitterness, considerable sweetness, dark chocolate, raisin, nut, a suggestion of charred wood. Only a hint of roasty astringency surfaces in an otherwise sweet-toned, rich finish with convincing chocolate allusions.

A very dark roast yields a deep, smoky, charred-wood aroma, complicated by remote hints of caramel and roasted nut. Medium-body, smooth mouthfeel, with gentle charred wood notes dominating the flavor and carrying into the finish.

Deeply and intensely roasty aroma, with notes of charred cedar, walnut and spicy chocolate. Medium body, somewhat thin mouthfeel, flavors of charred wood with hints of raisin, dark chocolate and earth. The short finish is sweet and rich, but simplifies, with an astringent roastiness lingering in the long.

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce a 6-ounce serving size): Simple roasty aroma with hints of earthiness and aromatic wood. Silky, though slightly lean body, with mild smokiness in flavor, creamy, almost caramel-like sweetness, and a chocolate note. The roasty character carries into the finish with slight astringency developing in the long.

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce a 6-ounce serving size): Straightforward, roasty aroma with a note of dark chocolate. In the cup, charred wood dominates along with a faint cocoa-like quality, and rather lean mouthfeel. Roastiness continues into the finish, with mild astringency and some sweetness developing in the long.

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce a 6-ounce serving size): Extreme dark roast yields intense charred wood notes in aroma and flavor. Subtler hints of baker?s chocolate, fresh chopped wood and smokiness also emerge. Roastiness continues in the finish with hints of cocoa.

Deep, smoke-toned aroma with gently scorched wood notes, fir perhaps. Medium-bodied in the cup; the scorched wood notes round toward a pungent, herby dark chocolate. Thin but cleanly roasty finish.

Intense, simple aroma: sweet scorched wood, hint of dark chocolate. More complex in the cup: nut and dark chocolate dominate, with a distinct herb note, somewhere between rosemary and peppermint. Smooth, sweet finish, only slightly heavy in the long.

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce a 6-ounce serving size): Delicate, gently exotic, faintly smoky, with cocoa, cedar, floral and caramel notes in both aroma and cup. Lightly syrupy and bittersweet in structure. The short finish is sweet and cocoa-toned, the long mildly astringent.

Simple, roasty aroma, with smoke, toast, butter, cedar, a hint of bananaish fruit. In the cup heavily astringent but rich and sweet-toned with gently scorched cedar and dark chocolate notes and a surprising hint of night flowers. The rich sweetness dominates the astringency in the finish.

Intense, deep aroma: distinct dark chocolate, spicy cedar and hints of orange and nut. In the cup low in acidity but rather astringent, with a rich, attractive cocoaish chocolate. Both chocolate and astringency carry into the finish, where the shadow nut tones turn (to my palate) slightly cloying.

Evaluated as espresso. As a drip coffee fell quite short of 80. As espresso revealed some virtues. In the aroma sweet-toned with distinct chocolate and butter notes. In the small cup medium bodied, round-toned and sweet, with earth, aromatic wood and herbal notes (I read fennel) and hints of nut and chocolate. The finish was simple in the short and mildly astringent in the long. Surprisingly disappointing in milk: leanish in mouthfeel with banana and chocolate in front but a slight though disturbing note toward the finish that for me suggested salted meat.

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 6-ounce and 8-ounce serving sizes): Considerably more impressive in a 6-ounce serving size than in an 8. At 6 ounces the aromatics in nose and cup are pleasingly buttery and round with a crisp roasty edge and hints of caramel and chocolate. At 8 ounces the mouthfeel is a tad lean and the aromatics thinnish.

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule at a cup volume of 5.25 ounces): Sweet, round, toasty caramel aroma with a hint of flowers. In the cup very balanced: sweet, toasty, rich, with a hint of green apply tartness and pruny fruit edging toward chocolate. Sweet and rich in the short finish; turns slightly woody in the long.

Intense, deeply rich aroma dominated by cedar notes with hints of plum or prune that lean toward semi-sweet chocolate. In the cup smooth and substantial in mouthfeel, powerful and balanced, but limited in nuance. Like the cup, the finish is structurally impressive (rich, clean) but simple.

Delicately fruity aroma, sweet cherry with a hint of chocolate. In the cup sweet, rich, surprisingly full-bodied, with a dry, wine-toned black currant fruit and a slight burned undercurrent. Sweetly rich short finish, but a hint of burned astringency shadows the long. This was the highest rated of three Starbucks coffees nominated and reviewed for this article.

For both Ken (81) and co-taster Ted Lingle (79) the aroma was muted and burned. Ted found the body in the small cup light; Ken (81) found it fuller but rough in mouthfeel. Nor did Ken or Ted have much positive to say about flavor: pungent and rough for Ted, burned and sharp for Ken. In milk pleasantly sweet but thin-bodied for Ted; Ken was more positive here, finding that the milk smoothed out the sharply roasty character of the coffee, turning it toward a pleasing fresh leather and a clove-toned spice. The reader who nominated this blend found it "exceptional, that's all."