Espresso Reviews

Evaluated as espresso. Richly sweet, custardy milk chocolate notes dominate aroma and flavor, saved from simplicity by a green apple tartness and a hint of cedary pungency. The finish in the small cup is surprisingly tight and drying, but the roundly sweet, mousse-like chocolate notes and the hint of tart fruit make an impressive return in two parts milk.

Evaluated as espresso. In the small cup roundly balanced but engagingly complex. Melony fruit, apple, brandy, dark chocolate suggestions in both aroma and cup. Light-footed, creamy mouthfeel; deep, cleanly resonant finish with particular persistence of the dark chocolate note. Strong presence in two parts milk, dominated by a fruit-toned bittersweet chocolate.

Evaluated as espresso. Sweet-toned and balanced in the small cup; heady floral notes anchored by pungent cedar and anise and a hint of nut-nuanced chocolate. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel; excellent flavor persistence in a slightly drying finish. In two parts milk pronounced presence with a complex, bittersweet chocolate dominating.

Evaluated as espresso. Rich, deep, balanced in the small cup. Cedar, orange, apricot, dark chocolate, a hint of flowers. Full, syrupy mouthfeel. Excellent presence in two parts milk, though surprisingly dry, displaying a citrusy dark chocolate that it’s tempting to call butterscotch.

Evaluated as espresso. Delicate, floral- and caramel-toned aroma. In the small cup the caramel drops back and a pungent, lemony cedar dominates, complicated by continuing floral top notes. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Caramel returns with the flowers in the finish. Almost loses its way in two parts milk, but the caramel turns pleasantly chocolaty and the cedar contributes some authority.

Evaluated as espresso. Great depth and complex range in aroma and flavor: crisp walnut and dark chocolate, cedary anise, lemon and floral top notes. Heavy, satiny mouthfeel; long, rich, sweetly resonant finish. Surprisingly delicate in two parts milk, but ultimately a sweet but complex chocolate, toffee- and mint-toned, impresses.

Evaluated as espresso. Complex, crisply sweet aroma deepens and turns bittersweet in the small cup: dark chocolate, pungent, mango-like fruit, orange, smoothing again in a resonant, flavor-saturated finish. Medium body, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor simplifies and fades a bit in milk, though the dark chocolate and tropical fruit character persist.

An espresso blend evaluated here for use with non-espresso brewing methods (drip, French press): Distinct dark chocolate in aroma and cup, enlivened by a hint of pungent, grapefruity citrus. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Citrus and lemon carry into a smooth, sweet finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Sweet-toned and quietly complex: pungent fir and dark chocolate dominate, with top-note hints of lemon and flowers. Mouthfeel is smooth if slightly lean; cleanly rich, straightforward finish. At best in two parts milk, where the chocolate softens and rounds to fill out the milk nicely, complicated by continued suggestions of lemon and fir.

Evaluated as espresso. Great depth and range of sensation. Between Ken (94) and co-taster Sean Kohmescher (94) about a dozen aroma/flavor descriptors surfaced, most circling around fruit (stone fruit, wine grape, berry) and nut-toned dark chocolate. Medium to full body; silky/syrupy mouthfeel; crisply dry, flavor-saturated finish. Balanced, chocolaty and berryish in two parts milk.

Evaluated as espresso. Co-taster Sean Kohmescher (94) and Ken (94) both admired this sample’s refined complexity and chocolate-toned depth. Ken cited crisp fir and lemon complication, whereas Sean’s reading of nuance inclined more toward berry and wine. Both found the sample slightly more impressive in the small cup than in milk, but nevertheless honored its sweet chocolaty balance in two parts milk, nuanced (for Ken) by hints of flowers and lemon.

Evaluated as espresso. Both Ken (94) and co-taster Sean Kohmescher (94) remarked on and enjoyed distinct and subtly unusual roasted nut and fudgy (Sean’s term) chocolate notes in aroma and small cup. Also some fruit complication (orange for Ken, berry for Sean). Medium to full body, smooth mouthfeel, and a superb finish that just keeps coming, carrying subtly transforming flavor notes far into the reaches of sensory memory. Fades just a bit in two parts milk, but remains pleasing and balanced.

Evaluated as espresso. Both Ken (93) and co-taster Sean Kohmescher (93) admired sweet-toned floral and bright lemony suggestions broadened by leather-like, musky bottom notes. Medium to full body, syrupy mouthfeel. Cocoaish chocolate and hints of lemon and flowers carry pleasingly into two parts milk.

Evaluated as espresso. Although both Ken (94) and co-taster Sean Kohmescher (90) lavished a bundle of descriptors on this complex and challenging espresso, the real issue was how much to honor a pungent, musky character as it plays out in a well-pulled espresso. Both Ken and Sean were puzzled by the unusual aroma, but Sean, as he followed it into the cup, found it pleasing but just a bit edgy, perhaps musty, whereas Ken enthusiastically read it rich with the sort of pungent, earthy grapefruit character one finds in the best Sumatras. In two parts milk Sean found this flavor complex “musky” and “antique”; for Ken it was suavely nut-like.

Evaluated as espresso. Complex dried-in-the-fruit profile. “Berries and more berries” in the aroma for co-taster Sean Kohmescher (91). For Ken (91) berries plus a lot of other notes: brandy, malty dark chocolate, fresh-cut cedar. In the small cup Sean felt the aromatics turned crisper and drier: lemon, flowers, green bitters (as in asparagus); Ken read the same rounder, brandyish, cedary berries-and-chocolate notes as he had in the aroma. Both found the body medium and the mouthfeel silky. Rather crisp in two parts milk; cocoa for Ken, lemon and flowers for Sean.

Evaluated as espresso. Gently tart, lemony, delicate. Co-taster Sean Kohmescher (91) was a bit more lavish in his descriptors than Ken (91): “bright citrus” in the aroma; more sweet citrus, vanilla, hints of flowers and honey in the small cup; vanilla and cranberries in the finish. Ken pretty much left it at lemon and flowers. The lemon dominated in two parts milk, but the milk coaxed out a sweet chocolate to round and support it.

Evaluated as espresso. Ken, at 92, liked this unusual sample better than co-taster Sean Kohmescher (90) did, perhaps because Ken read more depth in the aromatics and flavor. Sean stopped at citrus, honey and caramel in aroma and small cup whereas Ken added dark chocolate and pungent fir. Ken also found a bit more going on in the finish, with flowers complicating a deep, bananaish chocolate. In two parts milk Ken and Sean read the cup about the same although applying slightly different language, with Sean citing lemon and ”light caramel” and Ken a “lemony chocolate.”

Evaluated as espresso. Co-taster Sean Kohmescher (92) and Ken (88) split on this coffee and how to read its deep, ferment-toned fruit. Sean enjoyed the distinctive character of the fruit: “stone-fruited chocolate” with a hint of grapefruit. Ken read the same fruit but also picked up nagging musty/salty tendencies. Two parts milk smoothed things out a bit for Ken, developing a chocolaty sweetness, though Sean remained more committed here also, praising the shot’s “light, sweet, berries and cream” performance in milk.

Evaluated as espresso. Although Ken (90) and co-taster Sean Kohmescher (90) produced identical ratings, they read this coffee a bit differently, with Sean emphasizing its brightish citrus and floral tendencies while Ken added dark chocolate and hint of brandy. Sean was citrus inclined more toward lemon and lime, Ken toward a deeper-toned orange. Both read the small cup as medium in weight though slightly lean in mouthfeel, but admired the sample performance in two parts milk, finding it smooth, creamy, complex: berry, flowers, lemony cocoa.

Evaluated as espresso. Deep, dark-chocolaty aroma turns crisper in the small cup, which co-taster Sean Kohmescher (90) read as dry, “limeish” and floral, Ken (90) as more orangy and anise-like. Rich, dry, very long finish with a clear citrus edge. Two parts milk revives a delicate and cocoaish version of the chocolate, rounding the citrus and flowers.