Espresso Reviews

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.

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. Crisply but sweetly bright-toned in aroma and small cup: apricot, lemon, milk chocolate. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Lovely delicacy and complexity in two parts milk: the mild chocolate note dominates with continuing and distinct hints of lemon and apricot-like fruit.

Evaluated as espresso. Sweet, deep, fruit- and chocolate-toned aroma. Balanced, gently pungent in the small cup: cedar, butter, lemon, anise. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel; clean, flavor-saturated finish. Rounds and sweetens but retains complexity in two parts milk: lemon, cedar, dark chocolate.

Evaluated as espresso. Soft, balanced aroma highlighting hints of caramel, aromatic wood and anise. More intensity in the cup with a distinct orange note complimenting the sweet anise-and-aromatic-wood tendencies. Two parts milk rounds and sweetens the intensity of the straight shot without muting its authority.

Evaluated as espresso. Rich, buttery aroma: ripe lemon, cherry, a hint of fresh-cut fir. In the small cup medium body, smooth mouthfeel, crisply complex flavor: the fruit and fir notes resolve toward a dark chocolate with a hint of anise. Deep, sweet, dark-chocolaty finish. The chocolate sensation rounds and softens in two parts milk; think a lemon-toned milk chocolate.

Round, candied orange peel and nut-toned chocolate in the aroma. Light in body but rich in flavor with pungent notes of walnut, aromatic wood and ripe orange. Sustained bittersweet chocolate pungency in the finish. Intensity of the small cup softens in two parts milk; sweet nut and orange tones dominate.

Very deep, sweet, cherry-toned. Additional hints of brandy, minty dark chocolate, anise, cedar, flowers in aroma and small cup. Syrupy mouthfeel; chocolate in particular lingers in a richly long finish. The complexity mutes in two parts milk, though the minty chocolate persists.

Evaluated as espresso. Intensely pungent in the aroma: cedar and sweet chocolate. Lightly syrupy in mouthfeel and full-flavored in the small cup: continuing cedar notes and a chocolate that turns bittersweet and carries into the finish with a complicating hint of walnut. Flavor rounds and sweetens in two parts milk, but impressively retains its pungent, cedar-and-chocolate character.

Evaluated as espresso. A sweet, mild espresso with notes of stone fruit (apricot, peach), aromatic wood and hints of honey and flowers. Flavors simplify in the finish: the aromatic wood persists faintly and the fruit turns cocoaish. Balanced in two parts milk; aromatic wood is softened by an emerging caramel note.

Evaluated as espresso. Deep, raisin-toned dark chocolate notes dominate in aroma and cup. Rich and balanced in the aroma. Slightly rough mouthfeel in the small cup but the flavor deepens. The chocolate turns bittersweet in the finish, but blossoms richly and complexly in two parts milk.

Evaluated as espresso. Notes of plum, cinnamon and chocolate dominate in both in aroma and small cup. Medium body with silky mouthfeel. The fruit and spice notes fade in the finish, though a bittersweet version of chocolate is sustained in the long. Sweet and mild in two parts milk with some flavor complexity gently persisting.