Espresso Reviews

Reader Jim Beckham of Athens, Texas reports he drinks "about a pound a week ofthis espresso. I frequently try others, but I always come back to this great blend." I might comeback to it too. Dry fruit, chocolate and leather notes, fat body, smooth, round, completelywithout bitterness. In milk excellent authority: rich, developing from dry chocolate in small dairyto milk chocolate in large.

Reader Derick Miller called Graffeo to my attention, testifying that this groupof three small in-store roasters produces "great coffee." I found this light-roasted version of theGraffeo blend acidy but sweet, rich, with a broad flavor range including delicate orange and floralnotes. Both aroma and finish showed a slight bitter edge which rounded and softened as the cupcooled.

"Great crema - best espresso I've ever had," writes Mandy Elion of Pasadena,California, who rates Supreme Bean espressos 90 - 94. This all-organic espresso blend isbalanced, richly and roundly roasty in the demitasse, with undertones of fruity chocolate. Atingle of astringency in the finish is invigorating rather than rough. In small milk comes acrossheavy with fruity chocolate tones; in large milk sweetly and roundly fruity.

Reader Liz Snyder of Newark, Ohio rates this blend 95 - 100 on the basis of an evaluation thatmakes up in enthusiasm for what it may lack in technical detail: "I love [this coffee]. It tastes SOgood." I evaluated the Wiener Melange as espresso. In the demitasse I found it full and round inbody and heavily bittersweet in flavor, complicated by dry chocolate tones. In small milk itremained dry, smoky, chocolaty and rather heavy. In larger milk it came fully into its own,softening but still dominating with fruit- and chocolate-nuanced authority.

Reader Derick Miller called Graffeo to my attention, testifying that this groupof three small in-store roasters produces "great coffee." I brewed this dark-roasted version of theGraffeo blend as espresso and found it medium-bodied, smooth in mouthfeel, sweet but crisplyroasty. In small milk the bittersweetness read as a dry, smoky chocolate; in larger milk as adelicately sweet but rather dilute chocolate.

Reader "Cynmar69" reports this espresso blend "has a true coffee taste, ...smooth and flavorsome unlike most burnt flavored coffees." I found it full-bodied and fat on thetongue, with the kind of pleasantly fermented fruit tones that suggest chocolate-covered cherries.A shimmer of sharp acidity is balanced by sweetness. The finish is clean, rich and chocolaty.Slightly disappointing in small milk, where the coffee seems to simplify without softening, but inlarger milk the fruit and chocolate tones bloom nicely. The preground, canned format doubtlessaccounts for the subdued aroma.

Reader Peter Lynagh nominated this coffee, rating it a 90 to 94. He describes it as "sweet, bold, fruit-toned, yet perfectly balanced and round," as well as "paradoxical." Paradoxical perhaps because it maintains the fruity brightness of medium-roasted coffees while avoiding aggressively dry or acidy notes. I would agree with all of the above, though I wish that my sample had not displayed a slight, muted bitterness.

Reader Peter Lynagh nominated this coffee, rating it a 90 to 94. He describes it as "sweet, bold, fruit-toned, yet perfectly balanced and round," as well as "paradoxical." Paradoxical perhaps because it maintains the fruity brightness of medium-roasted coffees while avoiding aggressively dry or acidy notes. I would agree with all of the above, though I wish that my sample had not displayed a slight, muted bitterness.

An exquisitely delicate coffee. Meltingly sweet and cocoa-toned in the nose, in the cup gently acidy and crisply fruity with cocoa and pear notes. The finish is pleasingly chocolate-toned, but slightly astringent.

In the small cup sharp, bitter astringency overpowers hints of malty chocolate and dried fruit. Remains sharp and thinly bitter in small volumes of milk; in larger volumes softens to an expansive milk chocolate. (80 straight espresso, 84/milk.)

A smoky, heavy, bittersweet espresso. In the small cup the smoky, bitter tones overshadow floral and fruit top notes and toasty, leathery midtones. In small milk maintains its husky, smoky bittersweetness. In big milk softens, adding a hint of chocolate. (84 stright espresso, 85 w/milk)

In the small cup rather stingy in body, sharp, without nuance. Milk softens the sharp tones, however, allowing the coffee to develop beautifully, with rich fruit and floral notes leaning toward chocolate. (84 straight espresso, 89 w/milk)

Fermented, wine-like fruit notes agreeably dominate the small cup, though they are shadowed by bitterness, particularly in the finish. The bitterness turns pleasantly bittersweet in cappuccino-sized milk, and flat-out gloriously sweet and chocolate-fruit-toned in big milk. (86 straight espresso, 90 w/milk)

In the small cup full and buttery in body, in flavor grainy, sharply malty/musty, with dry, pleasing cherry-like fruit notes. Cappuccino-quantities of milk sweeten the profile, accentuating the fruit and turning the grainy tones pleasantly nut-like. At its best in big milk, where it its fat, buttery body masters the dairy with pure weight and character rather than with bitterness. (86 straight espresso, 90 w/milk)

Smooth, medium-to-full bodied and richly balanced in the small cup, discreetly complicated by crisp leather and dry chocolate notes. Slightly astringent in the finish. Milk amplifies the dry chocolate tones, which turn hearty and bittersweet in short milk drinks and voluptuously sweet in taller. (87 straight espresso, 88 w/milk)

In the small cup intense and rather lean-bodied but richly sweet, complicated by dry fruit notes and shimmers of flowers and chocolate. In milk smooth, sweet and toasty with a lushly chocolate-toned finish. (87 straight espresso, 88 w/milk)

An appealing combination of orange, chocolate, and floral notes shimmer in the small cup, though shadowed by a roasty sharpness. Milk rounds the cup nicely, however, turning the citrus and floral notes into a crisp, toasty chocolate. Fades slightly in big milk. (87 straight espresso, 89 w/milk)

An exceptional versatile espresso that maintains complexity and intrigue from small cup to big milk. Nuance ranges from chocolate and walnut to fermented fruit and malty/musty tones. The musty notes are sharp in the finish of the small cup but turn splendidly round and rich in milk. (87 straight espresso, 93 w/milk)

Splendid in the small cup, sweet, round, balanced, utterly free of sharpness or flaw. Its relative lack of nuance -- mere hints of chocolate and nut -- only emphasize the clarity and completeness of its classic gesture. Disappointing in milk, however: heavy and bitter in small milk, blunt and flat in large. (89 straight espresso, 84 w/milk)

Citrus and floral notes float atop pungent fermented fruit tones in the small cup; nut and chocolate notes complicate the finish. Maintains its leathery, spicy complexity in milk, adding a rounder and softer chocolate finish. 88 straight espresso, 89 w/milk)