Estate Reviews

Low-key and rich. In the aroma fresh-cut cedar and caramel, with a shimmer of crisply temperate fruit, pear perhaps. In the cup the low-toned acidity is sweet, the mouthfeel round. The cup is a bit monotoned when hot, but as it cools it opens up beautifully, revealing a deep, black-cherry-toned fruit. The finish is slightly heavy.

Low-toned and pungent, bittersweet rather than acidy. Cedar and chocolate hints in the aroma; in the cup a deep, pruny (or perhaps dried fig) fruit and crisp, dry berry notes, with perhaps a little rounding suggestion of chocolate.

A past-crop green coffee that faded badly in storage before roasting. The dominating character is a pungency that reads as sweet pine in the aroma and a rather salty spice in the cup.

Low-key, sweetly pungent aroma: pear, caramel, chocolate. In the cup rich, roundly full-bodied, with plum and chocolate notes. A slight astringent sharpness tends to shadow the lush aromatics, however, particularly in the finish.

Superb aroma: rich, deep, pungently chocolate. The chocolate turns more intensely pungent, almost pine-toned in the cup, balanced by sweet, lush undercurrents of fruit.

In the small cup deeply sweet, with a heavy, buttery mouthfeel and carnal fruit tones: papaya, mango, bittersweet chocolate. Exceptional in milk: very sweet with chocolate-toned fruit of almost lyric lift and complexity balanced by a dry, authoritative finish.

Complexly fruity and richly floral coffee - papaya, lemon, coffee fruit, hints of dusk-blooming flowers and chocolate, all ride a strong, balanced structure: good body, smooth mouthfeel, supple, sweet acidity.

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.

Deep, rich, quietly complex aroma, with hints of cherry-toned fruit, chocolate, and leather. Loses its smile and turns quite serious in the cup, with a fullish body and powerful but sweet acidity. Once past the aroma, little nuance.

Sweet and fruity in the aroma with raisin and chocolate complication. In the cup delicate in mouthfeel, tartly sweet, and richly and roundly fruity. Cleanly sweet and rich in the short finish, though a slight but not unpleasurable astringency lingers in the long.

Deep and balanced, smooth in mouthfeel, low in acidity, rich with sweet wine- and chocolate-cherry-toned fruit and a resiny hint of cedar. Nominating reader John Outler applies the technical tasting term "Yummy!" to this coffee before continuing "Perfect intersection between dark and light [roast]. Not too bitter."

Delicately rich, with a shimmer of flowers in the aroma, pear deepening toward cherry and chocolate in the cup. Sweet, softly complex finish. The sample I cupped probably was delivered slightly stale from the restaurant; a fresh sample of the same coffee might well merit a higher rating.

Impressive aroma: balanced, sweetly acidy yet gently roasty, with suggestions of chocolate and low-toned fruit - papaya or apricot. In the cup neither roasty nor acidy, however; simply bitter. Softens toward the finish but never completely recovers its opening balance and complexity.

The aroma is high-toned but pungent, laced with caramel, cantaloupe and leather. In the cup a sweet, wine-toned fruit leads, with richly malty, bracingly bitter tones opening up behind. The bitterness dissolves in the long, clean, chocolate-toned finish.

Low-key, pungent aroma laced with cocoa and caramel. Sweet in the cup with enveloping bottom notes of overripe fruit and sweet humus. Surprising floral notes in the finish.

Crisp, wine- and cherry-toned fruit dominate in both aroma and cup. A delicate mustiness reads as leather and sweet pipe tobacco. The rather heavy finish lightens and sweetens as the cup cools.

A tribute to classic balance: pure but substantial, quietly intense without extremes. Gently acidy, deeply rich, discreetly complicated by tightly laced notes of leather, chocolate and fruit.

Mid-toned and complex in the nose with fresh apricot and sweet cocoa. Simplifies slightly in the cup, turning roundly tart in a rich Meyer lemon direction. The immediate finish is slightly sharp, but the long finish smoothes out in a silky lemony, chocolaty trajectory.

The aroma is high-toned and softly intense, with peach and cantaloupe notes that carry gracefully into the cup. A gentle acidity and a glint of citrus give the soft fruit authority.

Variants on citrus shimmer through this buoyant, sweetly acidy cup: lemon and cocoa in the aroma, lemon and pink grapefruit in the cup. The finish is sweetly tart.