Fair trade Reviews

A round bakers' chocolate character in the aroma, with subtle berry, citrus and aromatic wood notes. Balanced acidity supports the dominant sweet chocolate tones in the cup. A long finish with fruit-toned cocoa complication, suggesting cocoa hulls or nibs.

Roundly balanced aroma; orange, chocolate, a hint of flowers. In the cup silky mouthfeel, crisp acidity. The orange notes turn pleasantly bittersweet (think fresh orange peel) and the hint of chocolate goes dark and raisiny. The orange notes carry deeply into the finish, with a revived suggestion of flowers.

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.

Superbly balanced, bright but sweet cup. Grapefruit-toned citrus, flowers, nut in the aroma. In the cup perfectly balanced acidity and sweetness, lightly syrupy mouthfeel with nut and orange notes and a continued hint of flowers. A slight astringent tightness mars an otherwise rich finish.

A coffee distinguished more by a gently pungent, quiet richness than by any aromatic complexity. Restrained acidity, silky mouthfeel. Dark chocolate and nut hints carry from aroma through cup to the particularly sweet finish.

Sweet-toned, softly acidy aroma, with crisp, cedary fruit notes (aka black currant) complicated by hints of flowers and dark chocolate. In the cup powerfully acidy, dry, pungent but juicy. with citrusy berry and a continued nod toward a cocoaish dark chocolate. The finish stays on the rich side of astringent.

A very light roast preserves the essential meadowy sweetness and delicacy of this quiet, pure coffee. Notes of fir, honey, molasses and cherry in aroma and cup. The acidity is light-footed and sweet-toned, the mouthfeel silky. Surprisingly rich finish with a very slight woody flatness in the long.

An apparent slow roast deepens and rounds the profile. Hints of fir, milk chocolate, possibly butter in the aroma. In the cup muted acidity, rough but full mouthfeel, continued aromatic wood and chocolate notes, with hints of flowers and butter. The chocolate notes carry into the rich, dry finish.

Both Ken (89) and co-taster Heather Perry (87) admired the aroma: "creamy berry" for Heather, "bananaish fruit with floral top notes" for Ken. But for both the mouthfeel was a bit lean in the small cup and the flavor a bit sharp, though Ken admired the continued floral notes. For both tasters the profile smoothed in the long finish, with a sweet flavor persistence that suggested chocolate for Ken, "blackberry pie" for Heather. Heather found it lost sweetness in milk but Ken was pleased, finding it crisp with "true chocolate" notes.

Deep-toned and roasty in the aroma: dark chocolate, fir, floral top notes. In the cup heavy bodied, low-toned, continued dark chocolate and aromatic wood notes with the barest hint of flowers at the top. Smooths out nicely in the finish: rich, sweet, chocolaty.

A quiet but distinctive Ethiopia wet-processed profile. Distinct orange blossom and honeyed orange notes in the aroma, with hints of nut and caramel. In the cup delicate, balanced acidity, silky mouthfeel, continued honeyed orange and orange blossom with a balancing, slightly pungent nut note, walnut perhaps. Sweet, flavor saturated finish. The cup stiffens and simplifies slightly as it cools.

Assessed as espresso. Sweetly wood in the aroma, with a hint of dark chocolate and a savory, almost salty note. The same aromatic complex carries into the cup, though the wood warms toward cedar and the dark chocolate intensifies. Medium to full body. Heavy but sweet finish with a continuing chocolate note. In milk softens and sweetens appropriately but the shadow savory salt note continues to haunt the chocolate.

Sweet-toned and balanced in the aroma, with a slight smoky character and a muted complexity that extends into the cup: raisins, honey, cedar, flowers. In the cup still balanced, slightly tart, delicate. The chocolate persists into the rich, simple finish.

This coffee declares its essential Yirgacheffe character immediately: perfumy and pungently menthol-toned in the aroma, shimmering with floral and lemon notes. The aromatic drama carries without loss or simplification into a gently bright cup, light-bodied but silky in mouthfeel. The finish is thinnish but long, sweet, and flower-saturated.

Quiet aroma with walnut and hints of cedar and dark chocolate. In the cup heavy body with a slightly rough mouthfeel, an almost syrupy sweet structure, and dominating musty/earthy notes that can be read as a sort of robust, walnut-toned dark chocolate. The sweetness carries into a rich, slightly tight, continued walnut-toned finish.

Sweetly balanced in aroma and cup: butter, flowers, orange, dark chocolate. The orangy chocolate notes dominate in the gently acidy, silky-bodied cup. Fine finish: rich, sweet, flavor-saturated. A very slight hint of astringency emerges as the cup cools.

Both co-cupper Miguel Meza (88) and Ken (89) agreed that this coffee was low-toned, but for Ken it displayed a quietly resonant depth whereas apparently for Miguel it was simply quiet. Miguel found chocolate and citrus in the aroma, Ken chocolate and a distinct ginger note. Miguel read "blueberry, over-ripe fruit and toast" in the crisply fruity cup, Ken dry chocolate, brandy, blueberries, apricot, flowers. Both noted a persistence of berryish fruit in an otherwise rather thinnish finish.

Deep, roast-influenced aroma: gently scorched cedar, cardamom, orange. In the cup the softly pungent roast and earth tones turn toward a raisiny dark chocolate, with continued distinct orange references. The finish is round, resonant, and stays well on the rich side of a slight astringency.

The aroma is very deep and sweet-toned with lush references to banana, coconut, dusk flowers. In the cup the acidity is extraordinarily rich and round-toned, the mouthfeel supple, the nuance opulent with coconut, red wine, chocolate and floral notes. Rich, long, flavor-saturated finish.

Soft, gently balanced aroma with muted but deep orange, chocolate and honey notes. In the cup the mouthfeel is round, full and almost chewily present, the flavor dominated by a simple, dense, cherry-toned chocolate.