Pacific Reviews

Intense aroma and flavor, dominated by one of the most distinctive notes in coffee, a kind of earthy, pungent citrus sensation that may suggest grapefruit to some, butterscotch to others, but essentially is a pleasure that belongs to this style of coffee alone. Complicated by flowering grass, nut, dark chocolate. Balanced, integrated acidity, silky mouthfeel, sweetly rich, resonantly flavor-saturated finish.

Mild earth-toned aroma with hints of chocolate and soft nut. Full body, creamy mouthfeel and flavors that tend toward an earthy pungency with a pronounced dark chocolate complication. The pungent edge lingers long into the dry finish.

Subdued aroma: spicy aromatic wood, hints of earth, butter, dark chocolate. In the cup quiet acidity, full body, sweet-toned but simple, heavy flavor with hints of aromatic wood and earth. Simple and rich in the short finish, but fades quickly toward a slightly salty astringency.

Sweet and deep in aroma and cup: notes of moist, freshly fallen leaves, and a ripe, slightly fermented fruit that reaches toward dark chocolate in the cup. Fullish body. Simple, cedar-toned finish.

Pungent, earth and aromatic-wood character with undercurrents of chocolaty, prune-like sweetness carrying from aroma into cup. Hints of orange and grapefruit; medium to full body.

In the aroma an intense wood smoke character with hints of cedar and a vague fruitiness. Soft and simple in the cup with sweet notes of charred wood, leather and a hint of earth. The finish is round and dry; a slight astringency diminishes and allows sweetness to prevail in the long.

Mild, sweet-toned aroma with charred aromatic wood and fruit notes. In the cup medium to full body with a leanish mouthfeel. Continued sweet charred wood, earth, and muted tropical fruit that intensifies as the cup cools. Sweet roastiness lingers in the long, dry finish.

Sweet-toned, foresty aroma; co-cupper Jennifer Stone (90) found flowering grass and herb; Ken (91) freshly cut wood and night flowers. In the cup gently bright acidity, full body with lightly syrupy mouthfeel, and continued garden-toned aromatics: flowers (both Ken and Jennifer), nut (Ken), citrus (Jennifer). Sweetness envelopes a slight astringency in the "resonant" (Jennifer) finish.

Lemon, apple, moist fallen leaves in aroma and cup, supported by a sweet pungency that suggests fresh-cut cedar or butterscotch. Round, full mouthfeel, quiet acidity, long, resonant finish.

Mildly toasty aroma, with sweet hints of flowers and orange-toned fruit. In the cup full body, straightforward toasty notes and, as the coffee cools, chocolate, nuts and tropical fruit. Pleasant cocoa in the long finish.

Evaluated as espresso. As a drip coffee fell quite short of 80. As espresso revealed some virtues. In the aroma sweet-toned with distinct chocolate and butter notes. In the small cup medium bodied, round-toned and sweet, with earth, aromatic wood and herbal notes (I read fennel) and hints of nut and chocolate. The finish was simple in the short and mildly astringent in the long. Surprisingly disappointing in milk: leanish in mouthfeel with banana and chocolate in front but a slight though disturbing note toward the finish that for me suggested salted meat.

Very rich aroma: tartly sweet, round-toned, with cherry- and orange-toned fruit. In the cup syrupy mouthfeel, sweet, with continued orangy fruit and a hint of moist leaves.

In the aroma intense, pungent with grapefruit and cedar notes. In the cup full-bodied, with the dominating earthy pungency enveloped in deep sweetness. Continued grapefruit, pineapple and cedar notes settle toward honey and chocolate. Sweet, resonant, rich finish, totally free of astringency.

Superb fruity, caramelly aroma with distinct brandy and chocolate notes. In the small cup medium body, dominated by caramel and cedar notes with only a hint of cherryish brandy intrigue. The fruity brandy tones intensify in the finish, though with a very slight bitterish edge. They reach their apotheosis in milk, however, where they finally free themselves from their slight bitter shadow and bloom with lush, powerful expressiveness.

Softly sweet-toned, rather simple aroma - raisin and chocolate notes. In the cup a lean but rather silky mouthfeel, with continued raisin and sweet pipe tobacco notes and a continued lean toward milk chocolate. Simple, straightforward finish with a shimmer of astringency in the long.

Most cups of this sample were very sweet in aroma and flavor, with soft earth tones (think the odor of freshly fallen, moist leaves that have just begun to compost), and pleasingly round cherry, cocoa and caramel notes. Unfortunately one cup of five was very, very foul tasting, probably owing to a bad bean called a "stinker," so we deducted 4 points from a coffee that otherwise might merit a 90.

Delicate but intense aroma: sandalwood, hints of cherryish fruit. In the cup lean in mouthfeel; the aromatic wood notes settle toward chocolate while the fruit displays a distinct and pleasant grapefruit twist. The chocolate and fruit persist only momentarily in the finish before they are lost in astringency. Reader Frank Baker nominated this coffee as "a quintessential Sumatra, absolutely the best I have ever tasted."

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule at a cup volume of 7.25 ounces): Sweet, simple, caramelly aroma. In the cup medium-bodied but lean in mouthfeel, with a thinly pungent, musty/malty character and hints of cherryish fruit. A mild musty astringency in the finish leans toward rich.

The aroma, sweetly pungent with a hint of chocolaty fruit, provided only a hint of the intensity displayed by the cup - high-toned and richly acidy, with a simple but powerful flavor complex: dry berry (aka black current), a hint of grapefruit, and rich, dry chocolate.

This unusually light roasted Sumatra is very sweet and richly high-toned, and exceptional in its lush but delicate expression of the natural character of coffee fruit and flower. The fruit suggests cherry leaning toward unsweetened chocolate, but those who have visited coffee farms will recognize it as the taste of the coffee fruit itself, with shimmers of jasmine-like coffee flower. The short finish is cherryish and rich, though the long leaves us with just the slightest hint of astringency.