South America Reviews

Intense, gently but sweetly tart. Lemony peach, almond, fresh-cut fir, brown sugar in aroma and cup. Delicate, lively acidity; leanish but silky mouthfeel. Long, almost sugary sweet short finish, drying in the long.

Very sweet, delicately lush. Apricot, almond, hints of milk chocolate and tangerine in aroma and cup. Gently crisp acidity; light, slightly lean mouthfeel. Apricot and chocolate in particular persist in a smooth, sweet-toned finish.

Deep, balanced, intense. Nut, flowers, stonefruit, sweet cocoa in aroma and cup. Sweetly crisp acidity; lively, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The balance and completeness that characterizes the entire profile stretches into a long, resonant swoon of a finish.

Crisp and gently tart. Cocoa, ripe plum, flowers, and a hint of pungent fresh-cut fir in aroma and cup. Rich, forward acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Balanced, gently flavor-saturated finish.

Richly and roundly tart. The taste of fresh coffee fruit -- think tart cherry -- and pungent grapefruit dominate in aroma and cup, with softening suggestions of cocoa, almond and caramel. Sweet-toned acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Dry, resonant finish.

Unusual and complex aromatics. Intense, sweetly pungent, slightly savory: blackberry, black currant, lemon, cedar, cocoa. Gentle, tartly sweet acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor fades a bit in the pleasantly round finish.

Honey and sweet night flowers balanced by a gently lemony tartness and pungent, fresh-cut cedar. Pronounced but roundly balanced acidity; syrupy mouthfeel. Rich, resonant short finish simplifies very slightly in the long.

Crisply lush with floral notes of startling complexity. Ripe lemon, cocoa, moist pipe tobacco, and floral notes that range from dry lavender through a spicy rose to a heavy-scented honeysuckle. Balanced acidity; buoyant, silky mouthfeel. Rich, deep, flower-saturated finish.

Balanced, lyric coffee. Gently pungent fir rounded by fruit notes (blackberry, plum) in aroma and cup. Soft acidity; lively, lightly syrupy mouthfeel; sweet-toned, cocoaish finish. A very slight grassy or hay-like note emerges as the cup cools.

Classically pure, brightly balanced profile. Honey, flowers, ripe lemon, with a rounding hint of cocoa in aroma and cup. Sweet, juicy acidity; syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor may fade a bit in the finish but the poised, complete structure of the coffee rings on.

Crisply assertive yet delicate. Nectarine-like stonefruit, tea rose and lime zest carry into the cup, complicated by fresh-cut fir and sweet, plummy fruit notes. Floral-toned acidity; buoyantly silky mouthfeel. More flowers and tart stone fruit in the finish.

Intense, complex, inimitably distinctive aromatics and flavor: crisp cocoa, cherryish fruit, brandy, spicy tea rose, fresh pipe tobacco. Rich, fruit-toned acidity; syrupy mouthfeel; long finish with an exquisite balance of dry cocoa and sweet fruit notes.

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.

Crisply balanced with a shifting, tight-knit complexity. Flowers, nut, fir, and a dark chocolaty fruit in aroma and cup. The flowers and chocolate carry long into the finish. Gentle acidity, silkily smooth mouthfeel.

Quiet introduction: soft notes of fir, flowers and milk chocolate in the aroma. All of this soars in the cup, intense yet perfectly balanced. The floral notes, which take back seat to the milk chocolate and gently pungent fir in the cup, move forward again in a very sweet, clean finish. Delicately tart acidity, silky mouthfeel.

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 6-ounce serving): Sweet-toned, soft, balanced, with a grapy, Riesling-like fruit and hints of dark chocolate and flowers. Muted aroma and short (if rich) finish. Best in the cup: bright, delicate acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel and gently complex flavor.

Complete, balanced structure, complex aromatics, classic. Deep, sweet-toned aroma: lemon, orange, nut. In the cup gently bright, fruit- and fir-nuanced acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Continued lemon, orange and nut notes with a rounding suggestion of stone fruit. Rich, long, flavor-saturated finish.

Intense cedar tone dominates the aroma. Silky mouthfeel and soft flavors that hint at cherry-chocolate, malt and walnut. Wood-toned chocolate in the softly astringent finish.

Notes of sweet nut, caramel and aromatic wood in aroma and cup. Full body, syrupy mouthfeel and a finish enlivened by a bitter-edged chocolate and more aromatic wood.

Evaluated as espresso. Rich and round in the aroma with soft hints of milk chocolate, stone fruit and baking spice. In the small cup the flavors broaden: apricot and honeydew melon deepened by dark chocolate and fresh tobacco. Flavors soften and persist rather deeply in the finish. In two parts milk, candied citrus peel and caramelized fruit maintain rich authority.