We found 20 reviews that match your search for Roaster = Counter Culture Coffee and Rating >= 90. Coffees are listed in reverse chronological order by review date. Older reviews may no longer accurately reflect current versions of the same coffee. Click on roaster images to visit roaster websites.
Evaluated as espresso. For both Ken (93) and co-taster Andy Newbom (93) softly complex fruit, floral and citrus were the main themes here, with the most distinctive nuance the sweet, rich character of the citrus. Andy described it in multiple ways, from "citrus jelly" to "chiffony and meringuey" in the small cup to "lemon curd" in four parts milk. Ken also cited a backgrounded crisp cocoa that supported the pervasive lemony richness. Probably best as a straight shot, but successfully imposed its citrusy elegance on tall milk. | ![]() |
Sweet and deep in the aroma, with suggestions of flowers, butter, cedar. Smooth, rounded acidity and syrupy body in the cup, with continued floral notes, a cocoaish chocolate and richly tart fruit. Simple but long, resonant finish. | ![]() |
Very sweet-toned, cherryish, chocolate-leaning fruit in the aroma; butter and night flower complications. In the cup deeply acidy, full-bodied. The chocolate character deepens and sheds some fruit, but remains rich, sweet and buttery, with a slight herby/salty edge. The chocolate fruit outlasts a slight astringency in the finish. | ![]() |
Both co-cupper Jim Reynolds (94) and Ken (91) particularly admired the "active acidity" (Jim) of this coffee with its rich berry and floral influences. Jim found the flavor "complex but balanced." Ken was more specific: "dark chocolate, cherryish fruit, a hint of dusk flowers." Both approved of mouthfeel ("lightly syrupy," Ken) and finish ("light, bright and very pleasant," Jim). | ![]() |
Co-cupper Jim Reynolds (88): "This coffee had a complex, well-balanced aroma that reminded me of a vanilla flower, although I?ve never smelled a vanilla flower. I wish more of this had carried over into the cup, because the flavor was not as complex [nor] as interesting." Ken (92), on the other hand, found the floral and prune-toned fruit character of the aroma carried well into the cup, joined by cocoa and a slight, not unpleasant, salt or savory note. Ken and Jim agreed, however, in praising the richly resonant finish. | ![]() |
Ken (93) and co-cupper Jennifer Stone (92) both remarked on the bright, richly floral character of the aroma. In the cup quietly vibrant acidity, smooth mouthfeel, continued gentle richness, with a flavor complex that combines lush night flowers with a sweet pungency pointing at cedar, caramel and deep-toned, carnal fruit: apricot, mango. Long, deep finish. | ![]() |
Remarkable aromatic balance and big, suavely sweet acidity make this a remarkable blend despite its relatively light body and short finish. Dark chocolate, aromatic wood, tart, cherryish fruit carry from aroma through cup with poised authority. | ![]() |
An intensely complex aroma: flowers, lemon, plum, pungent fresh-cut pine, toast. Fruit tones persist in the sweet acidity and delicately juicy mouthfeel. Balanced, rounded flavor: orangy sweetness to heady flowers to gentle chocolate notes. Finishes cleanly, with mild citrus notes that sweeten in the long. | ![]() |
Rustic ferment notes in the aroma read as aromatic wood, coconut, baking spices, mango. Full, smooth mouthfeel with a range of complex flavors including tropical fruit, smoky bittersweet chocolate and aromatic wood. Dry, sweet finish, with suggestions of grapefruit and cocoa. | ![]() |
A bright, citrusy profile. Very sweet-toned aroma with tight-knit complexity: flowers, pipe tobacco, and a soft, orangy citrus. In the cup pronounced acidity, medium body, richly distinct floral notes with continued citrus notes that turn toward a sweet but tart grapefruit under the influence of the acidity. | ![]() |
Roundly balanced, quietly rich coffee. Soft aroma with nut and chocolate notes. In the cup gently rich acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel, cherry-chocolate notes that carry into a simple but full finish. | ![]() |
A slight menthol-like astringency throughout the profile is the only restraint to this otherwise exceptional, complexly engaging coffee. In the aroma sweet-toned and balanced with pungent orange and butterscotch notes and hints of flowers and nut. The acidity is gentle and integrated, the cup very sweet but crisp in structure, with continued orange, nut, flower and very distinct cocoa or baker's chocolate notes. The nut and floral notes carry into a rich finish, although the shadow tightness that nags its way through the cup has the last word as the nuts and flowers fade. | ![]() |
A quietly distinctive coffee that rewards attentiveness. Balanced, round, resonant in structure with restrained but pleasing aromatics: white wine, walnut, cedar, hints of flowers and chocolate. The chocolate tendencies amplify in an impressively rich finish. | ![]() |
Sweet-toned, soft aroma with flickers of flowers, chocolate and pear-like temperate fruit. In the cup quietly acidy, with a richly syrupy mouthfeel and a round, balanced structure. Continued flowers, chocolate and fruit, though in the cup the fruit is more honeyish date than pear. Simple, rich finish. | ![]() |
Deeply and sweetly acidy throughout the profile. In the aroma intensely floral with orange, honey and pipe tobacco. In the cup the mouthfeel is syrupy, the acidity cherry-toned and lush. Sweet, rich finish with fine flavor persistence in the short, slight astringency in the long. | ![]() |
Sweet-toned, quietly complex aroma: cherryish, chocolate-toned fruit with a hint of herby cedar. In the cup softly acidy and richly and exquisitely balanced, with the fruit taking on a distinct black cherry character. A coffee whose excellence ultimately lies in its suave authority and completeness. | ![]() |
The attraction of this coffee is a structure both powerful and elegant: richly and roundly acidy, with silky-verging-on-syrupy mouthfeel, fundamental sweetness, and ringing depth of sensation. The wispy hints of chocolate, cherry and cedar are a bonus. Reader Mike Venditto's nomination of a Counter Culture coffee was not available, so we substituted this rather similar Bolivia. | ![]() |
Opulently complex aroma: cherry, blueberry, dry semi-sweet chocolate, brandy. In the cup very sweet, gently rich; the chocolate grows rounder and more distinct with continued blueberry and brandy complication. The rich, dry brandy notes dominate a slight astringency in the finish. | ![]() |
A voluptuously sweet coffee, with roundly integrated acidity, great balance and elegance, and a resonant, cherry-toned fruit that carries through the profile from the intense aroma to the rich, finely clean finish. Complicating notes of fresh cedar, flowers and black currant in both aroma and cup. The fruit turns slightly chocolate toward the finish. | ![]() |
Rich, deep, intense, with the dry fruit robustness of a cabernet and the tartly sweet black currant notes so cherished by lovers of Kenya. In the finish swoons into a ringing, almost sugary sweetness. | ![]() |