COFFEE REVIEW
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We found 118 reviews that match your search for Highest Rated. The coffees below earned an exceptional score of 94 points or higher.
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.
Round, sweet and balanced. Deeply complex, lasting notes of citrus, nut, caramel and baking spices. Refined acidity, silky mouthfeel and a finish that rounds toward a rich milk chocolate, making the whispers of astringency easy to overlook. |  
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Juicy and sweet both in aroma and cup: pungent notes of citrus and cocoa with soft hints of lavender flowers and honey. Assertive but smooth acidity and a lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Clean finish: gentle cocoa character complicated by continuing fruit and floral hints. | |
In the aroma lemon, berry, and above all, delicate flowers - jasmine and lavender. In the cup crisp, floral-toned acidity, silky mouthfeel. The flowers and lemon deepen and turn richly pungent, sustaining into a long, deep finish. |  |
Extraordinary dried-in-the-fruit profile. Lushly fruit-toned and brandyish, yet crisp with savory wood notes. Blueberry, cherry, brandy-nuanced dark chocolate, aromatic wood, night flowers in aroma and cup, carrying into the finish. A slight hint of salt in the finish as well, but the fruit-and-brandy sweetness rings on. | |
Resonant, big-bodied, aromatically complex espresso. Dark chocolate, aromatic wood, and a lush, brandy-toned fruit in both aroma and small cup. The flavor softens in two parts milk, with the chocolate taking on a minty sweetness, but still maintains grown-up power and complexity. | |
Complex aromatically and in the cup: a bouquet of jasmine and honey suckle, lemon grass, round orange- and berry-tones. Softly balanced yet rich acidity and silky mouthfeel. Although the floral/fruit complex simplifies slightly in the finish, a milk chocolate-like sweetness emerges. |
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Intensely rich aroma: grapefruit, sweet-toned sandalwood and cedar. In the cup creamy body, penetratingly but gentle acidity, continued sweetly pungent fruit -- grapefruit, tart berry -- and aromatic wood. A juicy, flavor-saturated short finish turns crisply dry in the long. |
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Evaluated as espresso. A complete, big-bodied straight shot. Caramel, toast, flowers and orange in the aroma. All carry into a cup further complicated with deeper suggestions of brandy and chocolate. Flavors linger in the finish, developing solid sweetness in the long. Flavor notes consolidate nicely in two parts milk: turning even sweeter but maintaining complexity. | 
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Quietly complex aroma. Sweetly floral with layered suggestions of fruit: grapefruit, coconut, pineapple. In the cup balanced yet penetrating fruit-toned acidity and syrupy mouthfeel; stone fruit, citrus and black currant soften toward chocolate, carrying into a deep, sweet, rich finish. | |
Pure, intense aroma: flowers, orange, apricot, a hint of aromatic wood. In the cup big sweet-toned acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel, continued floral and fruit notes that round toward blackberry and a nut-toned baker's chocolate. Flowers in particular carry into a sweet-toned, rich finish. | |
Evaluated as espresso. Distinct floral- and citrus-toned aroma, lightly syrup mouthfeel and crisp, concentrated fruit that combines suggestions of citrus, flowers, aromatic wood and a cocoaish chocolate. Clean, very rich finish; the cocoa rounds to a sweet lemony chocolate. The intense flavors simplify in two parts milk but retain character and balance. | |
Sweet and richly high-toned aroma: lemon, flowers, fresh-cut cedar, honey. Lushly bright acidity, medium body, silky mouthfeel. In the cup the lavish acidity registers first, followed by a softer impression of night flowers, lemon, and a cedar note that rounds toward cocoa. Extraordinarily long, resonant finish, deeply saturated with flavor. | |
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. | 
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Rich aroma: flowers, nut, a hint of citrus. In the cup crisply sweet acidity, silky mouthfeel, deep floral flavor complicated by pungent dry berry and grapefruit-like citrus. Pure finish: very sweet, very long. | |
Intense but rounded aromas suggesting grapefruit and fragrant tropical wood. The aromatic characteristics deepen in the cup, reflecting an almost juicy sweetness complicated by continued aromatic wood and pungently complex fruit notes: grapefruit, white grape, mango perhaps. Clean, rich finish, with the flavor notes softening but lingering deeply in the long. | |
Pungent, roast-influenced citrus reads as grapefruit in aroma and cup, supported by backgrounded aromatic wood and leafy earth notes. Round, resonant acidity, deep natural sweetness, syrupy body. The grapefruit and earth notes carry into a long, opulent finish. | |
Crisp, sweetly pungent aroma: tart berry, lemon, nut, aromatic wood. In the cup delicately rich acidity, silky mouthfeel. Continued tart yet lushly sweet berry notes with a hint of earth complicate the aromatic wood notes. Long, flavor-saturated finish. | |
Startlingly intense, sweet-toned notes of ripe lemon, baker's chocolate and night flowers runs through the profile aroma through finish. Roundly rich acidity, plush mouthfeel. The baker's chocolate sweetens toward a crisp bittersweet chocolate in the cup and finish. | |
Deep and penetrating floral aroma: orangy sweetness and blackberries. Gentle acidity, smooth mouthfeel, and an intense, flavor-saturated character in the cup: classic black currant notes mingle forcefully with the concentrated sweetness of dried berries and flowers. Long, intensely sweet finish with the flavor notes delicately lingering and softening toward a fruit-toned chocolate. | |
Delicate, tartly crisp profile. In the aroma pungent nut, semi-sweet chocolate. In the cup balanced acidity, silky mouthfeel, intense sweetness with continued nut and dry chocolate notes. Very sweet, very long, flavor-saturated finish. | |
Pungent aroma of mixed fruit, a fir-like wood and honey. These aromatic notes grow more intense and complex in the cup, displaying suggestions of herb and a more fragrant, cedar-toned wood. The fruit notes - berry, stone fruit, citrus and black currant - become more prominent as the cup cools, persisting in a long, flavor-rich finish. | |
Intense aroma: round fruitiness suggesting black currant, mixed berries, lemon, toast, soft night flowers. Bright-toned acidity, medium body with a delicately syrupy mouthfeel and a particularly juicy tartness suggesting something like Satsuma oranges in syrup, together with continuing notes of flowers and berries, all lingering deeply into the finish. | |
Intense cocoa, lemon and floral notes in the aroma. In the cup rich acidity, lightly syrupy body, dry lemony cocoa, lush night flowers, and a distinct spice note suggesting nutmeg, all carrying majestically into the long, deeply flavor-saturated finish. | |
Sweetly pungent fruit and fresh earth notes throughout the profile. Crisp and grapefruit-like in the aroma, in the cup rich with moist, just decaying fallen leaves and deeper fruit notes; tart cherry perhaps. Leanish but silky mouthfeel. Very sweet, almost sugary in the flavor-saturated finish. | |
Subtle flower-toned aroma with distinct notes of tangerine. Brightly balanced acidity, smooth mouthfeel with delicate yet sustained flavors: more flowers, milky chocolate, and fruit suggesting cherry and black currant. Clean finish with the sweet fruit character gently carrying into the long. | |
Complex aromatic profile - spice notes read as cinnamon and cardamom, ripe stone-fruit sweetness and suggestions of chocolate. In the cup a syrupy mouthfeel supports an intense fruit character: honey-like Casaba melon, plum, nectarine. Cinnamon makes a return appearance in the smooth, caramelly finish. | |
Intensely aromatic yet finely balanced. The rich aroma is dominated by a pungent cedar sensation with backgrounded caramelly chocolate sweetness and a hint of flowers. The chocolaty fruit and night floral notes move lushly forward in the cup, persisting into the finish. Soft acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. | |
Delicately rich, balanced but gracefully intense coffee. High-toned aroma with flowers, nut and a hint of pungent cedar. Richly tart, opulent acidity; full, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The flavor is dominated by voluptuous notes of night flowers, orange, tart cherry, nut, all of which coast into a long, deep, clean finish. | |
Intensely sweet flavor and aroma dominated by flowers, apricot and tangerine. Soft, syrupy mouthfeel, bright-toned but balanced acidity and a remarkably rich, brandy-toned flavor. Crisp finish with sweet stone fruit notes lingering in the long. | |
"An absolutely mind-blowing coffee" for co-cupper Andy Newbom (93). "Utterly pure yet soaringly intense," for Ken (97). "Say fruit ten times," Andy reports, and then he does, mainly variations of grapefruit, apricot and melon with green apple and Bartlett pear thrown in for the finish. For Ken that entire nuance is wrapped up in the extraordinary, singular explosion of cedary, pungently sweet berry, the quintessential Bourbon character. The acidity is enveloped in sweetness; in Andy's colorful language it "startles and snuggles all at once." For mouthfeel Andy suggests "crème fraîche Meyer lemon chiffon"; Ken sticks with a pedestrian "syrupy." Ken awarded a perfect 10 to the long, balanced, deeply flavor-saturated finish. | |
Clean, complex, impeccable. Exhilaratingly dominated by crisp, nut-toned dry berry (blackberry, ripe black currant) in aroma and cup. Lush, lightly wine-toned acidity; medium body; syrupy mouthfeel. The underlying sweetness in the cup carries into the long, flavor-permeated finish. |
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Co-cupper Jim Reynolds (95): "This coffee scored well in every category. I especially liked the floral acidity - a nice vanilla and chocolate aspect to the flavor complemented the smooth - very smooth - mouthfeel." Ken's praise (94) was nearly identical, though he added "spicy fruit" and a hint of lemon to his descriptors. Impressive flavor persistence in a long, rich finish. | |
Co-taster Byron Holcomb (94): "On the nose, I got inviting, complex floral and strawberry notes. The body was vivacious - I could have said round, sweet, with a little savory edge, comforting, but vivacious will do." Both Ken (94) and Byron found chocolate and malt in the flavor, with an assortment of additional descriptors that testify to the complexity of this blend: "cedar, butter" (Ken), "lemon bar, spice" (Byron). Both were impressed by the big, sweet, chocolaty bloom in milk, which Byron found was complicated by a continued, brightening hint of lemon zest. It appears that a very controlled, judicious use of cleanly fruity-fermented dry-processed coffees contributed to the round, sweet, complex richness of this versatile blend. | |
Grandly fruity and sweetly fermented profile: port wine, raisiny dark chocolate, night flowers, blueberry, all carry with giddy intensity from aroma through cup to the long finish. Wine-like acidity, syrupy body, deep sweetness. | 
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Sweet fruit-punch aroma with notes of butter, flowers, wine and cedar. Lush fruit-toned acidity, silky body and complex flavors of guava nectar, honey, vanilla, berries and cherry-like chocolate. Fruit-saturated finish, with flavor hints outlasting a very slight astringency. | |
Dry berry notes (the famous Kenya "black currant"), lemon, dusk flowers and a hint of dark chocolate open in the intense aroma and carry with pungent authority into the cup. Balanced acidity, supple mouthfeel, deep, flavor-saturated finish. | |
Intense, crisp, molassy sweet aroma: coffee cherry, aromatic wood, dusk flowers. In the cup soft but powerful acidity with a wine, or perhaps better, apple cider nuance. Delicate, silky mouthfeel, very sweet, continued coffee cherry, molasses, nut, aromatic wood, a hint of dusk flowers, all of which suggest at moments the most subtle milk chocolate imaginable. Smooth, clean, lightly flavor-saturated finish. | |
A fresh, buoyant sweetness carries through the profile like a spring reverie.
In the aroma: cherryish fruit, flowers, nut, a hint of honey. In the cup tartly rich acidity, syrupy mouthfeel. In the cup flowers and a perfectly ripe but pungently crisp fruit with a hint of lemon. Rich finish.
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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. | |
Flowers, molasses, cocoa, sweet flowering grass in the aroma. Rich, tartly sweet acidity, silky mouthfeel, crisp yet lush flavor: dusk flowers, cocoa, molasses, dried black currant, raisin. Cleanly rich, raisin- and black-currant-saturated finish. | |
Intense aroma: sweet cherry and blueberry notes ride a pungent, fresh-cut cedar. In the cup the berry and cedar notes turn toward red wine and crisp cocoa. Sweet, rich, cocoa- and berry-saturated 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. | |
Lavishly sweet and deeply pungent aroma. Grapefruit, cherry, moist leaf notes carry from aroma to cup to finish. Richly resonant acidity, dense body and a continued great sweetness and intense pungency in the cup. The finish is very slightly astringent but resonantly flavor saturated. | |
Complex aroma: distinct strawberry and table grape notes; hints of nut and cocoa. In the cup well-integrated acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel, and extraordinary flavor: wine-like and grapy but fresh; think nouveau Beaujolais, supported by ripe strawberry and cocoa. Long, sweet, cleanly grape- and strawberry-toned finish. Only a very, very slight salty unevenness in the cups discouraged an even higher rating for this striking coffee. | |
Big, enveloping aroma: flowers, honey, strawberry-toned fruit, with a deepening hint of molasses and nut. Gently bright acidity, delicately smooth mouthfeel, lemon, cocoa, floral, distinct strawberry notes. Long, sweet, flavor-saturated finish; the subtle strawberry note in particular persists. | |
A pungent but sweet fruit character, subtle but striking, carries from aroma to finish, suggesting at various moments black currant, grapefruit, fresh-cut fir, butter, raisin, perhaps something one could call butterscotch. Very rich, sweetly clean, long finish. |
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Sweet-toned, crisply balanced aroma: milk chocolate, cherryish fruit, a hint of freshly tanned leather. In the cup silky mouthfeel, bright acidity, distinct cocoa, orange and berry notes, dry yet lush. The flavor notes carry with depth, elegance and great persistence from short finish through long. | |
Richly and sweetly bright aroma with aromatic wood, peach-toned fruit and cocoa notes. In the cup quietly acidy, elegantly crisply sweet, deeply floral, with distinct peach-toned fruit and hints of cocoaish chocolate that carry into a long, flavor-glistening finish. | |
Sweetly bright aroma, with tight-knit complexity: flowers, cocoa, honey, aromatic wood. In the cup lightly syrupy in mouthfeel, sweetly and lushly acidy but superbly balanced, with deep-toned night floral notes, orangy citrus and continued hints of cocoa and aromatic wood. Rich, flavor-saturated finish with a very slight astringency essentially lost in flowers. | |
Sweet, fruit-floral aroma, with a distinct blueberry note and a hint of black currant. In the cup, bright fruit-toned acidity, with juicy, medium to full body. Intense sweet blueberry continues in the cup, with light hints of citrus and night flowers. Dry berry tones linger in the finish. | |
Rich aroma with nut and blackberry notes that deepen and resonate in the cup, adding hints of lemon, red wine, flowers, cocoa. Poised and balanced acidity, roundly rich finish, shimmers of flowers. |
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A very light roast preserves the distinctive and complex aromatics. Crisp but sweet-toned aroma: toast, orange citrus and hints of dry berry and flowers. In the cup the acidity is balanced and rich, the mouthfeel lightly syrupy and the flavor pungently malty with continuing toast, orange, dry berry and floral notes. Long, rich finish. |
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Very sweet-toned and bright aroma: lemon, orange, flowers, cherry, a hint of honey. The acidity, rich and enveloped in sweetness, lifts the cup and carries into the long finish. Continued lemon, cherry and floral-toned honey notes. | |
Intensely floral and cherry-toned aroma with rounding hints of chocolate and pipe tobacco. In the cup balanced acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel, and almost sugary berry-toned sweetness, balanced by a crisp, slightly vegetal dry edge, think cacao or (if you know it) tamarind. Long, opulently rich finish. | |
Buttery aroma: nut, flowers, dry berry. Rich acidity, medium body. The elegantly pungent berry note cuppers call black currant dominates in the cup, but supported by a profound underlying sweetness that gives the berry a dark chocolate depth. Flowers revive in the fine, rich, flavor-saturated finish. |
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Symphonically rich coffee of extraordinary elegance. Crisp dry berry notes of the kind often characterized as black currant, orange, nut, dusk flowers run through the profile from aroma to cup. Powerful acidity enveloped in sweetness, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The black currant notes in particular carry into a long, pure, sweet-toned finish. | |
Balanced, complex, complete. The quiet but assertive acidity was praised as "balanced" by co-cupper Ted Stachura (93) and "sweet, rich, integrated" by Ken (94). The mouthfeel was "juicy" (Ted), the aroma and cup showed a crisply sweet complex of dry berry, cocoa, flowers, citrus, nut. Long, deep, chocolate-toned finish. | |
Big, deep, classically symphonic coffee. Intense aroma: black-cherryish fruit, white wine, flowers. In the cup syrupy body, powerful but rounded acidity, pungently juicy flavor with sweet lemon and night flower notes. Pure, smooth, fruit-and-flower saturated finish. | |
Intense aroma: ripe, fallen fruit, flowers, flowering grass, honey, pungent cedar. In the cup fruit-deepened acidity, syrupy mouthfeel, roundly sweet with a mild, balancing bitterness and tremendous aromatic complexity: honey, night flowers, and above all a brandyish, fruity chocolate that carries deep into the finish. | |
Grand-gestured, complete coffee. Intense, rose-like floral notes dominate the aroma, with lush honey, molasses and coffee fruit. In the cup the mouthfeel has honeyish depth, the acidity is sweetly powerful, the flavor dominated by tart berry notes both dryly austere yet utterly and voluptuously juicy, complicated by continued honey, molasses and flowers. Smooth, balanced, flower-saturated finish. | |
Crisp but juicy in the aroma, with butter, honey, flower and marmalade-like orange notes. In the cup smoothly and gently acidy, delicate in mouthfeel, with a continued tart, marmalade-like, orangy sweetness complicated by cocoa, cedar, and continued flower and honey notes. Oranges and flowers carry into a cleanly sweet finish. | |
Powerfully sweet throughout the profile, but without candyish sentiment. Moist leafy earth notes in the aroma with hints of flowers and grapefruit and pungently buttery notes that plausibly read as butterscotch. In the cup big-bodied with a backgrounded but vibrant acidity. Flavor is dominated by a lush, cherryish or grapey fruit with continuing hints of earth and butterscotch. The lush fruit and crisp earth together carry into the long, deep finish. | |
Sweet-toned, delicately complex aroma: flowers, hints of honey, cedar and tart cherry, perhaps chocolate. In the cup very gently acidy, light in body but buoyant and silky in mouthfeel, and giddily floral- and honey-toned with complicating hints of chocolate, tart coffee fruit and Riesling-like white wine. Fades rather quickly in the finish but exquisitely clean with memories of chocolate and flowers. An exceptionally pure and balanced coffee. | |
Intense, balanced aroma: cedar, cherry, flowers, orange. In the cup syrupy body with an almost bouillon-like richness, deeply but quietly acidy, with floral high notes and a wonderfully deep cherry- and cedar-toned chocolate. The pungent chocolate/fruit notes carry into a long, flavor-saturated finish. | |
Sweet-toned, quiet aroma with nut, dried cherry and chocolate. Elegantly balanced cup: softly acidy, silky in mouthfeel, with continued dried cherry, cocoaish chocolate and a slight brightening hint of lemon. The chocolate notes in particular carry into the long, rich, complex finish. | |
Deep-toned aroma with great range and complexity: flowers, orange, cocoa, butter, cedar. In the cup richly acidy, medium in body, silky in mouthfeel, with continued lavender-like floral notes, crisp cocoa, dry berry. Clean, tartly juicy finish with flower notes present to the last fading. | |
Delicately but richly nuanced throughout the profile with cherryish fruit, flowers, honey, milk chocolate. In the cup the acidity is tart but luxuriously sweet and the mouthfeel lightly syrupy. Flavor saturated and flawless finish. | |
Crisp, intense, yet sweetly lyric coffee. In both aroma and cup blackcurrant, blackberry, orange, cherry; in the cup hints of cocoaish chocolate and merlot-like red wine as well. Long, sweet finish just on the rich side of astringent. | |
Sweet-toned, quietly intense aroma: jasmine, sweet citrus, cocoa. In the cup the mouthfeel is silky, almost syrupy, the acidity intense but delicate with shimmers of white wine. Orange, lemon, cocoaish chocolate, floral notes. Long, deep, flavor-saturated finish. | |
Intense, exuberantly complex aroma: orange, grapefruit, honey, cedar, blackcurrant. In the cup the acidity is intense and sweet, the mouthfeel syrupy, the flavor continuingly complex, dry yet lush: blackcurrant, grapefruit, wine, a hint of milk chocolate. The finish is superb: saturated with grapefruit and chocolate, sweet, rich, long. | |
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. | |
Intense, sweetly tart aroma: flowers, cherry, lemon. In the cup the acidity is lyrically sweet, the mouthfeel silky, the flavor vivid with grapefruit, dry berry and floral notes that soften toward a raisiny chocolate as the cup cools. Superb finish: cleanly bright, long, sweet to the far end of sensation. | |
Lush, deeply fruity aroma: chocolate and red-wine-toned cherry. In the cup silky mouthfeel, richly balanced acidity, lavish cocoa, candied lemon, red wine, brandied cherry notes. Deep, flavor-saturated finish. | |
High-toned, intense aroma with striking lemon, chocolate and menthol notes and a hint of flowers. In the cup softly and sweetly acidy with a lovely balance and distinct bittersweet chocolate and lemon notes. Superb finish: rich, crisp, saturated with a dry chocolate. | |
Intense, high-toned aroma: flowers, butterscotch, orange. In the cup wine-like acidity, deep body and a continued buttery, honeyed, giddily floral character complicated by tart cherry, orange and pipe tobacco notes. Long, rich, flavor-saturated finish. | |
Floral-toned, intense aroma dominated by the elegantly crisp, dry berry note coffee tasters are fond of calling black currant. In the cup richly acidy. The black currant note softens toward cherry under the influence of a sweet, deeply honeyed richness. The black currant revives in the flavor-saturated finish. | |
Sweet-toned aroma dominated by a distinct honey character. In the cup syrupy mouthfeel, giddily and complexly lush with cherryish fruit, floral, and dry, brandyish chocolate notes. The finish is deep, honeyish sweet, and long. | |
In the aroma delicate but deep, floral, with Riesling-like wine tones and a hint of honey. In the cup surprisingly full in body, with a delicately syrupy mouthfeel and a deeply lush, floral-saturated honey character with a hint of dry berry. Rich finish with good flavor persistence. Slightly astringent, but the sweetness lingers to the far edge of possibility. | |
Tart but lushly sweet aroma: Floral-saturated cherryish fruit and a cedary milk chocolate. In the cup the acidity is big, round, and deeply sweet, the general structure dry but opulent with a basket of berry/cherry notes, honey, flowers, chocolate. Rich, resonant finish with impressive flavor persistence. | |
Intense aroma: nut, mint, brandied cherry chocolate. In the cup rich acidity, silky body and a continuing aromatic profile so deeply and explosively complex that a world of coffee sensation can be found in it: cocoaish chocolate, raisin, flowers, lemon, brandy, orange peel. Very sweet and flavor-saturated short finish, though in the long a very slight salty astringency shadows the fine aromatic echoes. | |
No hints here: The aromatics are direct, inescapable, lavish. Lushly intense blueberry, chocolate, and floral-toned honey in the aroma. In the cup the incendiary aromatics are influenced by a wine-like acidity that turns the berry and chocolate notes crisp and richly dry. The fundamental berry and floral notes linger with surprising clarity in the finish, although they are outlasted by a slight but forgivable astringency. | |
In the aroma delicately complex: berries, flowers, sweet lemon, honey. In the cup opulent: syrupy mouthfeel, sweet acidity, crisply powerful berry notes, continued hints of honey and flowers. Only a rich but simple finish prevents this coffee from rating in the high 90s. | |
Intense, sweet-toned, chocolate and blueberry aroma with a slight pungent edge. In the cup sweetly acidy, with a full, syrupy mouthfeel and lavish red wine and blueberry notes. The finish is rich, berry-toned and extraordinarily clean for this style of coffee. | |
An extraordinarily pure coffee in a dramatically light roast style. Sweet nut, fresh-cut cedar and orangy citrus in the aroma. Medium-bodied and giddily sweet in the cup, delicate but rich, with low, wine-toned acidity, an orange-toned fruit and hints of nut, flowers and chocolate. The complex fruit notes carry into a quietly rich, clean finish. | |
Delicate, gently bright coffee with distinct, cedar-toned dry berry notes (the kind often called black currant) carrying from aroma to cup, support by cocoa, orange (perhaps better, tangerine) and floral nuance. The body is rather light, but the mouthfeel is gently lively, almost effervescent. Clean, rich finish with impressive flavor persistence, particularly of the orange/cocoa notes. | |
A deeply floral-toned coffee. The floral tones are rich and rose-like in both aroma and cup, with caramelly, almost custard-like support and hints of cedar and cocoa. The finish is sweet, deep and long. | |
A powerful, fruitily complex, syrupy-bodied espresso. Candied fruit and distinct chocolate in the aroma. In the small cup heavy bodied; cedar and orangy fruit notes dominate, with a hint of semi-sweet chocolate. At its best in milk, where it is rich, smooth-bodied and balanced, while maintaining a remarkable complexity and a distinct chocolate and spicy orange fruit character. | |
A fine, versatile decaffeinated espresso particularly remarkable for its persistent floral top notes. In the aroma flowers, chocolate and apricot-toned fruit. In the small cup full body with perhaps a slightly rough mouthfeel, pungent, rich and balanced, with continuing semi-sweet chocolate and floral notes that carry into the finish. Blooms nicely in milk with minty chocolate sweetness while still maintaining the attractive floral and fruit complication. | |
Exhilaratingly intense but roundly sweet-toned aroma: black cherry, flowers, milk chocolate, with an underlying cedar-toned crispness. Sweet flowers and cherry dominate in the cup with an almost symphonic richness of tone. Medium bodied but silky mouthfeel. The floral notes linger into the farthest reaches of the finish. | |
Quietly intense aroma, cedar and distinct butterscotch notes. Plushly heavy body in the sweet, deep-toned cup, with almost port-like red wine tones and rich hints of semi-sweet chocolate and roses anchored on a flinty, almost mineral-like base. | |
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. | |
An aromatically rather simple coffee with a tremendous relaxed and almost voluptuous structure. In the aroma low-toned and round with hints of flowers and cherry-toned fruit. Softly acidy and sweetly and deeply rich in the cup. Sweet, almost sugary finish. | |
A classic cup: pure, simple, intense, refined. Sweet-toned but crisp aroma: tomato, cedar, cardamom, chocolate. Richly and sweetly acidy in the cup with the classic complex of flowers and fresh coffee fruit with rounding hints of chocolate. | |
A coffee at once voluptuous and austere. Delicately complex aroma: flowers, chocolate, tobacco leaf, lemon grass. In the cup an amazingly rich, wine-like acidity, sweet flowers, and a gently crisp, dry berry fruit. Hints of chocolate re-emerge in the cleanly long, almost perfect finish. | |
Chocolate and citrus on the break. Regal acidity, complex flavors of chocolate, citrus and herbs. A powerful, intense and demanding cup. Haunting, persistent finish. Perfect roast of this especially challenging bean. What great coffee is all about. | |
Cocoa laced with citrus in the aroma. Flavors are as complex and sculpted as a top Alsatian Riesling, with intense lemon and orange acidity, chocolate, and a suggestion of fresh chive or tarragon always associated with this variety. A powerful, aristocratic grand cru. This fragile, low-density variety is a major challenge to roast (and cannot handle dark roasting); this is a particularly masterful roasting job. | |
Spectacularly aromatic in both dry and infused aroma: candied lemon peel, bergamot, hints of jasmine. Medium bodied and sweet, with superb acidity and flavors that suggest both the mentholated citrus of a Yirgacheffe and the blueberry notes of a Harrar, but without a trace of ferment or earthiness. Perfumed perfection. | |
Cocoa and dark chocolate aroma, vigorous flavors of dark chocolate laced with cherry, medium-full body, intense, focused acidity, great purity. Ideally roasted. | |
Vividly lively yet elegantly smooth coffee. Intense aroma with tart cherry and round, low-acid fruit notes, banana perhaps, with hints of fresh leather. In the cup sweet, lyric acidity, light but silky mouthfeel, cherry and cocoa notes. Rich, sweet, deeply long finish. | |
Tartly sweet fruit notes suggest pineapple, grapefruit or perhaps black currant in the aroma, with delicate undercurrents of caramel and earth. In the cup the musty/malty earth notes move richly forward, backgrounding the continuing crisp, pineapply fruit. A slight astringency in the short finish gives way to sweetness and pineapple in the long. | |
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. |
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Intense aroma: brandy, chocolate, caramel. In the small cup medium in body but smooth in mouthfeel, crisply pungent yet caramelly sweet, with a tightly knit, understated complexity: brandy, caramel, cedar and flowers, hints of which persist in the roundly rich finish. Masters milk with a gentle, brandied chocolate authority. | |
Deep, very sweet-toned aroma, with chocolate, flowers, walnut, and a hint of carnal fruit - peach or papaya. In the small cup very full body, but not heavy - the mouthfeel is lively, almost effervescent. In flavor very sweet, very deep, with cedar and a gently spicy semi-sweet chocolate. Superb finish: long, caramelly, rich. Exerts a simple but powerful presence in milk: sweet milk chocolate with perhaps a shimmer of flowers. | |
A classically lyric coffee. The aroma is intense and enveloping, with spicy ripe tomato, bittersweet chocolate, caramel, and banana-like fruit notes. The ripe tomato and dark chocolate notes carry into a cup shimmering with sweet, wine-toned acidity and the unusual banana-like fruit notes, which even seem reflected in the pleasant viscosity of the mouthfeel. | |
The scent of blueberry fills the room simply in the act of grinding this explosively fragrant coffee. Blueberry continues richly to dominate the wet aroma, nuanced by hints of other low-acid fruit - peach perhaps, and chocolate. In the cup the fruit inclines more toward wine and a lush, minty chocolate, but the blueberry reasserts itself in the finish. Only in the long finish is there a hint of the serendipitous ferment responsible for much of this aromatic excitement. Probably as close to a perfect example of this coffee type as this imperfect world allows, tactfully roasted. |
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An extraordinary coffee in the earth and fruit style of traditional Indonesias. In the aroma moist leaves turning toward fresh earth, together with buttery, candyish top notes. In the cup full-bodied, with pungent, moist earth tones and crisp, low-acid fruit notes suggesting pear and cherry. The pungent tones smooth out in a sweetly rich 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. | |
An essay in the difference between acidic and acidy, this commandingly dry coffee does not display a glimmer of sharpness. Tremendous range and complexity in the aroma: dry berry, high-toned cedar, orange, chocolate. The dry berry, orange and chocolate notes carry into the cup with crisp richness and fade into the finish without a hint of astringency. | |
Understated but quietly distinctive. The aroma is round, caramelly and (quite literally) buttery; patience may turn up little cedar and chocolate revelations as well. The butter and caramel notes carry into the cup, where the fruity chocolate intensifies. The short finish is deep, sweet and rich; a memory of chocolate resurfaces in the long. | |
Sweet, low-toned, deep, to turn metaphorical, a quiet, smiling, radiant coffee. In the aroma caramel and peach-toned fruit. The peach notes carry into the cup, joined by exhilarating suggestions of flowers and a hint of chocolate. The chocolate turns more explicit in the fine, rich 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. | |
An enormous, enveloping coffee, grandly acidy yet voluptuously sweet. So sweet the term acidy becomes almost moot, though its dry rigor necessarily grounds and complicates the sweetness. Cabernet wine and ripe cherry notes. Anonymously nominated. | |
Simultaneously intensely acidy and extravagantly sweet, medium-bodied, with a whole basket of fruit tones: apricot, dry cherry, sweet lemon, a tiny whiff of chocolate, all lush, crisply rich, complex. | |
High-toned, complex aroma: sweet citrus, cherry, apple. In the cup gently acidy, while the fruit maintains its complex, elegant trajectory: Meyer lemon, grapefruit, tart berry. The initial, almost shocking rush of sweetness is balanced by a crisply bitter finish. | |
High-toned, sweet, light-footed and delicate, yet rich and deeply dimensioned. Lemon and red-wine notes in the aroma, in the cup red wine, cherry and a shimmer of flowers. Long, complex finish. | |
Extraordinary, luxurious coffee, lushly sweet yet vibrantly acidy, with ripe,
opulent fruit tones and delicately intense floral high notes. Utterly free of bitterness or
astringency. Perfectly roasted, and as extravagantly complex as the very finest East Africa
coffees. Nominator David Lubertozzi of Berkeley raves about its "amazing body and milk-
chocolateyness," and confesses he enjoys it even better cold than hot -- always a sign of an
exceptional coffee. | |
Irrepressibly buoyant, superbly balanced. The acidity shimmers in the heart of a meadow of floral-toned sweetness. The aftertaste is clean, long, lavender. Exquisite, elegant, precious. | |
A light, bright breath of acidity shimmers inside an amazing bouquet of sweet jasmine and darker, woodier fragrances. The cup soars in a delicious, reeling dizziness of flowers, then immediately relaxes into spicy shadows. Somehow, all of the range and complexity remains precariously, elegantly in balance. | |
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