86	Steaming Bean Coffee Telluride, Colorado Costa Rican Roast: Medium Review Date: June 1998 Origin: Costa Rica Price: NA

Blind Assessment: Whether deriving from the unorthodox roasting style or the coffee itself, a spicy pungency weaves its way through this rather soft, medium-bodied profile. At moments this flavor complex suggests chocolate, at others the earthy tones associated with some Indonesian coffees, at others a dark fruitiness-just-short-of-ferment. In the context of the overall sweet, intriguing, broad range of this coffee I tolerated this taste, even liked it, though purists may find it distracting.

Notes: A spicy pungency weaves its way through this rather soft, medium-bodied profile, sometimes suggesting chocolate, or earthy tones, or dark fruitiness. Steaming Bean Coffee emphasizes roasting technique in its publicity materials, particularly "smoking" the beans, which I take it involves slowing or shutting down the air currents through the roasting drum for a few moments at the end of the roast cycle,

Who Should Drink It: Coffee romantics who prefer the richly ambiguous to the clear and straightforward.

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