86	Intelligentsia Coffee Roasters Chicago, Illinois Black Cat Blend Roast: Dark Review Date: October 1998 Origin: Various Price: NA

Blind Assessment: Restrained, low-toned, rather full-bodied, but not flat. In fact, alive with understated nuance: some tobacco tones, a full, dry spice impression that could be called chocolate; perhaps a hint of fruit or wine in the round finish. The aftertaste leaves a balanced memory of chocolate sweetness and dry tobacco.

Notes: Restrained, low-toned, rather full-bodied but not flat. Alive with understated nuance: some tobacco, hint of fruit or wine in the round finish. Black Cat Blend is IntelligentiA's retail and well as wholesale best seller. IntelligentiA is a small, award-winning roaster-retailer founded in 1995 in Chicago by transplanted San Franciscans Doug and Emily Zell.

Who Should Drink It: The best-seller factor:I have to assume that the commercial success of this blend is another indication that many specialty coffee drinkers enjoy low-key, round-toned cups. The blend name seems appropriate for a coffee this soft and, perhaps, enigmatic. I felt I couldn't give this coffee a rousingly high rating, however, because ultimately it seemed a bit too restrained and understated.

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