84	Starbucks Coffee Seattle, Washington Espresso Blend Roast: Very-Dark Review Date: February 2004 Origin: Not disclosed Price: NA

Blind Assessment: Willem found this sample of the Starbucks staple blend "balanced throughout with no major high [positive] or low [negative] notes in aroma, flavor and aftertaste. [In the demitasse] some sweetness with a bitter end note. With milk, sweet, spicy, [with] a mild, pungent aftertaste." (85) Ken was less impressed. For him the aroma was "smoky, sweet and subdued," the body lean, the small cup "smoky and simple." He was most taken with this ubiquitous blend's impact in milk: "sweetens and rounds, prune fruit softens toward chocolate in the finish." (83)

Notes: This, to mix gastronomic metaphors, is Starbucks' bread-and-butter blend, the one that, in one incarnation or another, goes into their oceanic output of espresso drinks. Visit www.starbucks.com for more information.

Who Should Drink It: The same folks to drink it now: those millions who line up for a usually well-prepared espresso drink brewed from a reasonably good espresso blend.

Coffee, more so than wine, is a continually changing product. Recent reviews, whether written by Coffee Review or readers, are most likely to reflect current versions of a given coffee.