Organization: Mr. Espresso, Oakland, California
Coffee: Espresso di Carlo
Reviewed: January 1999
Overall Rating: 89 points
Roast (Agtron): Medium-Dark (41/51)
Estimated Price:
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Origin: Various

Notes: A superb cappuccino espresso in San Francisco mode, this coffee is clean and elegant aroma with a shimmer of vanilla. Blooms beautifully in milk, softening without losing authority and revealing deep, dry, bittersweet chocolate tones. Brazil-based namesake blend of Carlo DiRuocco, who founded Mr. Espresso in 1978.

Blind Assessment: Clean and elegant aroma with a shimmer of vanilla. In the demitasse complex, exciting, but not entirely balanced. The contrast of pungent sharpness and underlying caramelly sweetness is dramatic but stark, and carries the coffee precariously toward a rich but slightly astringent aftertaste. Blooms beautifully in milk, softening without losing authority and revealing deep, dry, bittersweet chocolate tones.

Who should drink it: A superb cappuccino espresso in the San Francisco mode, and an exciting straight espresso for those who value energy over subtlety.

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