Organization: Starbucks, Seattle, Washington
Coffee: House Blend
Reviewed: June 2003
Overall Rating: 80 points
Aroma: 6
Acidity: 6
Body: 7
Flavor: 6
Aftertaste: 5
Roast (Agtron): Dark (33/40)
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Origin: Not disclosed

Notes: Purchased at D'Agostino, whole bean in sealed 12-ounce foil bag with one-way valve; $11.99/pound. Starbucks' finest whole-bean specialty coffees are those featured on a seasonal basis in Starbucks retail locations. The Costa Rica Bella Vista and the Brazil Ipanema Bourbon often are excellent, for example. Based on my sampling, however, Big Green does not put its best beans forward in its supermarket line. Visit www.starbucks.com or call 800-782-7282 for more info.

Blind Assessment: Either the green coffee was not up to the dark roast style, or the roast was conducted too aggressively: the roast dominates, producing a pungent and bitterly monotoned cup, with little to no nuance. The cup rounds and softens a bit as it cools, turning tenuously bittersweet.

Who should drink it: Lovers of dark roast coffee who fail to find anything better on their supermarket shelves. At its best taken with milk or whitener.

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