What is a single-origin espresso? Very generally defined, it’s an espresso produced from a single crop of coffee grown and processed in a single country, region, cooperative or farm. In other words, it is not a blend of coffees grown in different places or at different times. Single-origin (S.O.) espressos allow an espresso drinker to explore the wider world of coffee in the same mindful,
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Ethiopia Dame Dabaye
Grown by smallholding farmers in the vicinity of Dame Debaye washing station, from selections of landrace Ethiopian tree varieties, and processed by the traditional washed method. Exported by Sibu Coffee and imported by Sucafina. Speckled Ax is a roaster based in Portland, Maine, specializing in high-quality certified organic and small-lot coffees. The company roasts in a vintage wood-fired
A Deeper Look at Coffee Review’s Top 30 Coffees of 2023
In 2023, Coffee Review blind-tasted more than 3,000 coffee samples from hundreds of leading roasting companies and coffee producers around the world. We ultimately published nearly 600 reviews on CoffeeReview.com over the course of the year. The Top 30 Coffees of 2023 is our editors’ ranking of the 30 most exciting of these coffees, representing roughly 5 percent of the coffees we
Sumatra Lintong Kardon
This exceptional coffee was selected as the No. 17 coffee on Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2023. Produced by 200 widows with support and training from husband-wife team Kardon and Yulinda, from trees of the Andungsari, LiniS795 and Sigararutang varieties of Arabica. Coffees like this one from the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra are valued for their complex earth
Ten Coffees From Women Producers That Should Be On Your Radar
When we last visited the subject of women coffee farmers for a tasting report in 2017, we explored the landscape of gender (in)equity through the lens of roasters who had purchased coffees produced by women — as farm owners, farmers in the field, as part of cooperatives, and as collectives pulled together by intention or by fate. It is still the case that, while women own between 20 and 30 percent
Map 40 Mokha Java
This version of Mokha Java is composed of 50% medium-dark washed Ethiopia (currently Tega Tula), 20% dark-roast Pacific Island coffee (currently PNG Siane Chimbu), 20% medium-light natural Ethiopia (currently Shantawene), and 10% light washed Ethiopia (currently Suke Quto). Speckled Ax is a roaster based in Portland, Maine, specializing in high-quality certified organic and small-lot coffees. The
Dark Roast Coffee 2023: The Good, the Bad, the Subtle
Ten or 15 years ago in North America, there was little doubt about what a dark roast was, or how it was expected to taste. The beans were very dark brown in color, edging toward black, shiny with oil, and the dominating sensory feature was a richly pungent, charred cedar character usually softened by chocolate and a raisiny fruit. If you were lucky and attentive, you might also pick up some hints
Guatemala Valentón
Produced by Elda Argueta, a smallholding farmer in San Jose El Valentón, from trees of the Caturra and Pache Verde varieties of Arabica, and processed by the traditional washed method (fruit skin and flesh are removed from the beans before they are dried). Speckled Ax is a roaster based in Portland, Maine, specializing in high-quality certified organic and small-lot coffees. The company roasts in
Celebrating Traditional Excellence: Classic Coffees from Central America
For many North Americans, the classic coffees of Central America constitute the essential experience of fine coffee. Until relatively recently, wet-processed or washed coffees from traditional tree varieties produced by a string of Central American countries — Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama – typically appeared near the top of specialty coffee menus. But that
Mexico Coffee: Processing Innovation, Cooperatives, and the Tradition of Collaboration
While Mexico is somewhat under the radar when compared to more popular coffee origins, the country has been producing coffee since the late 18th century, and given recent developments, may well be poised to become a model for coffee production in the 21st century. In this month’s report, we review nine exceptional coffees from four different Mexican growing regions. Coffee farmers
Capitan Maragogype
Produced by smallholding members of Cafe Capitan, a Chiapas cooperative, entirely from trees of the Maragogype variety of Arabica, and processed by the washed method. Certified organic. Speckled Ax is a roaster based in Portland, Maine, specializing in high-quality certified organic and small-lot coffees. The company roasts in a vintage wood-fired Petroncini roaster with the goal of highlighting
2018 Holiday Gift Coffees
Every year in November, we put out a call for special coffees that roasters around the world are featuring for the holidays. It's always a surprise and a delight to discover what surfaces during this weeks-long cupping. And what we learn never fails to be compelling in multi-faceted ways. Some roasters approach seasonal offerings by composing creative, often unique, blends, while others prefer
El Salvador Pacamara
This coffee tied for the fifth-highest rating in a tasting of holiday coffees for Coffee Review‘s December 2018 tasting report. Produced by Rodolfo Huezo Pineda entirely of the Pacamara variety of Arabica. The Pacamara is a big-beaned hybrid of the Bourbon-related Pacas and the huge-beaned Maragogipe, a mutant of the ancient Typica variety. This is a wet-processed or “washed” coffee, meaning the
Kenya Chorongi Peaberry
Produced by smallholding farmers from trees of the Ruiru 11, Batian, SL28 and SL34 varieties of Arabica. Despite grower discontent and urban encroachment on prime coffee lands, Kenya continues to produce some of the world’s most elegant and distinctive coffees. This particular sample consists entirely of peaberries, a kind of bean that results when the coffee fruit develops only a single, oval
DR Congo Virunga Organic
This coffee tied for the fourth-highest rating in a tasting of holiday coffees for Coffee Review‘s December 2017 tasting report. Produced entirely from trees of the Bourbon variety of Arabica by small-holding farmers around Virunga Coffee, which began collaborating with local cooperatives in 2011 to improve the quality of coffee production in this emerging growing region in the far east of the
2017 Holiday Gift Coffees
Each year, we ask roasters to send us exceptional coffees available only during the holidays, coffees that might make particularly gratifying gifts or splurges for coffee-lovers. In past years, approaches have ranged from particularly fine lots of classic coffees that roasters reserved for the holiday season, to rare and often expensive seasonally available micro-lot coffees, to ingenious and
Q&A With Tony Greatorex of Red Rooster Coffee Roaster
How did you end up as a coffee-roaster? I worked at Starbucks for a few years, then discovered the larger world of independent specialty coffee when I moved to southwest Virginia and started working at a newly opened local shop. There, I met Haden Polseno-Hensley, the co-owner of Red Rooster Coffee Roaster, a small, young roasting company that was providing some of the beans we used. Haden