Reviews for Ecco Caffe
Roundly nutty aroma, with suggestions of aromatic wood and caramel. Smooth and balanced, subtly complex. Notes of honeyed fruit, nut, cedar and orange zest. Delicate finish, with lingering hints of nut and chocolate softly lingering.
Intense, roundly fruity aroma with notes of flowers and candied citrus peel. Bright floral-toned acidity, soft mouthfeel, and graceful notes of sweet lemon, berries and yes, more flowers. Sweet, clean finish with a mild suggestion of milk chocolate lingering in the long.
A lush, chocolate- and berry-toned fruit competes with an underlying menthol and Mediterranean herb character that may strike some coffee drinkers as too sharp and others as bracing. The sweet blueberry-like fruit prevails in the aroma, the fruit and savory herb balance in the cup. They split the difference in the finish: the short finish belongs to the fruit and chocolate, the long to the dry, herby mouthfeel.
Both Ken (90) co-taster Heather Perry (89) found this sample pleasingly and crisply fruity; "Meyer lemon" notes dominated for Heather, spicy floral and orange for Ken. Despite a tendency to express itself in floral and fruit notes, the shot maintained balance throughout and showed well in milk, with attractive hints of chocolate and (for Ken) spicy, rose-toned flowers.
Ken (91) was more attracted to this coffee's sweet, deeply low-toned, big-bodied character than was co-cupper Ted Stachura (89), who found the dominant nut and bittersweet chocolate character marked by a hint of woodiness. But both cuppers describe a deep, dark-chocolaty, nutty coffee with a balancing hint of citrus and a rich if slightly heavy finish.
Co-cupper Ted Stachura (91) and Ken (88) both admired the honeyish, crisply fruit- and floral-influenced aroma. Ken, however, found the cup very slightly sharp with a mild but distracting astringency. Ted, however, had no complaints: "bright, tangy acidity with floral tones. Flavor: floral, sweet, [with] notes of tangerine and fruity white wine. Mild, nutty finish."
Very sweet-toned, lavishly floral aroma, with tart coffee fruit and a hint of cedary chocolate. In the cup silky body and the pure flavor of ripe coffee fruit, lush yet crisp, with continued chocolate nuance and perhaps molasses or moist pipe tobacco. The finish reveals a hint of astringency when the cup is hot, but only a cherryish sweetness as it cools.
Very deep, richly fruity aroma: banana, raisin perhaps, hints of chocolate and rose-like flowers. In the small cup the body is full and syrupy, the flavor simple, deep-toned, with cedar and tart fruit notes - tamarind perhaps - the finish rich and long. Masters milk with an understated balance and a soft persistence of banana, cedar and chocolate notes.
A refined, quietly understated espresso. Delicately complex aroma with vanilla and milk chocolate innuendos. Medium body, smooth mouthfeel in the small cup, balanced in flavor with a slight cedary sharpness and semi-sweet chocolate notes. Maintains its dry chocolate, muted fruit elegance nicely in milk. Co-taster Ted Lingle's rating: 91; Ken's: 89. Nominating reader Teri Bolla remarks accurately on this blend's balance, "total finesse" and "fruit/cocoa floral" character.
Both Ken and co-taster Ted Lingle remarked on the "lush but elegant" (Ken) aroma and fat, buttery body of this single-origin espresso. In the small cup, dry berry notes and semi-sweet chocolate. Blooms sweetly and richly in milk. Ken found the flavor in cup and milk a bit too simple, limiting his score to a 90, but for Ted the profile throughout was complete, classic, and worth a resounding 95. Nominating reader Teri Bolla clearly agrees with Ted: "incredibly balanced, round, extremely smooth, shows total finesse, abundant chocolate...thick and rich on the palate."
Superb front end to this blend: velvety crema, the aroma deep but delicately and crisply chocolate- and vanilla-toned. In the small cup the body is full, the flavor caramelly and crisp but slightly salty and a bit shallow. Blooms with discreet elegance in milk, complicated by a dry but opulent chocolate.
Lindsey Bolger: "Understated grace describes this uncharacteristically delicate and refined Sumatra. Both dry fragrance and wet aroma display subtle fruit (I describe it as dried orange peel) and milk chocolate, which complement a clean and balanced cup laced with sweet herbs and licorice" (82). Ken: "Crisp, balanced, understated but rich. Grapefruit tones complicate a gently acidy but roasty cup" (88).