Reviews for Stone Cup Roasting
Both Ken (91) and co-taster Heather Perry remarked on a delicate, slightly pungent quality in both aroma and small cup that that Heather associated with herb and orange peel and Ken with cedar and orange. Medium-bodied, with a flavor-saturated finish. In milk both Heather and Ken found balance, with continued orange-toned and, for Ken, chocolaty nuance.
Exhilarating, fresh-toned aroma: jasmine, sweet herbs. In the cup crisply sweet-toned acidity, medium body, continued flowers, sweet herb and a tingly, cocoa-toned chocolate. Deep, flower-saturated finish.
Crisply acidy but big-bodied and lavishly chocolate-toned. Vanilla bean complicates the chocolate in the finish. A tactful match of roast to coffee.
Sweet-toned, round, caramelly aroma with hints of flowers and pears or peach. In the small cup full-bodied with a dominating sweet, cedary pungency complicated by raisiny fruit and dark chocolate with a slight whiff of brandyish ferment. In milk balanced and rich, with continued semi-sweet chocolate, richly grapy ferment and even a surprising resurfacing of flowers.
A soft, opulently ingratiating coffee. Sweet-toned aroma with distinct banana/peach notes and a hint of milk chocolate. In the cup medium-bodied but silky in mouthfeel, with a lush, sweet acidity, floral top notes and chocolate, peach and ripe tomato tones influenced by a slight smokiness.
In the aroma intense aromatic wood notes suggested cedar to Ken, pine to co-cupper Rodger Owen. The sweet spice and low-toned fruit notes fade in a roast-influenced, rather simple cup, balanced but limited. The sweet spice suggestions surfaced again in an admirably long, resonant finish.
In the aroma high-toned and delicate, complicated by sweet spice and suggestions of flowers and chocolate. The cup is low in acidity and dominated by a crisp nutty fruit, raisins and walnuts perhaps, with a continuing shimmer of floral chocolate. A very slight astringency surfaces as the cup cools.
Low-toned, sweet, gently acidy. Fresh leather and milk chocolate in the aroma. The sweet chocolate persists in the cup with an undercurrent of fruit that suggests a spicy dark cherry. Excellent dimension when hot, though the profile simplifies a bit as the cup cools.
When hot, rich and balanced, with gently bright grapefruit tones shimmering inside a crisp, invigorating roastiness. As the cup cools the citrus tones turn a bit sharp and the roastiness leans toward burned.
