Reviews for Supreme Bean Coffee Roasters

Very sweet-toned coffee with a balancing dry berry character that under the influence of the sweetness inclines toward dark chocolate. Brisk, balanced acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Very impressive finish: rich, sweet, flavor-saturated.

Deep, sweet aroma with roasty hints of grapefruit and night flowers. Smooth, full body, soft mouthfeel with a slight musty note that reads pleasantly as earth, nut and aromatic wood, complicated by hints of chocolate and cherryish fruit. Long, dry, earth- and dark-chocolate-toned finish.

The difference between co-cupper Jennifer Stone?s score of 84 and Ken's 89 depended on how they responded to a shadow fault in an otherwise impressive, complex coffee. The fault emerged as the coffee cooled; Jennifer simply called it an "off" note; Ken described it as vaguely metallic though very faint. Slight fault aside, this is a classic South Pacific profile, gently pungent with aromatic wood and nut notes softened by hints of bananaish fruit and night flowers.

A quiet, deep-finishing coffee. Rather simple aroma: nut, raisin. In the cup quietly rounded acidity, fullish body, and understated but impressive flavor: delicately complex cocoa, nut and raisin notes. Rich, clean, cocoa-toned finish with a surprising hint of flowers.

A sweet musty character that can read anywhere from malty chocolate to damp basement depending on context and cupper animated this blend. Co-cupper Danny O'Neill (86) was more positive than Ken (83), citing "the sweet chocolaty aroma of fresh brownies" in the aroma and "a delicate balance of mild acidity and smooth buttery body" in the cup with "lingering fruity nuances" in the finish. Ken felt the cup was fundamentally sweet and rather rich, but objected to a "woody, baggy" character nuanced by only "the barest hints of raisins and chocolate" in the cup.

Fermented fruit contributes to a glorious aroma dominated by a sort of dry, nutty chocolate. In the cup very sweet and floral but also quite astringent, netting a wildly ambiguous profile with intriguing fruit notes too astringent to call chocolate and too explosively fermented to call winy. Unorthodox palates might assign high ratings to this unusual coffee, while purists surely would choke and dismiss it. We compromised at 85 - buyers beware.

Rich in the aroma, pungent fruit, fresh leather, roasty chocolate. The roast tones turn the cup rather sharp and monotoned, however. In the finish softens once again toward a richly dry, chocolate-toned fruit.

This voluptuously round dark roast is a tribute to the roastmaster's art. Opulently and robustly roasty, sweet, and utterly without burned bitterness. Not much nuance, but plenty of sweet, resonant depth and smoky-spicy tones.

Co-taster Willem Boot greatly admired this coffee, awarding it an exclamatory 95: "Reddish brown supershot! Complex aroma with tingling body. Mild sweet and dry flavor balance with intense fruit and spicy notes. Cardamom flavor with milk." Ken's admiration was more restrained. He enjoyed the low-toned bouquet of pipe tobacco, leather, toast, smoke, spice and musty cantaloupe notes enough to award a rating of 88, but found the body "gritty" (Willem called it "tingling") and the finish slightly astringent.

The term "balanced" dominated both Ken and co-taster Willem Boot's notes. The body was balanced and smooth for Ken, balanced and buttery for Willem; both found the presence in milk balanced and complex. Ken admired the small cup's "elegant dry fruit" while Willem praised its "lively, citrus" character. Willem 87, Ken 90.

"Great crema - best espresso I've ever had," writes Mandy Elion of Pasadena,California, who rates Supreme Bean espressos 90 - 94. This all-organic espresso blend isbalanced, richly and roundly roasty in the demitasse, with undertones of fruity chocolate. Atingle of astringency in the finish is invigorating rather than rough. In small milk comes acrossheavy with fruity chocolate tones; in large milk sweetly and roundly fruity.