Reviews for Zoka Coffee Roasters
Lively citrus and berry in the aroma with hints of spice and flowers. Bright-toned acidity, medium body with a slight roughness in the mouthfeel. Continued tartly sweet citrus and berry in the cup with a mild nuttiness that carries into a clean finish.
Co-cupper Miguel Meza (89) was rather faint in his praise of this coffee, finding a "floral and tropical citrus" character he associates with the more familiar washed or wet-processed Ethiopia profile, with added "chocolate and berry" nuance derived from dry-processing. Ken (91) wrestles with the detail a bit more, admiring a wine or brandy nuance to the chocolate and berry character, which he finds "lush but crisp."
Gentle, balanced, agreeably simple aroma, with distinct floral notes and a hint of milk chocolate. The floral tones carry into a soft, sweet cup with orange and a spice note that could qualify as cinnamon. Flattens a bit in the finish but remains sweet.
Crisply sweet-toned aroma with cedar and butter notes. In the cup silky mouthfeel and a quiet, tight-knit complexity: distinct cocoa and hints of cedar, orange, flowers, butter. Smooth, gently rich, very persistent and pleasing finish.
Cocoa and caramel aroma. Blazing acidity, dark chocolate and caramel, regal balance. A nicely conducted, relatively light roast makes this balanced but assertive coffee particularly well-suited for vacuum pot and drip brewing.
Once past the aroma, co-taster Ted Lingle (79) had little positive to say about this blend, finding it lean in body, rather burned/bitter in flavor, and weak in presence in milk. Ken (84) also found the mouthfeel too lean and the finish too astringent, but enjoyed the berry-like, chocolate-leaning fruit that carried through the profile from aroma to milk. The reader who nominated this blend said he wanted "to see if this espresso is everything it is claimed it is."
Willem: "Blossom-like, peppery aroma, just like the roses from my 50+year-old rose tree! Mild sweet flavor with lingering floral aftertaste. Excellent caramel complexity with milk. I loved it." (92) What for Willem was peppery and blossom-like, for Ken was spicy and fruity in the aroma and smokily fruity in the small cup. Ken wanted more sweetness in the demitasse but in milk praised this blend as "sweet, crisp and cherry-like edging toward chocolate." (89).