Reviews for Paradise Roasters

Intensely sweet aroma of caramel, peanut and roasted corn. Heavy body, syrupy mouthfeel, soft acidity, and big, thick flavors of malt, toasted grain and nut with a faint halo of fruit. Long, peanut-buttery sweetness in the finish, turning slightly astringent as the cup cools.

Co-cupper Andy Newbom (94) admired this pungent yet lushly sweet Bourbon slightly more than Ken (92) did. Certainly Andy found more ways to describe its engaging contrast of lush sweetness and almost savory spice. For Andy "root beer, lemon peel" in the aroma, "fruit leather" in the acidity; a "complex blend of tangerine and cinnamon oil, clarified butter and sweet red pepper rounding into guava and gooseberry" in the cup, plus "hints of cocoa nib." The finish impressively resolved the pungent/sweet paradox running through the profile: "astoundingly clear and bell-toned" for Andy; "long, sweetly flavor-saturated" for Ken.

For co-cupper Jim Reynolds (89) a smooth and essentially complete cup but too subdued, with "unassertive acidity." Ken (90) found the cup quiet as well, but enjoyed floral, apricot, chocolate, possibly butter notes in aroma and cup, with an acidity that was richly red-wine-like.

A balanced, gently rich espresso. For co-taster Byron Holcomb (91) "red wine" in the aroma and tart jam and boysenberry in the flavor. Ken (89) read the sweetness as caramelly rather than fruit-toned and the dry notes as aromatic wood and leather. Both found the body on the light side but the mouthfeel pleasingly smooth. Rich finishing; Byron picked up lavender as the mouthfeel faded. Four parts milk plumped up the body; Byron read "granola with fruit, cranberry in particular."

Deep aroma: sweet nut, hints of orange, toast and vanilla. Smooth, buttery mouthfeel and pungent flavors of cedar, more orange and caramel, toasted grains and a hint of flowers. The sweet nut tone returns in the finish. The subtle flavors found in the small cup turn subdued in milk, limited to a mild, milky chocolate and toasted nut; finishing with a fine sweetness but a hint of astringency.

Complex aroma -- citrus, flowers, vanilla, rosehips, cinnamon and caramel. Bright, lingering acidity, full body, silkiness in mouthfeel, with a salty sweetness in structure. Flavors of Meyer lemon, salted caramel, floral hints and berries. Toast, nut and chocolate develop in the finish, sweetening in the long.

Sweet fruit-punch aroma with notes of butter, flowers, wine and cedar. Lush fruit-toned acidity, silky body and complex flavors of guava nectar, honey, vanilla, berries and cherry-like chocolate. Fruit-saturated finish, with flavor hints outlasting a very slight astringency.

Lavishly sweet and deeply pungent aroma. Grapefruit, cherry, moist leaf notes carry from aroma to cup to finish. Richly resonant acidity, dense body and a continued great sweetness and intense pungency in the cup. The finish is very slightly astringent but resonantly flavor saturated.

Subtle aromatic notes of sweet citrus fruits and perfume-like blossoms. In the cup, a sweetly-tart citrusy acidity, medium body, and a silky mouthfeel. The flavor balances a floral character with tart lemony citrus and a hint of nut. The finish is delicate and clean with the slightest suggestion of the primary flavor components.

An almost miraculously fine decaffeinated straight-shot espresso. In the nose crisp, elegant: leather, aromatic wood, hints of chocolate and yellow-fleshed fruit - peach or papaya. In the small cup syrupy mouthfeel, with intensified fruit, fresh-cut aromatic wood, butter, caramel, cocoa. The finish is balanced, sweet, deep, long. Predictably sweet and chocolate-toned in milk, though perhaps a bit too delicate.

Sweet, fruit-floral aroma, with a distinct blueberry note and a hint of black currant. In the cup, bright fruit-toned acidity, with juicy, medium to full body. Intense sweet blueberry continues in the cup, with light hints of citrus and night flowers. Dry berry tones linger in the finish.

Crisp but symphonically complex aroma: cherryish fruit, honey, a hint of butter and pungent undertones of cedar and leather. In the cup rich acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel, and continued deep, dry fruit notes suggesting a cedar-toned cherry. The finish is as rich as the cup but as the flavor fades the dry character tightens toward astringency.

Sweetly pungent, nut-like in the aroma with hints of raisins and night flowers. In the cup medium in body with syrupy mouthfeel, very sweet in structure with continued pungent moist earth and grapefruit notes. Continued hints of raisin and night flowers. Cleanly rich, long finish.

Powerfully sweet throughout the profile, but without candyish sentiment. Moist leafy earth notes in the aroma with hints of flowers and grapefruit and pungently buttery notes that plausibly read as butterscotch. In the cup big-bodied with a backgrounded but vibrant acidity. Flavor is dominated by a lush, cherryish or grapey fruit with continuing hints of earth and butterscotch. The lush fruit and crisp earth together carry into the long, deep finish.

Intense, balanced aroma: cedar, cherry, flowers, orange. In the cup syrupy body with an almost bouillon-like richness, deeply but quietly acidy, with floral high notes and a wonderfully deep cherry- and cedar-toned chocolate. The pungent chocolate/fruit notes carry into a long, flavor-saturated finish.

Deep, pungent aroma: cedar, orange, molasses, honey. In the cup sweetly and crisply acidy, with dry berry, continued citrus and honey notes and an underlying pungent richness that suggests moist pipe tobacco. Flavor-saturated short finish; a slight astringency in the long softens as the cup cools.

Intense, sweetly tart aroma: flowers, cherry, lemon. In the cup the acidity is lyrically sweet, the mouthfeel silky, the flavor vivid with grapefruit, dry berry and floral notes that soften toward a raisiny chocolate as the cup cools. Superb finish: cleanly bright, long, sweet to the far end of sensation.

Gently and sweetly pungent aroma: butter, cedar, orange, hints of flowers and chocolate. In the cup rich red-wine-toned acidity, silky mouthfeel, deep and balanced structure with a cherryish fruit and a continued hint of chocolate. Simple, rich, sweet finish.

A fundamentally sweet but lemony espresso showing hints of acidity yet remarkably smooth. Crisp, lemony chocolate in the aroma carrying into a medium-bodied cup. Lemons, flowers and berry in the finish. A bit lean in milk but quite sweet, with continuing lemon and chocolate notes.

Lush, deep aroma with floral, honey and milk chocolate notes. In the cup gentle but intense acidity, syrupy mouthfeel, and a voluptuous floral and honey character deriving ultimately from the flavor of pure, ripe coffee fruit. Simple but long, honeyed finish.