Reviews for Victrola Coffee Roasters

Evaluated as espresso. Ken (91) liked this bright, zesty espresso; his co-taster (92) liked it even better. Both admired the citrus and floral vivacity of the aroma and flavor. Ken and his co-taster both accepted the smooth though rather light mouthfeel as an appropriate complement to the lively aromatics; both enjoyed the emergence of a lower-toned fruit (fig, roasted cacao nib) in the finish. Ken found the sweet-citrus impact in three parts milk a bit more pleasing than his co-taster did, though the co-taster offered an apt descriptor for it: “key lime pie.”

Sweetly tart, richly dry. Blackberry and black currant notes dominate in aroma and cup, supported by hints of flowers, honey and cedar. Round, complexly expressed acidity; very smooth, silky mouthfeel. Flavor consolidates in a sweet-toned, resonant finish.

Round, sweet-toned, balanced. Apricot, orange, caramel, lily-like flowers and a hint of chocolate in aroma and cup. Softly tart acidity; plush mouthfeel. The chocolate hint in particular comes forward in a slightly drying finish.

Sweet but crisply dry in mouthfeel; complex. Tart berry, roasted cocoa nib, sweet coconut and night flowers, hints of mint and fir in aroma and cup. Sweetly tart, wine-toned acidity; lightly syrupy texture. Very sweet but gently drying in the finish.

Spicy floral notes (lavender, tea rose), dark chocolate, honey, hazelnut, and a pungent mango-like fruit in aroma and cup. Rich, juicy acidity; full, syrupy mouthfeel. The finish is bittersweet and drying in the short, but flavor and sweetness reassert themselves in the long.

Very sweet, delicate. Rose-like flowers, milk chocolate, orangy citrus, spice, savory date in aroma and cup. Soft, gently backgrounded acidity; light but syrupy-textured mouthfeel. Sweet, deeply flavor-saturated (date, rose) short finish fades slightly in the long.

Deep, balanced, intense. Nut, flowers, stonefruit, sweet cocoa in aroma and cup. Sweetly crisp acidity; lively, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The balance and completeness that characterizes the entire profile stretches into a long, resonant swoon of a finish.

Rich, brandy-like fruit dominates the profile: cherry, blueberry, cocoaish dark chocolate in aroma and cup. Round, fruit-influenced acidity; syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor carries richly into the finish, where a very slight over-ripe note emerges as the cup cools.

Evaluated as espresso. Both Ken (94) and co-taster Sean Kohmescher (94) remarked on and enjoyed distinct and subtly unusual roasted nut and fudgy (Sean’s term) chocolate notes in aroma and small cup. Also some fruit complication (orange for Ken, berry for Sean). Medium to full body, smooth mouthfeel, and a superb finish that just keeps coming, carrying subtly transforming flavor notes far into the reaches of sensory memory. Fades just a bit in two parts milk, but remains pleasing and balanced.

Aromatically intense with layers of sweet-toned earth and aromatic wood with an undercurrent of fruit. In the cup syrupy body and penetrating flavors of cedar, pungent, bittersweet chocolate and, as the cup cools, a heightened fruit sensation. Long, dry finish; the aromatic wood and earth-toned chocolate notes in particular linger.

Flowers and tropical fruit in the sweet-toned aroma. For co-taster Heather Perry (88), "Floral notes turned to orange, berry, spice and cocoa, complex yet balanced and sweet" in the small cup. Ken (91) agreed. However, Heather found the shot in milk "very rough" whereas Ken liked it: "sweet, balanced, with a banana-toned chocolate."

In the aroma roasted nut and honey for co-cupper Ted Stachura (91), plum, cedar and nut for Ken (92). In the cup softly acidy, gently bittersweet, quietly complex: cocoa, roasted nut, (walnut for Ted), hints of flowers, citrus and plumy fruit. The cocoa turns chocolaty in a surprisingly rich finish.

In the aroma cocoaish chocolate with floral top notes. In the cup Ken (89) and co-cupper Ted Stachura (87) both found continued baker's chocolate notes with a lean toward nut. Complications for Ken were hints of flowers and white wine, for Ted faint suggestions of citrus and pipe tobacco. Round and chocolaty in the short finish, fading toward a mild astringency (Ted: "dry wood") in the long.

Janus-like coffee: sweet, rich, and lushly fruity with an herby bitter note that, depending on taste, either complicates or shadows the main event of the fruit. In the aroma the lushly fermented fruit reads as rich, cherryish chocolate with a hint of flowers and pungent cedar. In the cup gently acidy, medium bodied, crisply sweet with continued cherry- and chocolate-toned fruit and the bitterish rosemary note. Sweetness and chocolate prevail in the surprisingly clean finish.

Flowers run through the profile from aroma through finish, with smoky notes in the aroma, crisp chocolate in the roughly full-bodied cup and again in the rather heavy finish.

Sweet-toned and rich aroma with some floral notes. In the cup medium body, silky mouthfeel, low acidity, sweet, low-toned, rich, with chocolate notes and a hint of walnut. Rich short finish; the mildly bitterish walnut tones dominate in the long.