Reviews for JBC Coffee Roasters

Evaluated as espresso. Aromatically rich: molasses, nut and caramel with delicate notes of orange and apricot. In the small cup, smooth body and rounded flavors of sweet nut, dark chocolate and prune with a continued orangy hint. The nut character dominates in the finish, turning slightly astringent and walnut-like. Flavors deepen but maintain character in two parts milk: orange-toned milk chocolate dominates with continued complications of nut, caramel and prune-like fruit.

Sweet, nut-toned aroma with hints of flowering grass, fir, molasses. In the cup bright but delicate acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel and great sweetness complicated by tart lemon, caramel and fir. Sweetness and flavor carry into the finish, rounding toward milk chocolate in the long.

Softly complex aroma: hazelnut, milk chocolate, moist pipe tobacco. Refined and balanced in the cup with clear-toned acidity, silky mouthfeel and a sustained complex of flavors that combine nut and milk chocolate with hints of tangerine and grapefruit. The flavor persists deep into the finish, turning sweeter as it fades.

Intensely rich aroma: grapefruit, sweet-toned sandalwood and cedar. In the cup creamy body, penetratingly but gentle acidity, continued sweetly pungent fruit -- grapefruit, tart berry -- and aromatic wood. A juicy, flavor-saturated short finish turns crisply dry in the long.

Complex aromatically and in the cup: a bouquet of jasmine and honey suckle, lemon grass, round orange- and berry-tones. Softly balanced yet rich acidity and silky mouthfeel. Although the floral/fruit complex simplifies slightly in the finish, a milk chocolate-like sweetness emerges.

A delicate, refreshing, meadowy coffee. Flowers, flowering grass, fresh, cherry-toned fruit in the aroma. In the cup gentle, bright acidity, lightish but silky mouthfeel, a distinct honey note with continuing flowers and flowering grass and the pure, tartly sweet taste of the coffee fruit. Slightly astringent but sweet finish; the honey and floral suggestions deepen toward molasses.

Sweet stone fruit aroma with hints of toast and cocoa. Bright acidity in the cup, smooth mouthfeel and flavors of tangerine that fade to richly sweet dry berry, milk chocolate and flowers. Long finish with a pungent dark chocolate character.

Plenty of sweet aromatic wood and soft fruit-tones in the aroma, with a hint of honey. Full body, creamy mouthfeel, balanced fruity acidity, and complex flavors of grapefruit, flowering grasses, earth, aromatic wood and tropical fruit. Long, dry finish with deep earth and wood notes pleasantly persisting in the long.

Soft aromatic notes of cinnamon, vanilla, citrus and toast. A very light roast develops brightness in the cup and simple but delicately nuanced flavors. Flowers and lime at first, deepening and sweetening to round, milky chocolate, with a gently smooth mouthfeel. Finishes cleanly, with a mild hint of sweet chocolate.

Clean, complex, impeccable. Exhilaratingly dominated by crisp, nut-toned dry berry (blackberry, ripe black currant) in aroma and cup. Lush, lightly wine-toned acidity; medium body; syrupy mouthfeel. The underlying sweetness in the cup carries into the long, flavor-permeated finish.

Sweet-toned aromatic wood and roundly fruity aroma, with hints that suggest coconut. Medium to full body, soft mouthfeel, balanced acidity, and a complex range of flavors - grapefruit, lime, coconut, sweet table grapes, aromatic wood and a suggestion of flowers. Flavor characteristics linger and sweeten in the long, slightly dry finish.

Orange- and lemon-toned fruit, a hint of cedar in the aroma. Soft acidity, smoothly silky mouthfeel, very complex in the cup: pipe tobacco, cocoa, a hint of flowers, orange and lemon. Orange and lemon in particular saturate the sweetly pungent, slightly astringent finish.

A remarkably pure profile for this dried-in-the-fruit coffee type. Lush but delicate aroma: jammy blackberry, cocoa, ripe orange, a hint of cedar. In the cup sweet-toned acidity, lightish body, and a juicy, complex flavor: the cocoa notes move forward, supported by a round, berryish fruit that reads at various moments as red table grape, blackberry, blueberry, ripe orange. The clean, berry-saturated finish fades quickly but pleasingly.

Tropical fruit (mango, papaya) and sweet aromatic wood in the aroma, with the slightest hint of coconut. In the cup medium to full body, balanced acidity, and big, complex flavors ranging from pungent grapefruit and berry to tropical wood. Sweet, dry cedar tones linger in the finish, with a very mild astringency in the long.

Rich aroma with nut and blackberry notes that deepen and resonate in the cup, adding hints of lemon, red wine, flowers, cocoa. Poised and balanced acidity, roundly rich finish, shimmers of flowers.

A very light roast preserves the essential meadowy sweetness and delicacy of this quiet, pure coffee. Notes of fir, honey, molasses and cherry in aroma and cup. The acidity is light-footed and sweet-toned, the mouthfeel silky. Surprisingly rich finish with a very slight woody flatness in the long.

A very light roast preserves the distinctive and complex aromatics. Crisp but sweet-toned aroma: toast, orange citrus and hints of dry berry and flowers. In the cup the acidity is balanced and rich, the mouthfeel lightly syrupy and the flavor pungently malty with continuing toast, orange, dry berry and floral notes. Long, rich finish.

Buttery aroma: nut, flowers, dry berry. Rich acidity, medium body. The elegantly pungent berry note cuppers call black currant dominates in the cup, but supported by a profound underlying sweetness that gives the berry a dark chocolate depth. Flowers revive in the fine, rich, flavor-saturated finish.

Crisply floral-toned aroma, caramel and pear-toned fruit notes, with a hint of cedary warmth. In the cup medium body with a lightly and pleasantly syrupy mouthfeel. A bright, pronounced acidity simplifies the aromatics when the cup is hot, but as it cools a delicate, tight-knit complexity emerges: hints of white wine, caramelly milk chocolate, continued pear-toned fruit. Clean, sweetly dry finish.

Intense, complex aroma. Quite tropical for co-cupper Miguel Meza (92) who cites guava, pineapple, and orange; Ken's (92) associations are more temperate: blueberry, cherry, orange, honey. In the cup both Ken and Miguel find cherry and chocolate, and most likely Miguel's "mango and caramel" and Ken's "candyish butterscotch" both are efforts to find descriptors for the same sensation, a pleasingly pungent sweetness. Miguel passes on the finish; Ken finds the usual flaw haunting this style of coffee: a slight salty astringency hiding amid the lovely fading trajectory of fruit.