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We have published thousands of coffee reviews and espresso reviews since 1997. The reviews below appear in reverse chronological order by review date. Older reviews may no longer accurately reflect current versions of the same coffee. To search for a specific roaster, origin or coffee use the Advanced Search Function.
Balanced, complex, complete. The quiet but assertive acidity was praised as "balanced" by co-cupper Ted Stachura (93) and "sweet, rich, integrated" by Ken (94). The mouthfeel was "juicy" (Ted), the aroma and cup showed a crisply sweet complex of dry berry, cocoa, flowers, citrus, nut. Long, deep, chocolate-toned finish.
Exquisitely lyric aroma: flowers, tart cherry, honey, a suggestion of milk chocolate. In the cup sweet acidity and continued meadowy flower and flowering grass notes, honey, tart cherry, all of which carry into a delicate but ringing finish.
Exhilarating, fresh-toned aroma: jasmine, sweet herbs. In the cup crisply sweet-toned acidity, medium body, continued flowers, sweet herb and a tingly, cocoa-toned chocolate. Deep, flower-saturated finish.
Deep-toned and roasty in the aroma: dark chocolate, fir, floral top notes. In the cup heavy bodied, low-toned, continued dark chocolate and aromatic wood notes with the barest hint of flowers at the top. Smooths out nicely in the finish: rich, sweet, chocolaty.
A quiet but distinctive Ethiopia wet-processed profile. Distinct orange blossom and honeyed orange notes in the aroma, with hints of nut and caramel. In the cup delicate, balanced acidity, silky mouthfeel, continued honeyed orange and orange blossom with a balancing, slightly pungent nut note, walnut perhaps. Sweet, flavor saturated finish. The cup stiffens and simplifies slightly as it cools.
Unusual profile. Intensely and pungently roasty but quite sweet, with the dominant note licorice or fennel with hints of rosemary, roasted nut, molasses, raisin, dark chocolate. The chocolate lingers most clearly in the clean, richly long finish. Some mild inconsistency from cup to cup.
Deep-toned, cherryish fruit and pungent aromatic wood in the aroma. In the cup pronounced, citrus-toned acidity, full mouthfeel, bittersweet structure, with continued hints of cherry, cocoa, and a pungent wood or tomato note. The cocoa turns toward chocolate in the long, rich finish.
A paradoxical coffee, thin and subdued, but with considerable suggestions of richness and complexity. In the aroma muted suggestions of night flowers, butter, black cherries. In the cup lean but silky mouthfeel and delicate hints of spicy nut, cocoa, more flowers and cherry, perhaps of a rather dullish aromatic wood. The flavor persists nicely into an otherwise short, fast-fading finish.
Crisp, cocoaish dark chocolate with nut and floral hints in the aroma. Soft, muted acidity in the cup, medium body, with a very sweet, molasses-toned character balanced by the walnut-like crispness of the pervasive cocoa notes. Continued hints of flowers. Short but nicely flavor saturated finish.
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.
Intense aroma: coffee fruit, roasty nut, molasses, a hint of flowers. In the cup roast-muted acidity, substantial mouthfeel, and a crisp, dense baker's chocolate character with continued hints of molasses, nut and flowers. Simple but richly deep finish.
Explosive aromatics: In the break deep, rich, buttery and honey-like with suggestions of flowers, coffee fruit, fresh-tanned leather. In the cup the butter notes turn rather pungent, toward butterscotch with continued flowers and a fruit that softens toward milk chocolate. Medium bodied, slightly underpowered and short in the finish but intense and intriguing aromatics throughout.
Intense, crisp yet sweet-toned aroma with honey, cedar and rose notes. In the cup soft acidity, medium body, and a lyric, delicate complexity: honey, sweet cherry, molasses, cedar, hints of milk chocolate and flowering grass. Clean, elegant, though rather short finish.
Nut, honeyed flowers and tart cherry dominate the aroma. In the cup the acidity is intense but rounded, the mouthfeel syrupy, the structure sweet, the aromatics deep: the flowers turn softly pungent and spicy, the fruit richer and more complex. In the finish the honeyed sweetness envelops a slight astringency.
High-toned, simple, classic aroma: orange, sweet tomato, hints of cedar and milk chocolate. In the cup a rich, roundly sweet-toned acidity dominates, with continued orange and milk chocolate notes that grow more distinct as the cup cools and the acidity softens. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Long, tartly sweet finish.
Intense aroma: ripe, fallen fruit, flowers, flowering grass, honey, pungent cedar. In the cup fruit-deepened acidity, syrupy mouthfeel, roundly sweet with a mild, balancing bitterness and tremendous aromatic complexity: honey, night flowers, and above all a brandyish, fruity chocolate that carries deep into the finish.
Big, deep, classically symphonic coffee. Intense aroma: black-cherryish fruit, white wine, flowers. In the cup syrupy body, powerful but rounded acidity, pungently juicy flavor with sweet lemon and night flower notes. Pure, smooth, fruit-and-flower saturated finish.
Pure, refreshing coffee. Sweetly acidy and honey-toned in the aroma, with floral and coffee fruit (tart cherry) notes. In the cup softly acidy, delicate in mouthfeel, crisp but very sweet in structure, with continued notes of tart coffee cherry, honey and flowers, together with a slight, deepening butterscotch-like pungency. In the finish the sweetness fades, but the fundamental flavor notes persist far into the long finish.
Grand-gestured, complete coffee. Intense, rose-like floral notes dominate the aroma, with lush honey, molasses and coffee fruit. In the cup the mouthfeel has honeyish depth, the acidity is sweetly powerful, the flavor dominated by tart berry notes both dryly austere yet utterly and voluptuously juicy, complicated by continued honey, molasses and flowers. Smooth, balanced, flower-saturated finish.
Crisp but juicy in the aroma, with butter, honey, flower and marmalade-like orange notes. In the cup smoothly and gently acidy, delicate in mouthfeel, with a continued tart, marmalade-like, orangy sweetness complicated by cocoa, cedar, and continued flower and honey notes. Oranges and flowers carry into a cleanly sweet finish.