LATEST REVIEWS

Decent but flawed ultra-dark-roast. Begins well: Roundly and gently charred in the aroma with hints of dark chocolate and butter. In the cup medium body and a simple but richly, buttery charred character with a continued slight suggestion of chocolate. A rather rich astringency in the short finish grows more insistent in the long. As the cup cools the hints of chocolate regrettably give way to hints of rubber.

Sweet-toned, softly pungent aroma with wood and molasses notes. In the cup syrupy body and very sweet in structure, with continuing distinct molasses notes and some woody underpinnings. In the finish fades almost immediately.

Low in acidity, with a sweet, mildly fermented fruit that struck me as a bit too cloyingly sweet (banana-ish fruit, cut flowers past their prime) in the aroma, but cleaner and more attractive in the cup (banana, slightly fresher flowers, syrupy mouthfeel) and especially in a rich, fruity, if mildly astringent finish.

Intense, roundly balanced aroma with mildly pungent roast character and orange, nut and cedary chocolate notes. In the cup low in acidity, medium in body and agreeable but rather simple aromatically: bittersweet, woody, with only a hint of cedary, perhaps earthy, chocolate. Not a long finish, but sweet and rich.

Softly bittersweet with molasses and woody nut notes that with imagination could suggest chocolate. Silky to syrupy mouthfeel and a simple, woody but rich finish without distracting astringency. The woody flatness intensifies a bit as the cup cools and the aromatics fade, but still a remarkably balanced and satisfying blend at a remarkably low price.

Sweet-toned, softly acidy, dominated by fresh-cut wood notes, with a second wave of sensation suggesting a sort of herb-toned dark chocolate. The chocolate notes carry directly into an impressively sweet, round finish.

Simple, rather shallow aroma but agreeably chocolate- and nut-toned. In the cup low in acidity, syrupy in mouthfeel, sweet-toned with continued nut and crisply cocoaish chocolate notes. In the finish fades rather quickly but on the way out remains cocoaish and rich.

A low-key but still distinctive cup: crisp, lean-bodied, with sweet blackberry, dry black currant and pungently orange, nut and cedar notes. If it were not for a flavor-dampening undercurrent of wood this would be a 90-point coffee.

Sweet, crisp, simple with walnut and minty dark chocolate notes in the aroma that consolidate as a distinct, pleasing cocoa in the quietly balanced cup. The long, rich, cocoa-toned finish is particularly impressive.

In the aroma sweet, intense: molasses, dry berry, butter, earth. In the cup gently acidy, delicate but - again - intense, with continued molasses and cocoa-toned earth notes. A coffee both wild and elegant. Slight heaviness in the finish and slightly uneven cups.

Intense, sweetly pungent small cup with dark chocolate, cedar, banana-toned fruit and a hint of ferment that contributes a slight brandyish nuance. Syrupy body, mildly astringent though very sweet finish. Heavily dominates short milk but blooms and balances beautifully at four parts milk to one part coffee, rounding toward a rich, minty dark chocolate.

Aromatically a rather simple coffee, but an attractive one. Deep aroma dominated by a cherryish milk chocolate with hints of cedar and banana. Sweet-toned, roundly balanced cup with quiet acidity, fullish body and continued cherry-toned chocolate carrying into a plain but long finish.

Delicately but richly nuanced throughout the profile with cherryish fruit, flowers, honey, milk chocolate. In the cup the acidity is tart but luxuriously sweet and the mouthfeel lightly syrupy. Flavor saturated and flawless finish.

Pure, finely articulated coffee with notes of coffee fruit (tart cherry), orange and a crisp, minty, distinct but uncandylike chocolate. The chocolate note carries into a finish that remains on the delicately rich side of astringent.

A deep, roundly low-toned coffee with pleasingly deep, round, low-toned aroma with distinct lemony (perhaps orangy) chocolate notes. In the cup smooth, balanced acidity, silky mouthfeel, and tart cherry and continued lemon-toned chocolate notes. A note that could be called banana appears toward the long, flavor-saturated, very slightly astringent finish.

Sweet- and low-toned aroma with orangy fruit and cedar and nut notes. In the cup very well-structured with a rich slightly wine-toned acidity and silky mouthfeel but rather simple aromatically: a genial but limited orange- and cherry-toned fruit. A floral hint surfaced in the otherwise simple finish.

Impressively intense, sweetly pungent aroma: flowers, chocolate, hints of butter and fresh-cut cedar. Rich, round, smooth-bodied and syrupy in the cup, with pleasing but limited aromatics: dusk flowers and hints of chocolate and dry berry that fade in the rich but simple finish.

Evaluated as espresso. As a drip coffee fell quite short of 80. As espresso revealed some virtues. In the aroma sweet-toned with distinct chocolate and butter notes. In the small cup medium bodied, round-toned and sweet, with earth, aromatic wood and herbal notes (I read fennel) and hints of nut and chocolate. The finish was simple in the short and mildly astringent in the long. Surprisingly disappointing in milk: leanish in mouthfeel with banana and chocolate in front but a slight though disturbing note toward the finish that for me suggested salted meat.

Intense, deep aroma: distinct dark chocolate, spicy cedar and hints of orange and nut. In the cup low in acidity but rather astringent, with a rich, attractive cocoaish chocolate. Both chocolate and astringency carry into the finish, where the shadow nut tones turn (to my palate) slightly cloying.

Intense, low-toned aroma with semi-sweet chocolate, crisp nut (walnut?) and hints of cedar and clay. In the cup fullish body, muted acidity, and a continued intense presence with complex chocolate, walnut and earth notes. A rather heavy astringency when the cup is hot softens as it cools.