LATEST REVIEWS

Very sweet, almost sugary, with raisiny fruit notes and hints of orange and chocolate carrying with rich stateliness from aroma to cup. Syrupy body, deep, resonant finish.

The aroma is shifting, complex: sweet, smoky candied fruit suggests lemon drop at one moment, butterscotch the next; hints of flowers, fresh-fallen wet leaves, even milk chocolate. The influence of the sweet musty/earthy notes on the tart fruit becomes more explicit in the rich, gently pungent cup, reading as a sort of earthy lemon and fresh leather. Medium-bodied, syrupy mouthfeel. Sweetly rich finish.

Sweet-toned, deep aroma with gingery cedar and banana- and cherry-toned fruit notes and a hint of lemon at the top. In the cup big bodied, softly acidy, with very sweet, pungent fruit notes - grapefruit perhaps, and a spicy cedar. This deeply complex, quite attractive 90+ profile was marred by one bad cup: rubbery herb notes. I decided not to push down the rating too severely, given the originality and charm of the other four cups.

Sweet, rich, deep, pungently juicy aroma: cedar, oranges, banana, a hint of flowers. In the cup lean-bodied with a brightly pungent acidity, intensified floral notes, and a cocoa-chocolate cast to the fruit. The slightly dominating acidity softens in the finish, allowing the juicy orange and banana notes to bloom in a long, complex finale.

Sweet-toned, deeply pungent aroma with cedar and butter notes and a suggestion of bittersweet chocolate. In the cup rather lean-bodied, delicately and cleanly roasty, but with limited nuance: butter, hints of chocolate and flowers. The chocolate implicit throughout the profile emerges with surprising and pleasing clarity in the finish, outlasting even a slight astringency.

Superb aroma: Richly and deeply fruity with floral top notes. In the small cup leanish but smooth mouthfeel, salty sweet, crisp, deeply cedary, with an apricot-toned semi-sweet chocolate. Rich but slightly astringent finish. Masters milk with dry power but without opulence.

A simple but sweet, deeply resonant coffee with a big, smooth body and chocolate-toned fruit notes that read as a round, banana-inclined milk chocolate in the aroma. In the cup the chocolate turns toward cocoa and the fruit toward a gently tart, cherryish coffee fruit. Rich, straightforward finish with a very slight hint of astringency.

A quiet but interesting coffee: soft, low-toned, with hints of cedar, warm spice, chocolate, and a low-acid fruit that suggests banana. The chocolate notes become more explicit in the impressively long, resonant finish.

The ultra-dark roast turns mouthfeel lean, but spares us astringency and leaves us with a gently pungent, delicately rich cup with a shimmer of cardamom-toned spice and scorched cedar complication.

Delicate, gently bright coffee with distinct, cedar-toned dry berry notes (the kind often called black currant) carrying from aroma to cup, support by cocoa, orange (perhaps better, tangerine) and floral nuance. The body is rather light, but the mouthfeel is gently lively, almost effervescent. Clean, rich finish with impressive flavor persistence, particularly of the orange/cocoa notes.

A deeply floral-toned coffee. The floral tones are rich and rose-like in both aroma and cup, with caramelly, almost custard-like support and hints of cedar and cocoa. The finish is sweet, deep and long.

Deeply rich aroma with fruity chocolate and cedar complication. In the small cup the cedar notes dominate, backgrounding the chocolate and fruit. Full body but slightly rough mouthfeel; rich and slightly sharp in the short finish, but in the long smoothes out nicely with a final memory of chocolate. The cedar and chocolate carry into milk, the cedar dominating but the chocolate-fruit side blooming nicely.

Rather delicate, toasty aroma with hints of low-acid fruit - banana, chocolate. In the small cup medium to full body, with a crisply smoky, toasty character complicated by caramel and continued banana notes and a hint of flowers. The finish stays just on the rich side of rough. Rounds and blossoms in milk but remains roasty - think chocolate on toast - with a continued lean toward a banana-like fruit.

A tough, robust espresso. Sweetly and roundly smoky aroma with hints of semi-sweet chocolate. In the small cup full body with slightly rough mouthfeel, simple and richly pungent with continued hints of dark chocolate and a surprisingly clean, sweet finish. At its best in milk, where the semi-sweet chocolate rounds and dominates with minty richness.

Lush in flavor but slightly lean in body and presence. Elegant blueberry- and chocolate-toned nose with a hint of cedar. In the small cup medium-bodied with a touch of sweet acidity and continued berry, cedar and dark chocolate notes. A bit thin-presenced in milk, though the sneakily persistent dark-chocolate, cherry-brandy opulence stays around nicely.

Sweet-toned, very deep aroma with complication that reads as banana, orange, semi-sweet chocolate. In the small cup full bodied and cedar- and caramel-toned with continued suggestions of banana-like fruit and semi-sweet chocolate. The cedar and chocolate tones round and sweeten in milk without losing their crisp authority.

Balanced, versatile blend. Sweet-toned aroma with fruit and chocolate complications. In the small cup smooth and close to syrupy in mouthfeel, sweet and gently pungent with a pronounced cedar note and hints of prune and semi-sweet chocolate. Rich presence in milk - perhaps more cedar and mint than chocolate but roundly sweet nonetheless. Very slightly rough finish in both small cup and milk.

Deep but crisp aroma with impressive complexity: honey, caramel, semi-sweet chocolate, flowers, a hint of cedar. Medium to full body in the small cup with continued caramel and chocolate notes and pronounced, rather sharp cedar. In milk the chocolate rounds and blossoms sweetly, complicated by a continued crisp cedar and the reappearance of a floral shimmer at the top of the profile.

A versatile espresso with a pungent authority that should serve particularly well in big milk drinks. Slightly spicy, apricot- or mango-toned fruit in the deeply sweet-impressioned aroma. In the small cup displays full, syrupy body and a rather opulently sweet, chocolate-toned richness with a balancing cedar pungency. Slight astringency in the long finish. In milk rounds and blossoms nicely but dominates with semi-sweet chocolate authority and a slight but discernible astringent edge in the finish.

A quiet, complete espresso, short on drama but almost flawless in detail. Delicately complex aroma, with crisp chocolate and cedar and butter notes that together read much like butterscotch. In the small cup medium-bodied but very smooth in mouthfeel with almost no astringency and a sweet, chocolaty fruit and gentle cedar. Delicate but very sweet in milk with continued crisp chocolate and cedar notes and a cleanly rich finish.