LATEST REVIEWS
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.
Very sweet-toned, quietly complex aroma: smoke, semi-sweet chocolate and tart berryish fruit notes. Little of the aromatic complexity survives in the lean-bodied cup, only wisps of nut and crisp, smoky chocolate that fade quickly in the finish, leaving behind faint sweetness and a muted astringency.
The aroma is dominated by a very sweet scorched cedar and a spicy banana-toned fruit. Both carry nicely into the cup, which retains sweetness and a relatively rich mouthfeel despite the very dark roast. In the finish the sweet roastiness manages to outlast a slight astringency. One reader calls this the "best coffee I've ever had."
In the aroma cedar plus flowers and roast-influenced caramel and banana notes. A roast-muted acidity gently lifts the cup, where the cedar and caramel notes persist while the banana-toned fruit notes drift toward chocolate. Quiet short finish with a slight astringency in the long. Reader Ed Escobar says he has been "impressed by the consistent quality and freshness" of the coffees he has been buying from Old Bisbee Roasters.
A cup either pleasingly delicate or disappointingly simple depending on taste and expectation. Balanced, gentle aroma with a very fresh, foresty cedar and a suggestion of pear-toned fruit. In the cup the cedar and fruit tones finally settle into a sweet, raisin-toned chocolate. Reader Laura Cheng nominated another Central American coffee from Caffe Vita that was not available, so we took the liberty of ordering this one instead.
Gently pungent cedar and pear-toned fruit in the aroma. In the cup sweetly and richly acidy with a continued pungent edge that hints at chocolate. The long, robust-on-the-edge-of-rough finish suggests that the attractive pungency of the profile may in part be powered by a slight, felicitous mustiness in one of the blend's green coffees.
Fine aroma: high-toned, elegant, combining suggestions of flowers, lemon, cedar and peach in a single suave, tight-knit aromatic gesture. In the cup delicately rich, light-bodied but not lean, gently acidy. The peach-floral-lemon gesture deepens and leans toward chocolate. Only the finish is disappointing: short and slightly but distractingly astringent.
The aroma is intense and complex: cherry, blueberry, brandy, chocolate, with an underlying edge of pungently spicy cedar. All carry richly into the cup with an excitement a bit too edgy for elegance. A slight shadow of astringency lurking in the cup emerges clearly in the long finish.
Opulently complex aroma: cherry, blueberry, dry semi-sweet chocolate, brandy. In the cup very sweet, gently rich; the chocolate grows rounder and more distinct with continued blueberry and brandy complication. The rich, dry brandy notes dominate a slight astringency in the finish.
Simple but classically appealing coffee. High-toned, sweetly spicy aroma with tight-knit suggestions of flowers, chocolate and sweet tomato that amplify in the richly acidy cup. The finish stays on the roundly hearty side of astringent.
The attraction of this coffee is a structure both powerful and elegant: richly and roundly acidy, with silky-verging-on-syrupy mouthfeel, fundamental sweetness, and ringing depth of sensation. The wispy hints of chocolate, cherry and cedar are a bonus. Reader Mike Venditto's nomination of a Counter Culture coffee was not available, so we substituted this rather similar Bolivia.
Sweet-toned, intense aroma with walnut and chocolate notes and a hint of peach-like fruit. In the cup gentle, delicate, sweet, with a pleasantly vegetal cocoa character, a continued hint of fruit, and walnut tones that turn just a bit flat and woody as the cup cools. Delicate, pleasing but simple finish with continued walnut notes.
Simple profile but deep, roasty and rich, quietly complicated by pungent cedar and suggestions of semisweet chocolate and yellow fruit, apricot perhaps. The mouthfeel is plump with a slight, not unpleasant roughness. The short finish is a touch astringent but quite rich; the chocolate tones linger nicely in the long.
Deep, pungently sweet aroma with cocoa, caramelly cedar, raisin, date and honey notes. In the cup rich, low-key, gently bittersweet with continued, very distinct cocoa and honey/date notes. Long finish with excellent flavor persistence. The cup flattens slightly as it cools.
A gently sweet, ingratiating coffee. In the aroma caramel, cedar and orange notes with a hint of flowers. In the cup very sweet, with a dominating fruit-toned cocoa that carries into the long, clean finish.
The roast dominates the coffee, though gently. Toast, cedar and a hint of chocolate in the aroma. Sweetly pungent but simple in the cup, with slightly scorched cedar and Mediterranean herb notes and a continued hint of chocolate. The chocolate intensifies in the finish.
Sweet-toned, round, caramelly aroma with hints of flowers and pears or peach. In the small cup full-bodied with a dominating sweet, cedary pungency complicated by raisiny fruit and dark chocolate with a slight whiff of brandyish ferment. In milk balanced and rich, with continued semi-sweet chocolate, richly grapy ferment and even a surprising resurfacing of flowers.
Balanced but subdued aroma: smoke, flowers, a hint of peach-toned fruit. In the small cup heavy-bodied with rounded cedar and raisiny fruit notes and hints of flowers, red wine and chocolate. Resonant finish with excellent flavor persistence. Distinct and pleasing milk chocolate presence in milk.
Simple but deep aroma with distinct berry notes - blueberry or blackberry - and a hint of milk chocolate. In the small cup substantial body with a lively, effervescent mouthfeel and toast, cedar and continuing berryish fruit notes. The berry notes persist in the very slightly astringent finish. In milk the berry notes round and soften toward a lush banana-toned chocolate.
In the aroma distinct semi-sweet chocolate notes and cherryish or raisiny fruit with a lush twist of ferment. Crisp cedar and toast notes complicate the cherry-toned chocolate in the small cup. The fruity chocolate persists in the splendid short finish, though a shadow astringency barely implied in the cup eventually dominates in the long. In milk a slightly lean body is more than made up for by crisp toasted rice notes and a voluptuous, milk-softened version of the fruity-fermented chocolate.
Delicate, sweet-toned aroma: butter, flowers, the barest hints of chocolate and cedar. In the small cup medium-bodied, smooth in texture, gently and sweetly pungent in flavor with caramel and cedar notes. Simple but deep presence in milk, with pronounced semi-sweet chocolate tones and a clear hint of flowers.
