LATEST REVIEWS

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule at a cup volume of 5.25 ounces): Very mild, sweet, smokily cedar-toned aroma. In the cup simple, relatively rich for a K-cup brewed coffee, with dried fruit notes - raisins, cherries - that verge on a dark chocolate. Sweet, mildly astringent finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule at a cup volume of 5.25 ounces): Mild but complex aroma: distinct caramel notes and hints of butter (perhaps butterscotch), vanilla and chocolate. Gentle, wine-toned acidity and sweet, delicate flavor with grapey red wine and floral notes and a hint of chocolate. Shallow but quietly persistent finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule at a cup volume of 5.25 ounces): A coffee either pleasingly subtle and delicate or disappointingly subdued and shallow depending on taste and expectation. Caramel, flowers and a hint of smoke or perhaps cinnamon in the aroma. In the cup gently acidy, light-bodied but silky in mouthfeel and mild in flavor, with hints of caramel, cocoa, pear and sweet flowering grass. Very sweet but simple finish.

Most cups of this sample were very sweet in aroma and flavor, with soft earth tones (think the odor of freshly fallen, moist leaves that have just begun to compost), and pleasingly round cherry, cocoa and caramel notes. Unfortunately one cup of five was very, very foul tasting, probably owing to a bad bean called a "stinker," so we deducted 4 points from a coffee that otherwise might merit a 90.

Softly sweet-toned, rather simple aroma - raisin and chocolate notes. In the cup a lean but rather silky mouthfeel, with continued raisin and sweet pipe tobacco notes and a continued lean toward milk chocolate. Simple, straightforward finish with a shimmer of astringency in the long.

Simple but deep aroma, with resonant raisiny chocolate tones. In the cup lean-bodied, delicate, fundamentally sweet and rather lush but dryly smoky with a hint of fruit that reads as white wine or grapefruit. Concludes simply but richly.

Deep, sweet-toned, buttery aroma with a spicy, cedary chocolate and a hint of fruit, pear perhaps. In the cup delicately robust, with a roundly lush but continuing spicy, cedary, almost black-peppery chocolate and a suggestion of coconut, the sweet processed kind. Roundly rich finish.

Very sweet, caramelly aroma with milk chocolate notes and hints of earth and cedar. In the cup richly acidy, with continued caramel and milk chocolate notes. Rather limited in nuance but not a lazy cup; a simple, straightforwardly pleasing gesture.

Sweetly smoky, cedary aroma with a hint of semi-sweet chocolate. In the cup a particularly full body and creamy mouthfeel, sweetly and richly acidy, but with limited nuance - hints of cedar and tart cherry, perhaps a continuing suggestion of semi-sweet chocolate. Simple but sweetly rich finish.

Softly low-toned fruit - bananas, semi-sweet chocolate - with a twist of cedar in the aroma. In the cup sweetly earthy with a fruit that displays a hint of ferment. Together this package reads as an earthy orange or raisin with a lean toward semi-sweet chocolate. Quietly rich, slightly rough finish with a pleasingly persistent earthy chocolate character.

Sweetly smoky, deep-toned aroma with fruit notes that suggest a sort of chocolaty papaya. In the cup deeply and fundamentally sweet, with spicy, smoky tones and a lush fruit that again suggested chocolate, but with a sweet grapefruit cast. Clean, rich, long finish.

Delicate aroma with softly pungent cedar and sweet tomato notes. In the cup gently and crisply acidy, with distinct floral notes and coffee fruit that reads as a tart, chocolate-toned cherry. A simple but very pure coffee expression.

Delicate but deep aroma, with chocolate, pipe tobacco and leather notes. In the cup earthy but richly sweet, almost sugary, with cherry fruit notes that acquire a chocolate depth in the profoundly sweet finish.

Sweet-toned, delicate aroma with butter notes and hints of chocolate and Mediterranean spice. Even sweeter in the cup, still delicate but rich, softly acidy and quietly complex with distinct floral notes and a crisp, subtle fruit that suggests Riesling table wine or perhaps black currant. The fruit notes turn toward cocoa in the long, continuing sweet finish.

Heady, intense aroma: milk chocolate, leather, flowers, sweet lemon and tomato. In the cup a richly tart acidity dominates, rounded by sweetness but bold and uncompromising. Lemon and sweet tomato notes lean toward chocolate. As the cup cools the acidity softens toward a clean, sweet finish, bracing but astringency free.

In the aroma roasty, with fresh-cut cedar, semi-sweet chocolate and a low-acid, banana-like fruit. Sweet and continued roasty in the cup, with dry, low-toned notes that read as chocolate-leaning walnut and berry with an occasional hint of a musty malt. Rich in the short finish, astringent but nicely nuanced with chocolate in the long.

Sweetly intense, balanced aroma, with milk chocolate, cedar and ripe tomato notes. In the cup the acidity is sweet and well-integrated, the body full and mouthfeel supple, and the flavor quite sweet, with chastened but still rich complication: semi-sweet chocolate, ripe tomato, and a round, low-acid fruit that suggested banana. The finish is cocoa-toned and slightly though warmly astringent.

Smoky, deep-toned aroma with a tightly-knit complexity: cedar, flowers, pineapple, vanilla, semi-sweet chocolate. Simplifies a bit in the cup, but remains richly and roundly bittersweet with an impressive smoky rather than burned character and a tickle of pineapply fruit. The sweet, expansive finish reveals a slight touch of astringency but the semi-sweet chocolate and fruit notes linger agreeably.

A classic but quiet, rather lazy cup. Caramelly, richly roasty aroma with ripe tomato, cedar and sweet orange complications. Similarly quiet in the cup, with a hint of chocolate joining the tomato, orange and cedar notes. Simple but rich finish.

The roast dominates here, deeply pungent and cedary in the aroma, with floral and Mediterranean herb top notes. Roundly and sweetly roasty in the cup, lightish in body but deep in dimension, with floral top notes and a cedary, herb-toned chocolate. Clean, rich and chocolaty in the short finish, though a burned astringency surfaces in the long, particularly as the cup cools.