LATEST REVIEWS

Very impressive aroma: deep and lush with low-toned fruit (banana?) notes and hints of cedar and chocolate. In the cup crisp and roasty but still sweet with floral notes and a rich fruit that reads as semi-sweet chocolate. Simple but cleanly sweet finish.

Intense aroma: cedar, caramel, and a hint of fruit that reads as semi-sweet chocolate. Round and full in the cup, with the pungent, cedar-toned chocolate complicated by a shimmer of orange citrus. The pleasingly pungent cedar tones turn a bit heavy and astringent in the finish.

Smoky, cedar- and cherry-toned fruit in the aroma. In the cup round, rich, bittersweet, with a tart, cherryish chocolate - think pie cherries rolled in unsweetened chocolate - and a sweet, floral-toned acidity. The finish strikes me as slightly too astringent.

Gently bittersweet aroma with chocolate, cherry and cedar notes. Roundly rich in the cup, with distinct dry cocoa and surprising floral notes. Sweet and rich in the short finish, with a slight astringent bite in the long. Gains in power and quiet complexity as it cools.

A quiet, very sweet, delicately chocolate-toned coffee. Caramel and chocolate tones dominate in aroma and cup, gently complicated by floral top notes. Slightly astringent in the long finish.

A quiet but deeply rich coffee. Fresh-cut cedar and semi-sweet chocolate carry from the husky aroma through pungently sweet cup to an impressively long, resonant finish.

Slight cedary roastiness in the aroma, with a peach- or banana-toned dark chocolate that carries into the cup with a rich, pungent sweetness. The low-toned fruit lingers pleasingly in the long finish.

Extraordinary aroma: high-toned, delicate but intense, lilac and a chocolaty lemon. The chocolate-lemon and floral notes carry into the cup, but are backgrounded by a sweet but intense acidity. Clean, sweet finish.

A crisp, malty fruit runs through the profile, suggesting a low key bouquet of possibilities: peach, cedar, chocolate, black currant, cherry. The finish is particularly impressive, rich, sweet, long, and nuanced with persistent berry and cherry tones.

High-toned, complex aroma: lemon, flowers, sweet herbs, perhaps a cedar-toned, semi-sweet chocolate. Smoothes and quiets in the cup, with the semi-sweet chocolate, lemon and herb notes dominating. Slight but pleasing astringency in the finish.

Deep aroma with dry floral and tart berry and chocolate notes. Sweetly high-toned and acidy in the cup, delicately rich, hints of dry berry, sweet herb, flowers. Lightly astringent but refreshing finish.

Exquisitely delicate aroma suggests a fine Oolong tea, with extravagant floral notes but a distinct (and coffeeish) hint of chocolate. The chocolate strengthens in the cup, with a tartly sweet, lemon-toned acidity. The lemon-chocolate notes outlast a gentle astringency in the long, pleasing finish.

Lushly complex but delicate aroma, alive with floral and low-acid fruit notes: apple perhaps, even banana, leaning toward chocolate. In the cup displays a simplifying sharpness when hot, but softens and sweetens as the cup cools. The seductively low-acid fruit notes persist from aroma into cup, reading as red wine and chocolate. The finish is long and rich with a slight astringent edge.

A refined, quietly understated espresso. Delicately complex aroma with vanilla and milk chocolate innuendos. Medium body, smooth mouthfeel in the small cup, balanced in flavor with a slight cedary sharpness and semi-sweet chocolate notes. Maintains its dry chocolate, muted fruit elegance nicely in milk. Co-taster Ted Lingle's rating: 91; Ken's: 89. Nominating reader Teri Bolla remarks accurately on this blend's balance, "total finesse" and "fruit/cocoa floral" character.

For both Ken (81) and co-taster Ted Lingle (79) the aroma was muted and burned. Ted found the body in the small cup light; Ken (81) found it fuller but rough in mouthfeel. Nor did Ken or Ted have much positive to say about flavor: pungent and rough for Ted, burned and sharp for Ken. In milk pleasantly sweet but thin-bodied for Ted; Ken was more positive here, finding that the milk smoothed out the sharply roasty character of the coffee, turning it toward a pleasing fresh leather and a clove-toned spice. The reader who nominated this blend found it "exceptional, that's all."

Once past the aroma, co-taster Ted Lingle (79) had little positive to say about this blend, finding it lean in body, rather burned/bitter in flavor, and weak in presence in milk. Ken (84) also found the mouthfeel too lean and the finish too astringent, but enjoyed the berry-like, chocolate-leaning fruit that carried through the profile from aroma to milk. The reader who nominated this blend said he wanted "to see if this espresso is everything it is claimed it is."

Ken and co-taster Ted Lingle ended with comparable overall ratings (Ken 85, Ted 86) but differed in how they got there. Ted found the aroma a bit flat; Ken found it delicate, with toast, apple and floral notes. Ted found the body fuller and the mouthfeel more substantial than Ken did. Both found the flavor in the small cup toasty/smoky and a bit sharp in the finish. Both admired the way the blend rounded and sweetened in milk. Nominating reader Robert Bobbs praised this blend as "perfectly balanced ... big body, slightly sweet, not too much acidity but enough to enliven the cup; holds up well in big milky drinks but is fantastic as a straight shot."

An attractive if underpowered espresso. Muted notes of flowers, fruit and chocolate in the aroma. In the small cup medium-bodied, supple in mouthfeel, but limited in flavor: some floral hints persist but the main impression is a thinnish pungency that Ken (87) called smoky and co-taster Ted Lingle (86) spicy. Nevertheless, rounds and richens in the finish, and reveals a round, semi-sweet chocolate character in milk. Nominating reader Andrey Akselrod says simply "It is one of my favorite espressos."

Delicate floral and vanilla-toned aroma, clean and precious. In the small cup medium-bodied, with a sweet, softly fruity character that suggests banana, perhaps, or papaya. Long, sweetly resonant finish with a slight astringent bite. Co-taster Ted Lingle (88) felt this soft, delicate blend faded a bit in milk; Ken (88) found it limited perhaps in nuance but sweet and substantial in presence. Nominating reader Martin Freeman exclaims that this "best espresso blend ever ... rich, creamy ... deep, fragrant ..." is "WORLD CLASS."

Ken (90) liked this espresso with its earthy-musty influenced aromatics considerably more than co-taster Ted Lingle (87). In the aroma, vanilla, floral, earth, leather and fruit notes. In the small cup medium body, leanish but smooth mouthfeel, with a rather sharp, musty/fruity flavor that persisted in the mildly astringent but resonant finish. Probably at its best in milk, which rounded and softened the coffee, turning the musty fruit toward a pleasingly complex chocolate. Reader Adam Harvey testifies that "Simply put, [this] is the best espresso I have ever tasted. And I have tasted plenty."