LATEST REVIEWS

Pleasant enough aroma: rich, with a lushly fruity, brandied chocolate complication. After that pleasant overture, however, things go downhill fast. In the cup blaringly bitter and astringent, though hints of cherryish, chocolaty fruit do survive. In the finish, however, nothing at survives except a hard, overbearing astringency.

The aroma is sweet but flat, with a distinct burned wood character. In the cup the burned tones come across as rather rich, bolstered by a dry spice, almost black pepper sensation. Sweetens and softens surprisingly in the finish, especially in the long.

In the aroma shallow in sensation but pleasantly sweet with orange- and aromatic-wood notes. The cup is sweet, delicate, complicated by orange and a hint of milk chocolate but shadowed by flat, woody undertones. Sweet, clean short finish, but in the long the woody, flat undercurrents resurface.

In the aroma flat, rather woody, with low-toned fruit notes suggesting a sort of spicy banana. These odd but pleasant fruit notes persist in the rich though rather monotoned cup, which grows flatter and woodier as it cools. Medium body, clean, rich, rather pleasant finish.

Richly smoky aroma, with some sweet chocolate- and apricot-toned fruit and wood tones that are just aromatic enough to escape smelling like burned old board. In the cup thin-bodied but smooth in mouthfeel, with pleasantly and delicately smoky wood tones and hints of cedar and semi-sweet chocolate. The finish is simple but clean, sweet and free of astringency, with some faint recollections of chocolate.

Richly balanced aroma with hints of chocolate- and sweet-spice-toned fruit. In the cup sweet, delicate, refreshingly light-bodied with some almost giddily high-toned fruit and floral notes, but betrayed by an undercurrent of cardboardy flatness. Whatever caused the cardboardy or woody sensation seems to dominate in the thin, flat finish.

Balanced, muted aroma with orange notes and a hint of milk chocolate. In the cup sweet, rather rich, balanced. Not much nuance, a hint of bittersweet chocolate perhaps. Pleasantly rich and sweet in the short finish; maintains sweetness in the long with little astringency.

Intense, cleanly bittersweet ultra-dark roast with complex, attractive fruit notes: cherry, pear and pipe tobacco in the aroma, with the cherry-toned pipe tobacco turning toward semi-sweet chocolate in the cup. Sweet and rich in the short finish, but rather heavily astringent in the long.

A simple but very balanced, sturdy dark roast. The aroma is intense and roasty with sweet cedar notes and perhaps little flickers of chocolate and caramel. Less nuance in the cup, but roundly and richly bittersweet without a trace of burned notes and perhaps some cedar-toned fruit. Clean, complex short finish with only a hint of astringency in the long.

A complex fruitiness anchored by musty notes that read persuasively as sweet earth immediately identify this coffee as a traditional style Sumatra. The fruit reads most clearly as chocolate in the aroma, with tickles of raisin, citrus, perhaps papaya. In the cup sweet and bracingly earthy with a tart twist that suggests pineapple or grapefruit. Medium body. Rounds from short finish to long in a sweet, gently rich trajectory.

In the aroma rich and simple, with musty/medicinal notes that aspire to chocolate but don't quite get there. In the cup full-bodied but gritty in mouthfeel, with dominating fermented fruit notes that can read as raisin or dried apricot and semi-sweet chocolate. Sweet in the short finish, astringent in the long.

The structure and aromatics are dominated by the impact of an aggressively dark roast. Roasty and neutral in the aroma with subdued charred cedar tones and rather remote suggestions of fruit and nut. When hot the cup is burned and rather soapy, with perhaps some spice and cedar-toned chocolate. As it cools, however, the soapy tones recede and the chocolate intensifies, turns distinctly semi-sweet.

In the aroma intensely but cleanly roasty: pungent cedar with faint fruit undertones: papaya and apricot. In the cup the aggressive charred cedar tones continue to dominate, but the fruit becomes more explicit, rounding and sweetening toward chocolate. Sweet chocolate tones buffer the astringency in the short finish, but in the long the astringency turns rather heavy and tongue-coating.

Low-key but quietly complex aroma: mild chocolate, richly spicy fruit that reads perhaps as papaya. In the cup good body, round mouthfeel, quietly balanced. The fruit and chocolate sharpens a bit from sweet to bittersweet, influenced by a slight mustiness that reads legitimately as a nutty spice. Rich short finish, slightly astringent long.

Sweetly and gently acidy medium-roasted coffee, with a hint of semi-sweet chocolate in the aroma and sweet lemon and tomato in the cup. Rather shallow in sensory dimension, but softens and deepens as the cup cools, revealing floral hints. Balanced finish with a gentle astringency buffered by sweetness.

Gently pungent in the aroma: semi-sweet chocolate, cedar, a hint of pruny fruit and Mediterranean herbs. In the cup quietly attractive structure, with a balanced bittersweetness and a shimmer of acidity, but little nuance. Clean, rich, long finish.

The aroma is very sweet in impression with cocoa and walnut notes and a slight mustiness that reads as carnal fruit ? apricot perhaps. In the cup giddily sweet, but with a continued undertone of musty sharpness that continues to read as a cocoa-toned apricot, but less convincingly so than in the aroma. Very sweet finish.

Complex, intensely deep aroma, complicated by peach, chocolate and a hint of cedar. Sweet and high-toned in the cup, where the peach turns toward floral and the chocolate toward cocoa. Rich, sweet short finish, though a slight astringency distracts in the cup and resurfaces in the long finish.

Subtle nut and dry berry tones in the aroma, sweet in impression. In the cup silky and delicate, with a crisp but gently rounded acidity, the nut and berry tones deepening toward chocolate. Sweet short finish; slightly dry and astringent in the long.

Quietly but giddily complex. Fruit notes read as a sort of spicy papaya and semi-sweet chocolate in the aroma. The cup reveals dramatic floral notes with the fruit reading as orange, though still with a semi-sweet chocolate tendency that carries from the rich short finish to clean, lingering long.