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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.
A touch of fruit ferment both pleasantly complicates and slightly mars this interesting coffee. In the cup the ferment turns the acidity pleasantly winy and bends the fruit toward a rich, brandied chocolate with raisin and caramel innuendo. The long finish is marred by a troublesome bitterness, however, probably owing to the same ferment.
In the aroma high-toned and delicate, complicated by sweet spice and suggestions of flowers and chocolate. The cup is low in acidity and dominated by a crisp nutty fruit, raisins and walnuts perhaps, with a continuing shimmer of floral chocolate. A very slight astringency surfaces as the cup cools.
A balanced, sweet, endearingly simple cup, refreshing and direct without drama or complexity. Low-toned fruit, prune perhaps, and a hint of flowers. Slight astringency in the otherwise long, agreeable finish.
In the aroma richly low-toned: cedar, sweet spice, with a hint of milk chocolate. In the cup the acidity is muted, the flavor sweet with a balancing touch of bitterness, while the milk chocolate blooms opulently. The chocolate persists in the resonant finish.
Low-key, richly pungent aroma: raisins, dried cherries, chocolate. In the cup gently pungent, softly acidy, with a tightly knit complexity, again suggesting dried fruit - raisins, cherries, with a touch of chocolate.
The low-toned aroma is charged with cocoa and spicy fruit (apricot?) notes. In the cup a dry-yet-sweet, almost sugary fig-like character dominates, enlivened by a soft shimmer of acidity. The finish is sweet, rich and long with chocolate and dry fruit notes.
A tribute to the tartly sweet, invigorating sensation coffee insiders call acidity. In the aroma richly fruity and orange-toned; in the cup giddy with rich, high-toned acidity laced with fruit suggesting oranges and tart cherries. The acidity softens and sweetens voluptuously in the finish.
A complex and interesting coffee rather than a perfect one. The aroma is subdued but round and sweet with a distinct cherry-toned milk chocolate. In the cup the acidity is soft but the fruit turns bracing and tartly sweet -- think the pleasantly sour sweetness of pie cherries. As the cup cools the fruit softens once again, revealing a refined but almost candyish chocolate character.
A past-crop green coffee that faded badly in storage before roasting. The dominating character is a pungency that reads as sweet pine in the aroma and a rather salty spice in the cup.
Low-toned and pungent, bittersweet rather than acidy. Cedar and chocolate hints in the aroma; in the cup a deep, pruny (or perhaps dried fig) fruit and crisp, dry berry notes, with perhaps a little rounding suggestion of chocolate.
Low-key and rich. In the aroma fresh-cut cedar and caramel, with a shimmer of crisply temperate fruit, pear perhaps. In the cup the low-toned acidity is sweet, the mouthfeel round. The cup is a bit monotoned when hot, but as it cools it opens up beautifully, revealing a deep, black-cherry-toned fruit. The finish is slightly heavy.
Aroma and finish are balanced and understated, almost simple, but the cup transcends limitation with its big-bodied, sweet-toned opulence. There is nuance here: roast-influenced cedar and dark chocolate in the aroma, caramel and perhaps raisin in the cup, but the sensory payoff is the fatly silky body and round, resonant depth.
Sweet, low-toned, resonant in dimension. Distinct raisin and milk chocolate notes in the aroma. In the cup big-bodied and creamy, with a tightly woven, deep-toned, caramel- and chocolate-toned complexity.
A bold, sweetly acidy coffee with a shifting, subtle complexity. In the aroma low-toned, lushly rich fruit (apricot, papaya, even banana) leaning toward milk chocolate. In the cup brighter and higher-toned, with lemon, flowers and continued suggestions of milk chocolate. Rounds and richens as it cools, the fruit tones landing somewhere near cherry.
An unusual bittersweet, gently spicy tendency runs from aroma through finish. The aroma is caramelly but pungent, with a hint of milk chocolate. The cup is low-toned and dominated by a sweet/sour/bitter fruit; tamarind and lemon perhaps. In the cup the background milk chocolate is more pronounced, rounding the bright fruit. The finish is slightly but richly astringent.
A delicately intense, sweetly acidy cup. In the aroma spicy and floral with milk chocolate undertones. Perfectly balanced and lyric in the cup, with floral notes and a sweet, high-toned temperate fruit, pear or cherry. The chocolate resurfaces in the long, gently astringent finish.
The aroma is low-toned but resonant with leather and fruit-toned chocolate. The acidity is rich and smoothly integrated, the mouthfeel round and supple. The chocolate declaration in the aroma is even more pronounced in the cup, but fruitier, more opulent.
Delicately rich in aroma and cup. The clean, elegant fruit suggests peach in the aroma and cherry in the cup, with a little swoon toward chocolate. The refined acidity rounds and sweetens beautifully as the cup cools, deepening toward wine.
Sweet, low-toned, deep, to turn metaphorical, a quiet, smiling, radiant coffee. In the aroma caramel and peach-toned fruit. The peach notes carry into the cup, joined by exhilarating suggestions of flowers and a hint of chocolate. The chocolate turns more explicit in the fine, rich finish.
Understated but quietly distinctive. The aroma is round, caramelly and (quite literally) buttery; patience may turn up little cedar and chocolate revelations as well. The butter and caramel notes carry into the cup, where the fruity chocolate intensifies. The short finish is deep, sweet and rich; a memory of chocolate resurfaces in the long.
