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.
Roasty, sweet, and round in the nose. In the cup the roastiness reveals a sharp bitterness, brightened by a hint of floral sweetness that softens toward burned chocolate in the finish. A full body offsets the bitterness.
When hot, rich and balanced, with gently bright grapefruit tones shimmering inside a crisp, invigorating roastiness. As the cup cools the citrus tones turn a bit sharp and the roastiness leans toward burned.
The aggressive dark roast simplifies this naturally sweet, chocolaty coffee and turns it a bit monolithic. A deep-toned, dry, chocolate-nuanced roastiness dominates, relieved by only a tickle of sweetness. The finish is richly bittersweet, but hints at rubber as the cup cools.
In the nose, brightly sweet grapefruit tones animate a vaguely spicy roastiness. In the cup the aggressive roastiness turns bitter and slightly charred, lifted only by a shadow sweetness and a memory of citrus. Substantial body.
A richly expansive, deeply dimensioned coffee, caramelly, smooth, with an elegant balance of slightly bitter roasty notes, sweetness, and a gently fruity acidity.
Rich, sweet, with a gentle lift from the acidity, complicated by pronounced chocolate fruit tones (think chocolate-covered cherries). The body reads as bigger than it is owing to the general richness of the cup. Not much range or complexity, but a fundamentally pleasing cup.
The aggressive roast agreeably dominates the coffee here. A delicate, floral-toned, buoyant sweetness sings over a pungently charred center. The sweetness fades and the charred tones dominate in the finish.
Musty tones are softened by sweetness, and read variously as spicy, smoky, and dryly fruity in the cup, then hint at cocoa in the finish.
Lovely, floral top notes float on a sturdy bittersweet structure. Gently bright, light- to medium-bodied. The finish leans toward the bitter side.
Clear, sweet ferment tones are turned cherryish chocolate by the darkish roast. Clean, bittersweet chocolate finish. The winy ferment tones, giddy and buoyant when the cup is hot, flatten just a bit as the cup cools.
Either pleasantly subdued or disappointingly flat, depending on expectation. Roasty and mildly bittersweet, complicated by slight dry, brisk cocoa notes and perhaps some spice tones. The best of the four Perus submitted for this cupping.
A rather simple but pleasingly balanced cup: bittersweet, with a low-toned shimmer of acidity. Prune or dried fruit notes in the cup and cocoa in the finish. Holds up very well as it cools.
An interesting dark-roast cup. Distinctly charred but full-bodied and rather expansively sweet, with hints of dry pineapple in both aroma and finish and an odd, smoky chocolate twist in the cup. Finishes rather bitterly, like most dark roasts.
The aroma is remarkable: rich, sweet, caramelly, complete. In the cup substantial, brightly rich, with tickles of citrus and cocoa. The chocolate-toned finish sits rather heavily on the palate.
Medium-bodied but smooth, sweet, chocolaty, with a glint of dry acidity to animate the sweetness. The roast taste is backgrounded and unobtrusive, wrapped in the chocolate-toned sweetness.
Rich, balanced, deeply dimensioned, sweet and mouthfilling at the front end, a touch bitter toward the finish. Meadowy hints of flowers waft in the sweetness.
A classic American breakfast coffee: intensely and brightly acidy but juicily sweet, deeply dimensioned, with meadowy hints of flowers that deepen toward fruit in the finish. As the finish fades, we 're left again with a shimmer of flowers.
Smooth, balanced, with excellent range, from floral top notes through a bright, juicy, acidy middle to a roasty, bitterish bottom. The most impressive aspect of this coffee is its pleasing natural sweetness, which persists from aroma through cup to light-footed but authoritative finish.
The rich, grapey, slightly fermented fruit taste Guatemalans call avinatado or winyness dominates the profile of this medium-dark-roasted blend, together with the intensely and fleetingly sweet innuendoes we associate with dusk flowers like jasmine or honeysuckle. The finish is sweet, almost juicy.
An impressively full-bodied and deeply dimensioned darker-roasted blend. Richly spicy, bitter but round, with a hint of dry, prune-like fruit. The spice and prune tones complicate the bitter but rich finish.
