LATEST REVIEWS

"A sweet, inoffensive little cup of coffee. No bells and whistles here," wrote one panelist. At first I was inclined to agree, but this soft, subtle coffee eventually won me over with its relaxed richness and striking lavender-like floral tones. Other panelists agreed. Perhaps no bells and whistles, but some pleasant warbling.

Very uneven from cup to cup. The best cups: low-toned, smooth, with a touch of spicy, clove-like pungency and a sweet, cocoaish finish. The less-than-best cups: bland with a slight but disturbing astringency.

An agreeably sweet coffee with pungent bottom notes, but wildly uneven from cup to cup. A grassy, green taste marred some cups; others clearly displayed the overripe-edging-on-rotten taste of ferment. Some combined both problems, in a sort of bouquet of defects.

I suspect only a slight astringency in the aftertaste prevented this Papua New Guinea from pushing up near the top of the ratings. Panelists liked its smoky aroma ("brownies baking" said one), its soft sweetness, and its understated character. Its rather metallic, salty astringency was barely detectable, but, once observed, distracting.

Most members of the panel loved this coffee. Favorite adjectives: Aroma: caramelly and floral. Acidity: sweet and bright. Body: creamy and full. Flavor: floral, fruity, complex, balanced. Aftertaste: clean and resonant. Two panelists dissented, one of whom acknowledged the floral notes but dismissed them as "past-their-prime lilacs."

Low-key, with a pungent intrigue in the nose that most panelists identified as nut, but which hinted at something more carnal. I was reminded of a combination of bouillon and prunes. Another panelist was less specific but more evocative: "Odd perfume notes that linger on the tongue. Musky, sweaty flavor."

An understated dark-roast profile: distinctly bitter, but with a hint of elevating sweetness and an elegant little shimmer of fruit and flowers.

Remarkably sweet, and rather heavy-bodied. The sweetness here is purely a taste sensation, however. No fruity or other aromatic nuances complicate it. The only intrigue is provided by a hint of hardness or mustiness.

When hot, understated but pleasantly sweet, with a hint of spicy fruit complicating the mildly burned, pungent tones. The aftertaste is unyieldingly bitter, however, and when the cup cools the coffee lands on the palate with a flat, unrelieved, carbon-toned thud.

Absolutely neutral. I kept telling myself that I had to be tasting something, but I couldn 't say what: a vague heaviness with a hint of sweetness, perhaps.

A pleasant, if slight, hazelnut sweetness hovers in the aroma. The cup is vaguely sweet but essentially tasteless except for a hint of pungency probably deriving from hard or musty blend components.

Floral, sweet, high-toned and as giddy as a field of flowers, with some pungent richness and substance underneath. Ramps down toward clean cocoa tones in the finish.

Low-toned but solid, with a nice balance of understated acidy tones and sweetness. Some muted dry fruit notes contribute a throaty murmur in the background. Lacks intensity and range, but sound, round and satisfying.

A subdued cup, but pleasantly balanced with pungent and sweet tones that together read as prunes, dried fruit or, in a bit of a stretch, chocolate.

Sweet yet dryly bright, lightly acidy with shimmers of wine and flowers. As the coffee cools the grace notes settle toward chocolate. Not much body, dimension or staying power, but a lively, balanced cup.

I 'd call this heavy-bodied coffee rich if there was anything to be rich. The aroma is pleasantly sweet, but the cup displays -- quite literally -- no flavor whatsoever, only primary taste sensation, a sort of heavy emptiness with insinuations of bitterness and sweetness.

The aroma is faint and faintly sweet. The cup displays a pruny fruitiness that plays peek-a-boo with a distinctly unpleasant rubbery taste. In the finish the sweetness prevails, though barely.

Overwhelmingly musty. If you don 't understand musty, imagine the smell (or taste) of old shoes at the bottom of a damp closet. The mustiness is haloed with sweetness when the cup is hot, but as the coffee cools nothing remains except mustiness: flat and oppressive.

This blend expresses the usual bitter-but-sweet paradox of dark-roast coffees with particular intensity. The sweetness is almost sugary and the burned bitterness dramatically sharp. Not much range, development or weight, but the cup does offer a pleasant tickle of fruit and lavender. The bitterness outlasts the sweetness in the aftertaste.

Just enough sweetness to make the smoky, burned tones bittersweet and cocoa-like rather than simply bitter. And just enough lightness and lift to keep the burned tones from smothering the palate.