Chicago, IL Reviews

Delicate, sweetly intricate. Toffee, dried fig, hops, rhododendron-like flowers, roasted cacao nib in aroma and cup. Bright, juicy acidity; light, silky mouthfeel. The sweetly rich finish is saturated with cacao and floral suggestions.

Richly and deeply sweet. Baker’s chocolate, raisin, Brazil nut, magnolia, oak in aroma and cup. Roundly tart acidity; plump, syrupy mouthfeel. Richly drying, quietly nut-toned finish.

Deeply sweet and pungent. Narcissus-like flowers, tangerine, roasted cacao nib, maple syrup in aroma and cup. Rich, roundly vibrant acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor consolidates around citrus and cacao nib in a quiet, resonant finish.

Very sweet, exhilaratingly floral, lavishly complex. Lavender honey; floral notes ranging from violet to lily; candied lemon and blood orange; roasted cacao nib; black cherry in aroma and cup. Delicate, gently crisp, very sweet acidity; syrupy, buoyant mouthfeel. Deep, long, resonantly flavor-saturated finish.

Crisp yet lush. Bakers’ chocolate, orangy citrus, musk, a hint of grappa in aroma and cup. Rich, juicy acidity; syrupy mouthfeel. Chocolate and orange suggestions in particular carry into a gently drying finish.

Suavely and sweetly tart. Green grape, crisp roasted cacao nib, fresh-cut fir, sweetly spicy flowers in aroma and cup. Brisk, bright acidity; light but satiny mouthfeel. Cacao nib and a hint of flowers carry into a rich though drying finish.

Complex; floral and chocolaty. The floral notes are particularly intricate, both sweet yet incense-like; the chocolate is sweet with crisp hazelnut-like complication. Round, quiet acidity; full, syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor consolidates but retains character in a cleanly rich finish.

Pungent, deep, complex. Honey, raspberry, roasted cacao nib, fresh-cut pine in aroma and cup. Delicate, sweetly balanced acidity; silky mouthfeel. Flavor consolidates but lasts in a very sweet-toned, slightly drying finish.

Crisply sweet, balanced, subtle. Honey, plum, hints of vanilla and roasted cacao nib in aroma and cup. Soft acidity; plush mouthfeel. Flavor carries impressively into a long, sweet, rich finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Although Ken (90) and co-taster Sean Kohmescher (90) produced identical ratings, they read this coffee a bit differently, with Sean emphasizing its brightish citrus and floral tendencies while Ken added dark chocolate and hint of brandy. Sean was citrus inclined more toward lemon and lime, Ken toward a deeper-toned orange. Both read the small cup as medium in weight though slightly lean in mouthfeel, but admired the sample performance in two parts milk, finding it smooth, creamy, complex: berry, flowers, lemony cocoa.

Sweet-toned aroma and flavor: caramel, dark chocolate, aromatic wood and a hint of fruit. Soft but distinct acidity and a round, silky mouthfeel. A richly sweet short finish gives way to a slightly papery astringency in the long.

Intense aroma: round fruitiness suggesting black currant, mixed berries, lemon, toast, soft night flowers. Bright-toned acidity, medium body with a delicately syrupy mouthfeel and a particularly juicy tartness suggesting something like Satsuma oranges in syrup, together with continuing notes of flowers and berries, all lingering deeply into the finish.

Sweet-toned, quiet aroma with nut, dried cherry and chocolate. Elegantly balanced cup: softly acidy, silky in mouthfeel, with continued dried cherry, cocoaish chocolate and a slight brightening hint of lemon. The chocolate notes in particular carry into the long, rich, complex finish.

Sweet-toned, crisply rich aroma with chocolate, cedar, flowers, ripe tomato notes. In the cup powerfully but sweetly acidy, with continued flowers, cocoaish chocolate, tart cherry notes and a pungent hint of cedar. Rich, sweet, chocolate-toned finish; very slight astringency in the long.

Rich, roundly pungent aroma: caramel, orange, hints of flowers and chocolate. Medium bodied, a touch rough in mouthfeel. The richly pungent, cedary character carries into the cup with continued orange, raisin and semi-sweet chocolate notes. The finish is rather astringent but rich, with good flavor persistence. The pungent character softens in milk with the orangy chocolate sweetening nicely.

Sweet-toned aroma with delicate floral-, cherry- and chocolate-toned fruit notes. In the cup more striking for its superb body and balanced structure than for its agreeable but limited nuance, a dry cherry-chocolate. The long, deep finish stays just on the rich side of astringent.

Cocoa laced with citrus in the aroma. Flavors are as complex and sculpted as a top Alsatian Riesling, with intense lemon and orange acidity, chocolate, and a suggestion of fresh chive or tarragon always associated with this variety. A powerful, aristocratic grand cru. This fragile, low-density variety is a major challenge to roast (and cannot handle dark roasting); this is a particularly masterful roasting job.

Softly sweet-toned, rather simple aroma - raisin and chocolate notes. In the cup a lean but rather silky mouthfeel, with continued raisin and sweet pipe tobacco notes and a continued lean toward milk chocolate. Simple, straightforward finish with a shimmer of astringency in the long.

Very deep, resonant aroma, with distinct floral and cherry-toned coffee fruit notes, buttery chocolate, and a slight, bracing suggestion of fresh-cut cedar. In the cup giddily and sweetly acidy, with continued clear, intense floral notes and a Chardonnay-like fruit. A hint of butter and, as the cup cools, ripe tomato. The cleanly rich finish stiffens just slightly as the cup cools.

Pure yet extravagant notes of coffee fruit and flowers themselves carry with breathtaking simplicity from aroma into the sweetly acidy cup. I don't recall having experienced the taste of the coffee fruit (think sweetly tart cherries) and the voluptuous scent of the coffee flower (jasmine) so distinctly and so intensely. The slightly astringent finish and turn toward ripe tomato as the cup cools reveals that, at this writing, the coffee is perhaps a bit young, but drink it now because tomorrow it will be out the roaster door. Nominated by reader Herman Reichold who calls it "one of - if not the - best coffees I have had the pleasure to drink."