Madison Reviews

Tropical fruit (mango, papaya) and sweet aromatic wood in the aroma, with the slightest hint of coconut. In the cup medium to full body, balanced acidity, and big, complex flavors ranging from pungent grapefruit and berry to tropical wood. Sweet, dry cedar tones linger in the finish, with a very mild astringency in the long.

Rich aroma with nut and blackberry notes that deepen and resonate in the cup, adding hints of lemon, red wine, flowers, cocoa. Poised and balanced acidity, roundly rich finish, shimmers of flowers.

A very light roast preserves the essential meadowy sweetness and delicacy of this quiet, pure coffee. Notes of fir, honey, molasses and cherry in aroma and cup. The acidity is light-footed and sweet-toned, the mouthfeel silky. Surprisingly rich finish with a very slight woody flatness in the long.

A very light roast preserves the distinctive and complex aromatics. Crisp but sweet-toned aroma: toast, orange citrus and hints of dry berry and flowers. In the cup the acidity is balanced and rich, the mouthfeel lightly syrupy and the flavor pungently malty with continuing toast, orange, dry berry and floral notes. Long, rich finish.

Buttery aroma: nut, flowers, dry berry. Rich acidity, medium body. The elegantly pungent berry note cuppers call black currant dominates in the cup, but supported by a profound underlying sweetness that gives the berry a dark chocolate depth. Flowers revive in the fine, rich, flavor-saturated finish.

Crisply floral-toned aroma, caramel and pear-toned fruit notes, with a hint of cedary warmth. In the cup medium body with a lightly and pleasantly syrupy mouthfeel. A bright, pronounced acidity simplifies the aromatics when the cup is hot, but as it cools a delicate, tight-knit complexity emerges: hints of white wine, caramelly milk chocolate, continued pear-toned fruit. Clean, sweetly dry finish.

Intense, complex aroma. Quite tropical for co-cupper Miguel Meza (92) who cites guava, pineapple, and orange; Ken's (92) associations are more temperate: blueberry, cherry, orange, honey. In the cup both Ken and Miguel find cherry and chocolate, and most likely Miguel's "mango and caramel" and Ken's "candyish butterscotch" both are efforts to find descriptors for the same sensation, a pleasingly pungent sweetness. Miguel passes on the finish; Ken finds the usual flaw haunting this style of coffee: a slight salty astringency hiding amid the lovely fading trajectory of fruit.

Co-cupper Miguel Meza and Ken took different descriptive paths in an attempt to characterize the underlying structure of this low-toned, full-bodied coffee. For Miguel (92) the cup was "soft and comforting" with a mix of "dried fruit and mesquite" and "berries and chocolate." Ken (89) felt the cup's sweet yet salty structure dominated the berry- and cocoa-toned aromatics, making the cup attractive but limited.

Straightforward, lucid, classic. Very sweet-toned aroma with fresh coffee fruit (tart cherry) and honey notes, hints of cedar and lemon. In the cup the honeyish sweetness envelops an intense though not sharp acidity. Continued coffee fruit notes with a lemony lean. Richly tart finish.

Soft, gently balanced aroma with muted but deep orange, chocolate and honey notes. In the cup the mouthfeel is round, full and almost chewily present, the flavor dominated by a simple, dense, cherry-toned chocolate.

A lucidly pure, deeply sweet coffee. In aroma and cup lavish floral notes and gently tart coffee fruit complicate molasses and honey tones that sail with gentle voluptuousness into a long finish.

Deep, sweet-toned aroma with cedar and muted hints of flowers, orange and semi-sweet chocolate. In the cup softly acidy, rather full-bodied, with continued hints of flowers and orange- and peach-toned fruit. Rich finish.

High-toned and sweet aroma, lemon, flowers and menthol with an underlying hint of gently pungent cocoa. Bright and light-bodied in the cup, with continued giddily floral and lemon-toned top notes dominating crisp cocoa mid-tones. Settles into a smoothly rich finish with the quiet cocoa notes finally prevailing.

Intense, deeply rich aroma dominated by cedar notes with hints of plum or prune that lean toward semi-sweet chocolate. In the cup smooth and substantial in mouthfeel, powerful and balanced, but limited in nuance. Like the cup, the finish is structurally impressive (rich, clean) but simple.