San Francisco Reviews

Soft, sweet-toned aroma with limited but pleasing nuance: cedar, perhaps tomato. Remains sweet in the cup, crisply delicate, with very pronounced sweet cocoa tones. Superb finish: sweet, long and cocoa-laced.

A quietly exotic, complex blend of impressive originality. Smoothly midtoned, gently pungent aroma. In the cup displays lively, almost peppery acidity and full body with some tingle in the mouthfeel. Lyrically and richly sweet, with a wine-like, black grapey hint of ferment and a slight musty-malty edge. A surprising shimmer of flowers in the long finish.

(Pre-ground blend of coffee and cocoa nibs) Sweet-toned aroma dominated by what reads as nut (walnut?) notes with suggestions of chocolate and dried fruit, perhaps raisin. In the cup round and full in mouthfeel and gently acidy but limited in aromatic range, with a continued dominant nut character and sweet chocolate undercurrents that fade in the slightly tight finish.

Pungent but sweet throughout the profile. In the aroma caramel, fruit-toned, slightly smoky cedar, orange. In the cup the pungent, smoky fruit notes read as a tartly sweet grapefruit, perhaps dry berry, with continuing undercurrents of caramel sweetness. Distinct orange notes resurface in the rich finish.

In the aroma distinct semi-sweet chocolate notes and cherryish or raisiny fruit with a lush twist of ferment. Crisp cedar and toast notes complicate the cherry-toned chocolate in the small cup. The fruity chocolate persists in the splendid short finish, though a shadow astringency barely implied in the cup eventually dominates in the long. In milk a slightly lean body is more than made up for by crisp toasted rice notes and a voluptuous, milk-softened version of the fruity-fermented chocolate.

Rich aroma complicated by smoky semi-sweet chocolate and caramel. The cup is simple but satisfying: very sweet, deep, roundly roasty. The real glory of this coffee is an extraordinarily long, lushly vibrant, deeply chocolaty finish.

A rich and vividly fermented fruit dominates. The cherry-toned ferment is overlaid by a cedary roastiness in the aroma. In the cup the ferment deepens toward a dark chocolate and brandied cherry, but also displays a distracting pine or rosemary pungency. Smoothes out toward a cleanly rich chocolate in the short finish, though slightly astringent in the long.

Ken and co-taster Ted Lingle ended with comparable overall ratings (Ken 85, Ted 86) but differed in how they got there. Ted found the aroma a bit flat; Ken found it delicate, with toast, apple and floral notes. Ted found the body fuller and the mouthfeel more substantial than Ken did. Both found the flavor in the small cup toasty/smoky and a bit sharp in the finish. Both admired the way the blend rounded and sweetened in milk. Nominating reader Robert Bobbs praised this blend as "perfectly balanced ... big body, slightly sweet, not too much acidity but enough to enliven the cup; holds up well in big milky drinks but is fantastic as a straight shot."

The aroma is sweet but flat, with a distinct burned wood character. In the cup the burned tones come across as rather rich, bolstered by a dry spice, almost black pepper sensation. Sweetens and softens surprisingly in the finish, especially in the long.

A superb, versatile blend. The aroma is deep with chocolate and tropical fruit tones (banana?), the mouthfeel buttery and the body full, the small cup sweetly cedar toned with a lush, very slightly fermented fruit that reads as a rich raisin- and floral-toned chocolate. The finish is resonant and long with a low-key, pleasantly bracing astringency. In milk the shot rounds and sweetens without losing identity or authority.

Chocolate and toast show in the rather subdued aroma. In the small cup the body is medium and the mouthfeel slightly lean, with a simple but attractive pungent/sweet character complicated by a cocoa or dry chocolate. Rich, semi-sweet chocolate finish. In milk balanced and crisply sweet, with the chocolate retaining its dry authority.

Low-toned fruit (peach?), semi-sweet chocolate and fresh-cut cedar notes in the aroma. The cup is delicate but lush, enlivened by a softly tart acidity and complicated by continued fruit (cherry, peach) and semi-sweet chocolate notes. The finish is simple but sweetly clean.

Although co-cupper Christy Thorns (87) felt the Ethiopia citrus and floral notes turned "somewhat passive" under the impact of the roast, she praised the "complex aromatics of ginger, clove and toasted grain" and a spicy finish. Ken also found spice notes also in the aroma (black pepper, clove), but particularly admired the cup for its round mouthfeel and "juicy and sweet but vegetal" character, "a bit like biting into a ripe plum and tasting the skin and the flesh at the same time." What we can take away from all of this is a coffee with less floral and citrus character than a classic wet-processed Ethiopia, but with more spice and tingle.

Sweet, rich, with an impressive balance of dry acidy notes and sweetness. A combination of slightly fermented fruit and musty earthiness reads here as a fine intrigue of papaya, raisins and chocolate.

Complexly fruity and richly floral coffee - papaya, lemon, coffee fruit, hints of dusk-blooming flowers and chocolate, all ride a strong, balanced structure: good body, smooth mouthfeel, supple, sweet acidity.

Co-taster Willem Boot: "Fine and complex fruity/minty aroma. Exotic berry-like flavor notes with fascinating wild black currant aftertaste. Balanced, sweet and intriguing with milk" (93) Ken characterized the wild, sweet, edge-of-ferment fruit tones running through the profile from aroma to aftertaste as black cherry, and enjoyed them almost as much as Willem (90). In milk Ken completely concurred with Willem: "sweet, balanced, lovely."

Delicate but rich. Medium body, sweet, round-toned acidity, and complex aromatics: In the aroma nut, floral, and cocoa-toned fruit, in the cup floral and spicy apple or pipe-tobacco notes. A cleanly balanced astringency enriches rather than flattens the finish.

Extraordinary, luxurious coffee, lushly sweet yet vibrantly acidy, with ripe, opulent fruit tones and delicately intense floral high notes. Utterly free of bitterness or astringency. Perfectly roasted, and as extravagantly complex as the very finest East Africa coffees. Nominator David Lubertozzi of Berkeley raves about its "amazing body and milk-chocolateyness," and confesses he enjoys it even better cold than hot -- always a sign of an exceptional coffee.

Lindsey Bolger: "Fantastic! Sweet, floral aroma accented with cinnamon and just a suggestion of earthiness. Cools to a sweet and clean display of balance and harmony" (88). Ken read Lindsey's "earthiness" as a touch of musty ferment, but he nevertheless liked the way the ferment worked in the darkish roast, describing the outcome as "pungent, bittersweet fruit that suggests dark chocolate with a little mild, brandy-like ferment." Like Lindsey, he was impressed with how elegantly the coffee cooled, to a "long, sweet, clean chocolate finish" (90).

John Weaver: "Fast roast, singed beans. Nice flavor though. Quick roast means bright acidity. A little slower roast would benefit this coffee" (85) Ken: "Elegant balance of fruity chocolate and leathery roast tones. Some bitterness, but softens toward the finish" (88).