Seattle Reviews

In the nose sweet pine-toned aromatic wood, with smoky, toasty and earthy tones. Big, silky-textured body with somewhat sweet, if soft, acidity. In the cup, powerfully musty notes read as pleasant cedar and walnut. The long, dry finish lingers with hints of cocoa and continued aromatic wood.

Flowers and tropical fruit in the sweet-toned aroma. For co-taster Heather Perry (88), "Floral notes turned to orange, berry, spice and cocoa, complex yet balanced and sweet" in the small cup. Ken (91) agreed. However, Heather found the shot in milk "very rough" whereas Ken liked it: "sweet, balanced, with a banana-toned chocolate."

In the aroma roasted nut and honey for co-cupper Ted Stachura (91), plum, cedar and nut for Ken (92). In the cup softly acidy, gently bittersweet, quietly complex: cocoa, roasted nut, (walnut for Ted), hints of flowers, citrus and plumy fruit. The cocoa turns chocolaty in a surprisingly rich finish.

In the aroma cocoaish chocolate with floral top notes. In the cup Ken (89) and co-cupper Ted Stachura (87) both found continued baker's chocolate notes with a lean toward nut. Complications for Ken were hints of flowers and white wine, for Ted faint suggestions of citrus and pipe tobacco. Round and chocolaty in the short finish, fading toward a mild astringency (Ted: "dry wood") in the long.

Janus-like coffee: sweet, rich, and lushly fruity with an herby bitter note that, depending on taste, either complicates or shadows the main event of the fruit. In the aroma the lushly fermented fruit reads as rich, cherryish chocolate with a hint of flowers and pungent cedar. In the cup gently acidy, medium bodied, crisply sweet with continued cherry- and chocolate-toned fruit and the bitterish rosemary note. Sweetness and chocolate prevail in the surprisingly clean finish.

A paradoxical coffee, thin and subdued, but with considerable suggestions of richness and complexity. In the aroma muted suggestions of night flowers, butter, black cherries. In the cup lean but silky mouthfeel and delicate hints of spicy nut, cocoa, more flowers and cherry, perhaps of a rather dullish aromatic wood. The flavor persists nicely into an otherwise short, fast-fading finish.

Flowers run through the profile from aroma through finish, with smoky notes in the aroma, crisp chocolate in the roughly full-bodied cup and again in the rather heavy finish.

Co-cupper Miguel Meza (89) was rather faint in his praise of this coffee, finding a "floral and tropical citrus" character he associates with the more familiar washed or wet-processed Ethiopia profile, with added "chocolate and berry" nuance derived from dry-processing. Ken (91) wrestles with the detail a bit more, admiring a wine or brandy nuance to the chocolate and berry character, which he finds "lush but crisp."

Lovely aroma: sweet-toned, gently pungent, with distinct floral and complex fruit (banana, plum, orange) notes. In the small cup medium-bodied with a lightly syrupy mouthfeel and crisp, cedary structure; the fruit turns darkly chocolate. Chocolate and orange carry into a slightly heavy finish. In milk balanced, crisp, though the fruit and chocolate doesn't completely soften and bloom.

Toast and banana-like fruit notes dominate in the aroma, hinting at a roasty chocolate. In the small cup medium-bodied but leanish and a bit astringent in mouthfeel, sharp in structure with dominating cedar notes and continued hints of a banana-like fruit and chocolate. Rich and rather sweet in the short finish, heavily astringent in the long. Simple but solid presence in milk with the muted fruit modestly blooming as semi-sweet chocolate.

Gentle, balanced, agreeably simple aroma, with distinct floral notes and a hint of milk chocolate. The floral tones carry into a soft, sweet cup with orange and a spice note that could qualify as cinnamon. Flattens a bit in the finish but remains sweet.

Sweet-toned and rich aroma with some floral notes. In the cup medium body, silky mouthfeel, low acidity, sweet, low-toned, rich, with chocolate notes and a hint of walnut. Rich short finish; the mildly bitterish walnut tones dominate in the long.

A powerful, fruitily complex, syrupy-bodied espresso. Candied fruit and distinct chocolate in the aroma. In the small cup heavy bodied; cedar and orangy fruit notes dominate, with a hint of semi-sweet chocolate. At its best in milk, where it is rich, smooth-bodied and balanced, while maintaining a remarkable complexity and a distinct chocolate and spicy orange fruit character.

Crisply sweet-toned aroma with cedar and butter notes. In the cup silky mouthfeel and a quiet, tight-knit complexity: distinct cocoa and hints of cedar, orange, flowers, butter. Smooth, gently rich, very persistent and pleasing finish.

Round, rich aroma with distinct butter notes and hints of flowers and lemon. Simplifies in the cup: good body and a sweet, gently crisp structure, but little nuance.

A very interesting profile, shallow in depth of sensation but intensely complex within that narrow range. Crisply roasty but lively aroma with sweet apple and floral-toned chocolate notes. Continued roasty in the cup with distinct, sweetly lemony fruit and continued hints of flowers and chocolate.

Attractive aroma: sweet, gently scorched cedar with a distinct hint of semi-sweet chocolate. Very roasty in the cup, but with patience the sweet burned notes round toward a vague, caramelly chocolate. Simple and sweet in the short finish, mildly astringent in the long.

Cocoa and caramel aroma. Blazing acidity, dark chocolate and caramel, regal balance. A nicely conducted, relatively light roast makes this balanced but assertive coffee particularly well-suited for vacuum pot and drip brewing.

Hints of banana-toned fruit, chocolate, fresh-baked bread in the complex but rather listless aroma. Thin though silky mouthfeel. Pungent, gently burned cedar character in the cup, with floral and caramelly chocolate suggestions. Nicely malty finish, but a hint of burned building rubber.

Very sweet-toned, quietly complex aroma: smoke, semi-sweet chocolate and tart berryish fruit notes. Little of the aromatic complexity survives in the lean-bodied cup, only wisps of nut and crisp, smoky chocolate that fade quickly in the finish, leaving behind faint sweetness and a muted astringency.