Seattle Reviews

Crisp and complexly cocoa-toned in aroma and cup, with a tart, pungent berry complication and a hint of lilyish flowers. Bright acidity; light but very silky mouthfeel. Clean, dry, cocoa-toned finish.

Charred wood with a backgrounded dark chocolate sweetness dominates in aroma. The dark chocolate character intensifies in the cup, complicated by a hint of orangy fruit. Lean but smooth mouthfeel; sweetly smoky in the finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Rich, sweetly tart, very complex in the small cup: mandarin orange, layered suggestions of milk chocolate, apricot, brandy, fresh-cut fir, anise. Syrupy mouthfeel. The orange note turns ripe and sweet in the finish. Soft, delicate and impressively complex in two parts milk: chocolate-toned orange, apricot, a continued hint of fir.

Impressive aroma: dark chocolate, a hint of pungent, grapefruity citrus. Both fade in the cup and disappear entirely in a heavily astringent, roast-flattened finish. Lean, watery mouthfeel.

Pleasant enough ultra-dark-roast character in the aroma: roundly charred cedar, anise, a hint of citrus. All carry into the cup, though they lose considerable intensity on the way. Lean mouthfeel. The charred cedar turns to charred board in a terminally empty, astringent finish.

Plum, cedar, almond, a hint of milk chocolate in intense aroma and roundly rich cup. Bright but balanced acidity; lively, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Sweet but slightly tight finish.

High-toned, giddy and bright: lavender, lime zest, baker's chocolate in aroma and cup. Crisply sweet-toned acidity; silky mouthfeel. The lime notes turn ripely sweet in the flavor-saturated finish.

Fresh, naturally sweet, dominated by floral and honey notes anchored by a complicating hint of fresh-cut fir. The acidity is giddily and sweetly bright; the mouthfeel lively and somewhere between silky and creamy in texture. Long, resonant finish.

Richly bright with a deeply expressed acidity: tart berry, black currant, dusk-blooming flowers. Pungently sweet acidity: silky mouthfeel. Very long, deep, resonant finish.

Sweet-toned, grapy wine and plum-like fruit are anchored by a pungent hint of cedar in aroma and cup. Richly tart acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Deeply layered, flavor-saturated finish shows just a hint of bitterness and salt in the long, though sweetness and flavor ultimately prevail.

Complex and distinctive darker-roasted profile. Pungently sweet and deep in aroma and cup: dark chocolate, cedar, grapefruity citrus, fresh-turned earth. The mouthfeel is full and rough, perhaps appropriately so given the earthy, autumnal character of the aromatics. Chocolate, citrus and earth carry into a richly dry finish.

Rich, brandy-like fruit dominates the profile: cherry, blueberry, cocoaish dark chocolate in aroma and cup. Round, fruit-influenced acidity; syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor carries richly into the finish, where a very slight over-ripe note emerges as the cup cools.

Deep, complex, roast-influenced profile with a wide but harmonious array of aromatic and flavor notes ranging from smoky roasted nut and aromatic wood to dark chocolate and a delicate but distinct lemony top note. Roast-rounded acidity; full, rather rugged mouthfeel. Very sweet, rich, flavor-saturated finish.

Intense but rather simple aroma: faint suggestions of dusk flowers, fir, blackberry. Sweetly tart acidity; silky mouthfeel. In the cup aromatics lift and open: lemon, dusk flowers, hints of white wine and fresh pipe tobacco. Sweet, slightly astringent finish with good flavor persistence, particularly flowers.

Impressive aroma: sweet-toned, deep, roundly roasty, with cedar, orange and smoky dark chocolate nuance. Quiet acidity. Medium-bodied with a slightly leanish mouthfeel. Simplifies a bit in the cup, but retains gently scorched cedar and backgrounded dark chocolate character, with a continued earthy, smoky hint. Simple but rich finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Both Ken (94) and co-taster Sean Kohmescher (94) remarked on and enjoyed distinct and subtly unusual roasted nut and fudgy (Sean’s term) chocolate notes in aroma and small cup. Also some fruit complication (orange for Ken, berry for Sean). Medium to full body, smooth mouthfeel, and a superb finish that just keeps coming, carrying subtly transforming flavor notes far into the reaches of sensory memory. Fades just a bit in two parts milk, but remains pleasing and balanced.

Evaluated as espresso. Co-taster Sean Kohmescher (92) and Ken (88) split on this coffee and how to read its deep, ferment-toned fruit. Sean enjoyed the distinctive character of the fruit: “stone-fruited chocolate” with a hint of grapefruit. Ken read the same fruit but also picked up nagging musty/salty tendencies. Two parts milk smoothed things out a bit for Ken, developing a chocolaty sweetness, though Sean remained more committed here also, praising the shot’s “light, sweet, berries and cream” performance in milk.

(As brewed in a Tassimo single-serve brewing device to produce a 6-ounce serving): Intense aroma: raisin, nut, dark chocolate. In the cup rich, roast-muted acidity, full body, continued deep-toned dark chocolate and raisin-like fruit. Considerably bitter astringency mars an otherwise sweet, chocolate-toned finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 6-ounce serving): Pungent aromatic wood and prune-toned fruit with a hint of orangy citrus in aroma and cup. Roast-muted acidity; slightly rough mouthfeel; bittersweet finish.

In the aroma faint but complex suggestions of butter, nut, fruit and dark chocolate peer out from under a burned or steamed wood sensation. Acidity is bitterish with some hints of tart sweetness. The body is full in weight, slightly leanish in mouthfeel. The burned or steam-scorched wood sensation dominates in the cup, sitting on continued, potentially pleasing hints of fruit and dark chocolate. Clean short finish: sweet, rich, simple, but a mildly astringent version of the scorched wood note reasserts itself in the long.