LATEST REVIEWS

A provocative coffee. Everyone had something to say about it, yet no clear consensus emerged. The majority read the body as full ("even and full; well-balanced," according to one), but a small but outspoken minority found it light or even thin. Surprisingly, almost no one came down in the middle. Reactions to acidity were similarly mixed: Several found the acidity pleasantly dry and winy; others criticized it as sharp or sour. I found it alive and vivacious at first impression but rather ragged and astringent in the finish. No defects were cited; on the other hand nobody carried on about grace notes either.

Judging by the scores, I was in the minority here. I loved this Antigua for its dimension and completeness -- the way it resonated on the palate and developed, stretching into the distance behind the initial impression. Some cuppers agreed: "nice complexity ... clean, lingering aftertaste"; "full [bodied], great structure." But others wanted more out front: "all the right characteristics, but very [much] in the distance, blurry." Four detected chocolate notes; only one found a mild off note.

A powerful but flawed coffee. Coffee professionals are familiar with the taste of ferment, caused when the sugars from the coffee fruit begin to go off while the fruit is still on the bean. The result is an odd, lush sensation that can register as ripe, overripe, or occasionally (particularly as the coffee cools) rotten. Cupper's comments reflect the ambivalence that mild ferment provokes. Almost everyone noted this coffee's luxuriant, wine-like fruitiness. Six cuppers detected a clear defect, however, and five of the six identified the defect (correctly in my view) as ferment, the shadow side of the fruitiness. Only one cupper dismissed the coffee on the basis of this defect, however, and in compensation several noted spicy nuances.

Almost everyone remarked on a complex sweetness in this medium-bodied Huehuetenango. Some characterized the sweetness as chocolate-toned; others as caramel. Two assigned the sensations to that tantalizing cusp between chocolate and fruit. Most found the acidity sufficient to enliven the sweetness ("bright, pleasant, intriguing"), but one cupper complained that the acidity was disappointing and another that it was "puckery." There was an unusually wide range of response to body. Assessments ranged from light to (emphatically) heavy, with a consensus somewhere between medium and full. Perhaps our palates were confused by the pervasive sweetness, which can read as weight.

The aroma is complete but fades quickly. The acidity is bright, clear, and classic, hovering on the edge of winy. Some resonance echoes under the acidity, but both pleasure and complexity are concentrated at the top of the profile.

Herbal tones in the aroma turn spicy and fruity in the cup. The fruit nuances in the acidity lift the top of the profile and keep it light and shimmering all the way through to finish and aftertaste. Enough bottom for resonance.

For a canned coffee, considerable aroma: full, complete, with a silky, slightly vanilla-toned sweetness that grows in power as the coffee cools. Enough acidity to keep the coffee from dying, and a solid if obvious bottom.

The aroma is slight but lively; the acidity is bright, classic and lightly assertive, remaining safely if precariously on the right side of sour. The bottom notes provide just enough ballast for the relatively buoyant acidity.

A somewhat darker-than-supermarket-norm roast style helps mute acidity and sweeten the profile. Virtually no top notes, but a smooth, sweet-toned bottom with an attractive pruny finish.

Superb aroma: full, rich, stretching from winy top notes to a deep, engaging bottom. But the wine-like East African acidity turns hard in the cup, then reveals clear fermented notes as the coffee cools. The Java component is weak, failing to provide the expansive bottom such blends call for.

A deep bottom with just enough acidity to keep from the coffee from imploding into dullness. Other than the rather full body I read few signs of the Colombia profile in this decent but hardly exciting coffee.

A sweet nuttiness dominates here, without offense but also without much intrigue or energy. The nut-like tones may harbor a hint of acidity but no grace notes and little depth or dimension.

For a moment, somewhere between nose and finish, this coffee struck me as rich with its nut and vanilla tones. But overall a thin-toned acidity dominates: an edgy, almost sour distraction without grace notes or resonance.

The vanilla / nut tones in the aroma fade quickly in the cup, giving way to a rather hard, characterless acidity that eventually takes on prune-like inflections in the finish.

Low-toned to the point of flatness. A hard, slightly metallic taste is the only sign of acidity. A sweet sensation that reads as vanilla in the nose and prune in the finish is the only saving virtue.

Fermented notes, barely detectable in the acidy notes of the aroma, dominate in the cup, particularly as the coffee cools, turning from mild distraction to barnyard nasty.

I wouldn't have expected a coffee so subtle to stand up to a dark roast so well. The roast only slightly mutes the heady floral tones of the aroma, while the acidity in tantalizing Yirgacheffe fashion hovers between flower and fruit. The body is hardly robust, but substantial enough to support the top notes. Only a trace of carbon.

Spicy, perhaps smoky tones enliven the rich top notes of the aroma and carry into the cup. Surprisingly clear acidity, fine body, long finish, superb aftertaste.

This rich, deeply dimensioned, complex version of the great Guatemala profile happily combines clear, wine-toned acidity with satisfying dark-roast pungency. I even detected a hint of the famous Antigua smokiness smoldering somewhere inside the pungency.

A model Mandheling: Low-toned, heavy-bodied, balanced, mouth-filling. Some carbon, but buffered by depth and richness. Enough acidity makes it through the roast to keep the deep bottom of the coffee from sagging into boredom.