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REVIEWS FOR:

Extreme and Not-So-Extreme Dark Roasts

By Kenneth Davids
June 1st, 1999

88

Pannikin Coffee & Tea

Turkish Blend

Review Date: Jun 1999

To my palate, one of the finer dark roasts in the cupping. The sweetness is elegantly complex and lemony, lightly rich, almost juicy. A subdued charred bitterness balances the fruity sweetness.

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88

Starbucks Coffee

Kenya

Review Date: Jun 1999

Rich Kenya wine tones dominate, buoyed by shimmers of citrus and berry. A complex sweetness blooms as the cup cools and the dry wine tones soften. A fine coffee, although I missed the echoing dimension of the very best Kenyas.

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88

Peet's Coffee & Tea

Kenya

Review Date: Jun 1999

A deep, resonant pungency envelops the Kenya dry wine and tart berry tones, giving them a sexy fresh-sweat twist. This odd, rough-yet-smooth pungency is a Peet's trade mark, and only occasionally found in coffees dark-roasted by competitors. Here it supports without obliterating the citrus and berry freshness of the Kenya.

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85

Pannikin Coffee & Tea

Best of Africa Blend

Review Date: Jun 1999

Strikingly sweet, with virtually no dark-roast bitterness. The sweetness is agreeably complicated by tart berryish or citrusy tones, but overall the profile seems a bit restrained, a touch limited in range and dimension.

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85

Batdorf & Bronson

Bohemian Blend

Review Date: Jun 1999

Probably the smoothest, most seamlessly integrated dark-roast blend in the cupping. Preserves distinct acidy tones, but wraps them in dark-roast character, balancing them richly on the cusp between fruity tart and roasty pungent. Softly sweet in finish, without a trace of charred or burned notes.

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84

Endless World Coffee

Jamaican Blue Mtn Dark Roast

Review Date: Jun 1999

A clean, sweetly understated acidity complicated by a hint of flowers animates the bittersweetness of the dark roast. Ultimately the bitter tones dominate in finish, however, and intensify as the coffee cools.

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84

Batdorf & Bronson

Nicaragua Organic

Review Date: Jun 1999
Price: NA

The roast turns the lemony acidity rich and smokily pungent. Not a lot of range or innuendo, but a balanced and satisfying cup.

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81

Peet's Coffee & Tea

French Roast

Review Date: Jun 1999

The bittersweet paradox is less intense here than in the Jeremiah's Pick French Roast, with a bit more emphasis on the sweet side of the equation and a hint of dry, pruny fruit. The smoothest body of the eight French roasts I cupped, suggesting that the roast drove fewer fats out of the bean.

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80

Jeremiah's Pick Gourmet Coffee

Fogbuster Blend

Review Date: Jun 1999

A pleasantly charred sweetness, buoyant and almost floral, dominates at first. As the cup cools the sweetness recedes and the bitter side of the dark-roast cup prevails.

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80

Starbucks Coffee

Italian Roast

Review Date: Jun 1999

A fresh citrusy sharpness complicates the dark-roast bittersweetness. The bitter tones intensify in finish, but never completely master the sweetness, which persists pleasantly through aftertaste.

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80

Jeremiah's Pick Gourmet Coffee

French Roast

Review Date: Jun 1999

As usual with most extreme dark-roasted blends sold under the name French roast, no real flavor survives, only competing sensations of bitter and sweet -- in this case inclined more toward the bitter. I preferred this particular "French roast" profile over several others owing to the invigorating intensity of the bittersweetness

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Shop for top-rated coffees at Durango Coffee Company

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Shop for top-rated coffees at Amavida Coffee Roasters

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Shop for top-rated coffees at Kakalove in Taiwan

Shop for top-rated coffees at GoCoffeeGo

Shop for No. 15 Coffee of 2020 at Hala Tree Kona Coffee

Shop at Rhetoric Coffee

Shop for 93-point Yemen coffee at Baba Java

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