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REVIEWS FOR:

Holiday Gift Coffees

By Kenneth Davids
November 4th, 2003

94

Intelligentsia Coffee Roasters

Kenya

Review Date: Nov 2003

High-toned, complex aroma: sweet citrus, cherry, apple. In the cup gently acidy, while the fruit maintains its complex, elegant trajectory: Meyer lemon, grapefruit, tart berry. The initial, almost shocking rush of sweetness is balanced by a crisply bitter finish.

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90

Kaffe Magnum Opus

Costa Rican La Minita Estate

Review Date: Nov 2003

A tribute to classic balance: pure but substantial, quietly intense without extremes. Gently acidy, deeply rich, discreetly complicated by tightly laced notes of leather, chocolate and fruit.

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89

Intelligentsia Coffee Roasters

El Salvador Los Inmortales

Review Date: Nov 2003

A challengingly acidy coffee, by sweetly so. A sensitive roast rounds the acidity and deepens the fruit, turning it toward sweet cocoa and ripe cherry. Glints of jasmine. The cocoa-toned fruit persists agreeably through the finish.

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88

Green Mountain Coffee

Joyful Season Fair-Trade Organic

Review Date: Nov 2003

The aroma is sweet, gently pungent, rich with low-toned, spicy fruit notes. The cup is medium-bodied, round, very sweet, with just enough acidity for authority. The low-toned fruit leans elegantly toward chocolate.

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88

Old Tavern Estate

Jamaica Blue Mountain #1

Review Date: Nov 2003

Mid-toned and complex in the nose with fresh apricot and sweet cocoa. Simplifies slightly in the cup, turning roundly tart in a rich Meyer lemon direction. The immediate finish is slightly sharp, but the long finish smoothes out in a silky lemony, chocolaty trajectory.

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87

Green Mountain Coffee

Kona Mountain Estate

Review Date: Nov 2003

The aroma is high-toned and softly intense, with peach and cantaloupe notes that carry gracefully into the cup. A gentle acidity and a glint of citrus give the soft fruit authority.

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87

Old Tavern Estate

Estate Premium Peaberry

Review Date: Nov 2003

Variants on citrus shimmer through this buoyant, sweetly acidy cup: lemon and cocoa in the aroma, lemon and pink grapefruit in the cup. The finish is sweetly tart.

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87

Peet's Coffee & Tea

Holiday Blend

Review Date: Nov 2003

The pungently sweet roast dominates, but with a light touch. Shimmers of apple and pear glint in the aroma, flowers and dark chocolate in the cup. The finish is cleanly bittersweet but mildly astringent.

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86

Kona Premium Coffee

Kona Private Reserve Roast

Review Date: Nov 2003

The roast dominates this delicate coffee, but pleasantly so, turning the aroma caramelly with low-toned raisin and delicate vanilla notes. In the cup a finely balanced synthesis of acidity and roast taste, sharp but sweet, with the caramel and vanilla tones persisting through the long finish.

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86

Starbucks Coffee

Special Reserve, Harvest 2003

Review Date: Nov 2003

Pungently roasty with cantaloupe notes in the aroma. In the cup softens nicely, allowing some sweet lemon and grapefruit notes to glisten in the smooth, rather delicate roastiness. Sweet but gently astringent finish.

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85

North Pole Coffee Roasting

North Pole Blend

Review Date: Nov 2003

Roasty and sweet in the nose, with excellent balance and dimension. In the cup soft, gently roasty, and cocoa-toned. Long, unobtrusively rich finish.

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