Blind Assessment: A pure coffee concentrate. Tested over ice in proportions of two parts concentrate to one part water. Sweet, crisp, pungent. Delicately bright acidity; light, silky mouthfeel. In the flavor caramel, hazelnut, black currant, pear, ripe orange, a hint of flowers. Hazelnut and citrus carry into a pleasing though rather short finish. The addition of cold milk paradoxically seems to intensify both fruit-toned acidity and floral sweetness.

Notes: A coffee concentrate prepared by the cold-brew method, which involves prolonged steeping of ground coffee in cold or room-temperature water and subsequent filtering to produce a pure concentrate that is bottled and sold without additives or any ingredient other than coffee and water. The producer recommends mixing in proportions of one part concentrate to one part water, but we obtained what we concluded to be better results at stronger proportions of two parts concentrate to one part water. Burundi is a small, landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. Benefiting from ideal growing conditions and large plantings of the heirloom Bourbon variety of Arabica, Burundi coffee has an excellent reputation, though it is better known in Europe than in the United States. This coffee was roasted by Olympia Coffee and brewed and bottled by Pier Coffee. Visit www.piercoffee.com for more information.

Who Should Drink It: Offers the distinctive, pungent fruit typical of fine Central Africa coffees, in this case a Burundi, in cold-brewed coffee format.