• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Coffee Review

The World's Leading Coffee Guide

Advanced Search

  • Reviews
    • Latest Reviews
    • Top 30 Coffees of 2024
    • Top-Rated (94+)
    • Espressos
    • Best Values
    • Taiwan Coffees – 台灣送評的咖啡豆
    • Single-Serve Formats
    • Reviews by Country of Origin
    • Reviews by U.S. City
    • Green/Unroasted
    • Advanced Search
    • Equipment Reviews
  • Reports
    • Latest Reports
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia-Pacific
    • Espressos
    • Annual Top 30
    • Processing Method
    • Social/Environmental
    • Tree Variety
    • Blends
    • Equipment
  • Equipment
    • Equipment Reviews
    • Equipment Reports
  • Journal
    • 2025 Editorial Calendar
    • Top 30 Coffees of 2024
    • How Coffee Review Works
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Kenneth Davids
    • Our Team
    • Our Advertisers
    • Learn
      • Interpreting Coffee Reviews
      • Reference
      • Glossary
    • Contact Us
  • Trade
    • 2025 Editorial Calendar
    • Becoming an Advertiser
    • 2025 Media Kit
    • Campaign Package Deals
    • Getting Coffees Reviewed
    • Quoting Reviews
    • Award Certificates
  • 中文 – Chinese
    • 評介和獎章宣傳使用條款
    • 台灣送評的咖啡豆
    • 如何將您的咖啡送評
    • “行銷攻略” 促銷活動

Shop for top-rated coffees at Durango Coffee Company

Shop for Top-rated coffees at Barrington Coffee Roasters

Shop for top-rated coffees at Kakalove in Taiwan


90

Atomic Cafe Coffee Roasters

Costa Rica El Conquistador

Roaster Location: Beverly, Massachusetts
Coffee Origin: Tarrazu growing region, central Costa Rica
Roast Level: Medium-Light
Agtron: 54/68
Review Date: April 2008
Aroma: 8
Body: 8
Flavor: 8
Aftertaste: 8
With Milk: 8

Blind Assessment

Deep-toned, cherryish fruit and pungent aromatic wood in the aroma. In the cup pronounced, citrus-toned acidity, full mouthfeel, bittersweet structure, with continued hints of cherry, cocoa, and a pungent wood or tomato note. The cocoa turns toward chocolate in the long, rich finish.

Notes

El Conquistador is essentially a brand of green coffee associated with a particularly high-altitude portion of the famous Tarrazu growing region and with certain picking and processing nuances (riper fruit, perhaps longer fermentation) that arguably also affect its cup character along with its high-altitude terroir. Atomic Cafe is a coffee house on the North Shore of Massachusetts that began its refined in-house roasting program in 2005. Visit www.atomicafe.com or call 978-922-0042 for more information.

Who Should Drink It

A Costa Rica for non-conformists: classic acidity, big body but a hint of ambiguous, perhaps exotic pungency in the aromatics.

Explore Similar Coffees

Click here for more reviews from Atomic Cafe Coffee Roasters

Click here for more information about coffees from Costa Rica


This review originally appeared in the April, 2008 tasting report: Special Reserve is Dead. Long Live Special Reserve.

Read Reviews


About the Author: Kenneth Davids

Kenneth Davids is editor, chief writer and co-founder of Coffee Review. His latest book, 21st Century Coffee: A Guide is an unprecedentedly thorough survey of specialty coffee in all of its aspects, authoritative yet engaging. He has been involved with coffee since the early 1970s and has published three earlier books on coffee, including the influential Home Roasting: Romance and Revival, now in its second edition, and Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing and Enjoying, which has sold nearly 250,000 copies in five editions.

Primary Sidebar

Shop for top-rated coffees at Durango Coffee Company

Shop for Top-rated coffees at Barrington Coffee Roasters

Shop for top-rated coffees at Kakalove in Taiwan

Become an advertiser

Get Coffees Reviewed

Connect with Us

Sign Up for Our Free E-Newsletter

Enter your email address below to receive our free e-mail newsletter
  • Coffee Reviews
  • Tasting Reports
  • Reference
  • Glossary
  • Please Support Our Advertisers
  • Contact Us
  • Journal
  • Kenneth Davids
  • Interpreting Coffee Reviews
  • Roast Definitions
  • Caveats about Coffee Ratings
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Getting Coffees Reviewed
  • Advertising Opportunities
  • Quoting Reviews
  • Copyright
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Security

Copyright © 2025 Coffee Review. All Rights Reserved.