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93

Paradise Roasters

Costa Rica San Marcos Micro-Lot

Roaster Location: Ramsey, Minnesota
Coffee Origin: Tarrazu growing region, central Costa Rica.
Roast Level: Light
Agtron: 65/96
Review Date: July 2009
Aroma: 8
Acidity: 8
Body: 8
Flavor: 9
Aftertaste: 9

Blind Assessment

Co-cupper Andy Newbom (94) admired this pungent yet lushly sweet Bourbon slightly more than Ken (92) did. Certainly Andy found more ways to describe its engaging contrast of lush sweetness and almost savory spice. For Andy "root beer, lemon peel" in the aroma, "fruit leather" in the acidity; a "complex blend of tangerine and cinnamon oil, clarified butter and sweet red pepper rounding into guava and gooseberry" in the cup, plus "hints of cocoa nib." The finish impressively resolved the pungent/sweet paradox running through the profile: "astoundingly clear and bell-toned" for Andy; "long, sweetly flavor-saturated" for Ken.

Notes

This micro-lot is comprised entirely of the heirloom variety Bourbon from Hector Bonilla's El Beneficio, El Llano, and La Casa farms. The roast is a melange, half light and half medium-dark. Paradise Roasters prides itself on roasting and shipping coffee only after orders are placed. Its metaphoric mission is to bring some paradisiacal warmth from the coffee-growing south to the cool environs of Minnesota. Visit www.paradiseroasters.com or call 763-433-0626 for more information.

Who Should Drink It

Those who enjoy resolved complexity.

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This review originally appeared in the July, 2009 tasting report: Botany and the Cup: The Bourbon Conundrum

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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.

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