Blind Assessment: Richly sweet, fruit-toned. Dried apricot, roasted cacao nib, agave syrup, cedar, magnolia in aroma and cup. Sweet-tart structure with gentle, rounded acidity; crisp, satiny-smooth mouthfeel. Finish consolidates to notes of dried apricot and cocoa-toned cedar.

Notes: Produced by Anny Ruth Pimentel-Courson entirely from trees of the heirloom Bourbon variety of Arabica and processed by the black honey method. With all honey processing methods, some sweet pulp or fruit flesh (“honey”) is allowed to adhere to the beans during drying. In the black honey variation, the beans are subjected to a slower drying process than is the case with yellow or red honey processing. Steady State Roasting is an award-winning small-batch roastery dedicated to the craft and care of providing specialty coffee. The company takes pride in sourcing unique, high-quality coffee direct from farmers so that customers can enjoy fine coffee at home or in the Steady State tasting room in downtown Carlsbad, California. Visit www.steadystateroasting.com for more information.

The Bottom Line: A crisply fruit-forward, inviting black honey-processed coffee with gentle acidity.