Blind Assessment: Evaluated as espresso. Striking and original: chocolaty yet richly tart. Dark chocolate, strawberry guava, sweet grapefruit, honeysuckle in aroma and small cup. Velvety, juicy mouthfeel; fruit and chocolate carry into a deep, drying finish. Carries its complexity into three parts milk, where the fruit rounds a bit and the fudgy chocolate intensifies.

Notes: Most Yirgacheffe coffee is prepared by the conventional wet method, in which the skin and pulp are removed from the beans or seeds before they are dried, encouraging a cleanly high-toned, often intensely floral- and citrus-toned cup. This Yirgacheffe is a “natural” or dry-processed version, however, meaning the beans/seeds were dried inside the fruit, encouraging a deeper-toned profile, more pungent than bright, though still extravagant in its aromatics. This striking coffee was developed and brought into the U.S. by boutique exporter/importer Ninety Plus Coffee. Turning Point Coffee coffee began with a personal obsession with drinking the best coffees on Earth. Each coffee is micro-roasted to order, allowing for an intense focus on the quality and consistency of the product. Located in the San Francisco neighborhood of Inner Richmond, Turning Point not only provides uncompromising quality, but also a personal relationship with their friends and neighbors. For more information visit www.turningpointcoffee.com.

Who Should Drink It : Not a classic espresso but an extremely fine one; the fudgy chocolate is traditional but the bright, complex, exhilarating fruit is strictly in the new American mode.