• 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 50 Coffees of 2025
    • 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
    • Getting Equipment Reviewed
  • 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
    • Getting Equipment 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


86

Tandem Coffee

Kochere Yirgacheffe Ethiopia (Instant Coffee)

Roaster Location: Portland, Maine
Coffee Origin: Yirgacheffe growing region, southern Ethiopia
Roast Level: Light
Agtron: NA/NA
Est. Price: $15.00/six 5-gram single-serve packets
Review Date: September 2018
Aroma: 8
Acidity/Structure: 7
Body: 7
Flavor: 7
Aftertaste: 7

Blind Assessment

Evaluated at proportions of 5 grams of instant coffee powder mixed with 8.5 ounces (250 ml) of hot water. Quietly zesty. Lemon peel, cocoa, caramel, fir, a hint of mango. Sweet/tart in structure, with a slight salty-bitterish edge. Light but silky/satiny in mouthfeel. Caramelly and sweet in the short finish fading toward wood in the long.

Notes

This coffee tied for the third-highest rating in a tasting of soluble or “instant” coffees for Coffee Review’s for September 2018 tasting report. It was sourced and roasted by Tandem Coffee Roasters in Portland, Maine and solubilized and packaged as an instant by Swift Cup in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Tandem Coffee is a wholesale roaster with two retail locations in Portland, Maine. Visit www.tandemcoffee.com for more information. Swift Cup Coffee, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to producing quality instant coffees through ethical sourcing and a proprietary process. Visit www.swiftcupcoffee.com for more information.  

Bottom Line

An instant that captures some of the zesty, lemon-and-cocoa character of a good Yirgacheffe, with a subtle whiff of flowers and sandalwood as well.

Explore Similar Coffees

Click here for more reviews from Tandem Coffee

Click here for more information about coffees from Ethiopia


This review originally appeared in the September, 2018 tasting report: The New (and Old) Instant Coffees: Convenience Aspires to Quality

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.