Blind Assessment:

Deep, chocolaty, cleanly fruit-toned. Dark chocolate, cedar, black cherry, magnolia, molasses in aroma and cup. Sweetly tart structure with gentle, rounded acidity. Consolidates to resonant chocolate and cherry in the finish.

Notes:

The components of this blend are certified organically grown and Fair Trade certified, meaning they were purchased from small-holding farmers at a “fair” or economically sustainable price. This version of the ancient Mocha-Java blend combines a traditionally processed, wet-hulled Sumatra in place of the original Java and replaces the Yemen Mocha with a similar “natural” or dried-in-the-fruit coffee from Ethiopia. One of the country’s pioneering socially and environmentally progressive roasters, Thanksgiving aimed to combine coffee quality with social and environmental responsibility many years before the latter preoccupations became fashionable. Visit www.thanksgivingcoffee.com or call 800-648-6491 for more information.

The Bottom Line: A balanced, richly sweet-tart Ethiopia-Sumatra blend that’s also fair trade and organic-certified.