Blind Assessment: Opulently complex aroma: cherry, blueberry, dry semi-sweet chocolate, brandy. In the cup very sweet, gently rich; the chocolate grows rounder and more distinct with continued blueberry and brandy complication. The rich, dry brandy notes dominate a slight astringency in the finish.

Notes: A dry-processed or "natural" coffee, meaning the beans are dried inside the fruit rather than after the fruit has been removed, as is the case with wet-processed or "washed" coffees. A prize winner in the 2005 Ethiopia ECafe Competition, (www.ecafefoundation.org) competition, where as a green (unroasted) coffee it placed third in the dry-processed category, attracting a score of 91.34 from an international jury. Counter Culture Coffee is a small-batch wholesale specialty roaster with a particularly informative and lively website and youthful, enthusiastic leadership. Visit www.counterculturecoffee.com or call 888-238-5282 for more information.

Who Should Drink It: Cautious adventurers: The fruit ferment behind this coffee's cherry/chocolate/brandy character is relatively low-key and pretty much stays out of the way of the heady front-end aromatics.