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LATEST REVIEWS

We have published thousands of coffee reviews and espresso reviews since 1997. The reviews below appear in reverse chronological order by review date. Older reviews may no longer accurately reflect current versions of the same coffee. To search for a specific roaster, origin or coffee use the Advanced Search Function.


85

Armeno Coffee

Kenya – Muthewathi AA

Review Date: Mar 1999

Bright but well-matrixed acidity, full body, and a complex cluster of grace notes elevated the score of this sample. "Good balance of flavors, excellent complexity, ... fruit, spice, ... tropical woods, cedar with some sweet dark chocolate. [But] fades when cool. Where did all that flavor go?" For me the flavor went too soon. I missed length and development, and found the smoky, herby notes a touch dissonant. But that's a minority opinion: Overall the panel very much admired this coffee.

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88

Armeno Coffee

Kenya – Marua AA

Review Date: Mar 1999

A high score but a relatively low wow quotient. Apparently panelists valued this coffee for its rich balance and deeply matrixed fruit; the body was described variously as full, heavy, and thick. However, several panelists felt the cup was a bit faded, restrained, "past-croppish." Perhaps this is an instance when the mid-season timing of the cupping did prejudice the cupping results.

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85

Allegro Coffee Roasters

Kenya – Gatomboya AA

Review Date: Mar 1999

The brightly assertive, sweetly fruity acidity that Kenya enthusiasts love is on full display here, cradled by a richly textured body. As a bonus we get the treasured Kenya berry notes, although the panel wasn't sure whether they were blueberry, blackberry, strawberry or just "berry." Berries and all, I found this otherwise splendid Kenya a touch shallow in dimension compared to the highest-rated Gaturiri.

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70

Kowa

Zimbabwe – Green

Review Date: Mar 1999

This coffee provoked an unenviable list of drab adjectives: muddy (the favorite), grassy, neutral, ashy, rubber-like. Four panelists labeled the aftertaste "baggy," a term describing a flat, ropey sensation that usually indicates faulty conditioning or storage. Whatever its origin, the defect here overpowers the coffee.

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72

Terranova Estate

Green Coffee: Zambia

Review Date: Mar 1999

One set of palates identified the problem with this Zambia as roughness and harsh acidity. Others, including me, simply read the coffee as underdeveloped. "Flat and woody ... no pulse" said one. "Tired," according to another. Perhaps too many half-ripe cherries carried through to the sample, or perhaps the lightish roast failed to do justice to the coffee. Three of us detected smoky or tobaccoish notes, but none found these tart embellishments particularly attractive.

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79

Great Northern Gourmet Coffees

Organic Sumatra

Review Date: Feb 1999

Assuming classic and earthy are not mutually exclusive terms, this is a classically earthy Sumatra: a round, muted but full earth taste gently dominates the profile. Apparently the earth taste comes from drying the coffee directly on the ground rather than on tarpaulins, the usual practice in Sumatra. Although the earth tones are wonderfully soft, overall the profile suffers from a slight bitterness.

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85

Willoughby's Coffee & Tea

Sumatra Mandheling

Review Date: Feb 1999
Willoughby's Coffee & Tea Logo

A rather refined profile, lighter and sweeter than most Sumatras, with clean hints of fruit and flowers under the usual Sumatra pungency. Much more expansively buoyant at the top of the profile than the other Sumatras in the cupping.

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84

Timothy's World Coffee

Sumatra Mandheling

Review Date: Feb 1999

When the cup was hot I thought I had hit the Sumatra jackpot, something close to the great Sumatras of pre-Starbucks days, when Sumatra was an exotic secret shared by a handful of professionals and enthusiasts. Rich, burgundy-like fullness, gathering under the back edges of the tongue, with just enough acidity to set off dark tickles and echoes. However, a slightly bitter and salty aftertaste gave away this coffee's weakness, which became abundantly clear as the cup cooled: just enough hardness to dampen an otherwise splendid profile.

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80

Alpen Sierra Coffee Roasters

Sumatra Mandheling

Review Date: Feb 1999

Distinctive but limited. The strength of the cup is a powerfully smoky, carbony center with pleasing hints of dry chocolate. Little sweetness or range, however, making it a bit of a Johnny-one-note (though it's a rather exotic note).

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79

Alpen Sierra Coffee Roasters

Decaf Sumatra

Review Date: Feb 1999

The dark roast style develops a subdued sweet-sweat pungency and attractive cedar tones in the aroma, but the cup disappoints. Not so much flat as underpowered: light-bodied, little range or dimension, with the main pleasure a gentle, unassuming bittersweetness.

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79

The Coffee Roaster

Sumatra Mandheling

Review Date: Feb 1999

The roast dominates the coffee here, overlaying the mouth-filling Sumatra richness with distinct carbon tones. The result is a dry, pungently full profile, powerful but a bit to astringent for my taste.

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78

Starbucks Coffee

Decaf Sumatra

Review Date: Feb 1999

Another decaf-ravaged Sumatra: Here the aroma is as subdued as the cup. A touch of carbon from the roast and a bit of sweet tobacco from the Sumatra, but not much else: clean, low-toned, empty.

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78

Klatch Coffee

Sumatra

Review Date: Feb 1999
Klatch Coffee logo

Another Sumatra with intrigue, but more murky than mysterious. The aroma is marvelous, alive with vanilla and sweet aromatic wood tones, but the cup settles down into a heavy smokiness unrelieved by lift or sweetness. Hints of dry chocolate turn tobaccoish in the finish.

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88

R & R Beans

Sumatra Mandheling

Review Date: Feb 1999

A solid, bordering-on-classic Sumatra profile: low-toned but rich, pleasantly pruny, its distinct pungency saved from bitterness by a sweetness that grows in power as the coffee cools.

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77

Salt Spring Roasting Company

Sumatra Dark Roast

Review Date: Feb 1999

A clean profile, but a bit flat. No sweetness, no lift, little dimension. Deep but opaque.

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77

Starbucks Coffee

Sumatra

Review Date: Feb 1999

Under the taste of the darkish roast style earthy, but not a sweet or inviting earth. A bit hard (no pun), without depth, bounce or resonance. A tobaccoey, salty tickle in the finish.

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89

Mr. Espresso

Espresso di Carlo

Review Date: Jan 1999

Clean and elegant aroma with a shimmer of vanilla. In the demitasse complex, exciting, but not entirely balanced. The contrast of pungent sharpness and underlying caramelly sweetness is dramatic but stark, and carries the coffee precariously toward a rich but slightly astringent aftertaste. Blooms beautifully in milk, softening without losing authority and revealing deep, dry, bittersweet chocolate tones.

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85

Dallis Bros. Coffee

Organic Blue de Brasil Estate

Review Date: Jan 1999

An impressive tribute to the tactile dimension of taste: the body is smooth, buttery, alive yet full. The profile is sweet and deeply dimensioned with a pleasantly spicy tickle at its heart, but remains rather limited in range. The aftertaste reveals the merest hint of hardness.

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Shop for Dallis Bros. Coffee at GoCoffeeGo >
84

Coffee Masters

Euro-Espresso Blend

Review Date: Jan 1999

Crisp and toasty nose. In the demitasse heavy though not sharp; some sweetness but little nuance. The heaviness turns smooth in milk, expanding richly, but even there the cup remains austere and rather monolithic.

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83

Ink Coffee

HouseQuake2

Review Date: Jan 1999

Distinct orange-citrus tones are exhilaratingly fresh when the cup is hot, but turn mildly astringent as it cools. The body is round and creamy, but lighter than any of the straight Brazils in the cupping.

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