The World's Leading Coffee Guide
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.
Both co-cupper Danny O'Neill (83) and Ken (87) admired an aroma that was "sweet and spicy" for Danny, "rich, deep and sweetly smoky" for Ken. For Danny the cup was "muddled" and woody, for Ken slightly astringent in structure but nevertheless pleasantly bittersweet with a rich cocoa character that strengthened as the coffee cooled.
A sweet musty character that can read anywhere from malty chocolate to damp basement depending on context and cupper animated this blend. Co-cupper Danny O'Neill (86) was more positive than Ken (83), citing "the sweet chocolaty aroma of fresh brownies" in the aroma and "a delicate balance of mild acidity and smooth buttery body" in the cup with "lingering fruity nuances" in the finish. Ken felt the cup was fundamentally sweet and rather rich, but objected to a "woody, baggy" character nuanced by only "the barest hints of raisins and chocolate" in the cup.
Both co-cupper Danny O'Neill (85) and Ken (87) read foresty notes in the aroma: "fresh greenery and earth" for Danny, "cacao and tree bark" for Ken. The cup was both balanced and quite complex, with fruit notes ("cherry toned" for Ken, "ripe apple and berry" for Danny) combining with continued forest notes that suggested dried flowers or herbs.
An exciting coffee that disappoints in the finish. Ken (88) was more forgiving than co-cupper Danny O'Neill (83), who sums up: "Bright and clean in the nose, this coffee's lusciously thick and smooth body rounds its slightly fruity, almost wine-like, acidity. Sweet honey and fruit flavors become sharp and ... astringent in the long finish." Perhaps the dry-processed Ethiopias in this blend are last year's crop, with their explosive aromatics too faded to compensate for an underlying mildly astringent structure.
Superb aroma: "sultry and exotic" for co-cupper Danny O'Neill; "richly complex" for Ken, with "milk chocolate, sweet tomato, apricot and cedar" notes. Both Danny (87) and Ken (88) admired the quiet complexity and balance of the cup; "gently bittersweet and chocolaty" for Ken, "dark and smoky" for Danny. Both noted a slight hardening of the cup as it cooled.
Complex aromatics: flowers, pear, hints of brandy and cherry in the aroma. In the cup delicately acidy, roundly supple in mouthfeel, with a continued complex fruit that co-cupper Danny O'Neill (87) read as sweet raisin and Ken (more elaborately at 91) as dried cherry, fresh pear, brandy and flowers. Rich though surprisingly short-lived finish.
Co-cupper Danny O'Neill read "rich chocolaty pudding" in the superb aroma. Ken's reading was more conventional though just as positive: flowers, oranges, chocolate, cherry. Both admired the complex fruity character of the cup: "bouquet of fruity melon and apple" for Danny (88); "tart but rich cherry, hints of plum and orange" for Ken (91). "Finishes clean with lingering hints of late summer" (Danny).
Co-cupper Danny O'Neill and Ken both admired this coffee's sweet floral- and chocolate-toned aroma, cleanly bright (Danny) acidity and silky body. Danny (89) cited its quintessential balance, Ken (90) a "delicate, restrained giddiness" animated by floral, apple and pear notes.
Both Ken (92) and co-cupper Danny O'Neill (90) admired this coffee's classic completeness. "Smooth body ...Clean, fruity and well-balanced ...the whole package" for Danny. Ken was particularly impressed by the cup's "lushly sweet" acidity and complexity that for him suggested caramel, chocolate, molasses and a hint of flowers at the top. Ken was sufficiently impressed by the virtues of the cup to overlook a very slight astringency in the long finish.
Deeply roasty aroma: cedar, cardamom, caramel, raisin, a hint of flowers. In the cup sweet, almost syrupy with continued caramel, raisin and floral complication. A sharp astringency shadows the cup, however, and grows in intensity as the coffee cools. The short finish is cedary and rich, but fades toward a nagging astringency in the long. Reader Sheri Flagler is a fan and regular customer of Beanstock Roasters.
Very sweet-toned, quietly complex aroma: smoke, semi-sweet chocolate and tart berryish fruit notes. Little of the aromatic complexity survives in the lean-bodied cup, only wisps of nut and crisp, smoky chocolate that fade quickly in the finish, leaving behind faint sweetness and a muted astringency.
The aroma is dominated by a very sweet scorched cedar and a spicy banana-toned fruit. Both carry nicely into the cup, which retains sweetness and a relatively rich mouthfeel despite the very dark roast. In the finish the sweet roastiness manages to outlast a slight astringency. One reader calls this the "best coffee I've ever had."
In the aroma cedar plus flowers and roast-influenced caramel and banana notes. A roast-muted acidity gently lifts the cup, where the cedar and caramel notes persist while the banana-toned fruit notes drift toward chocolate. Quiet short finish with a slight astringency in the long. Reader Ed Escobar says he has been "impressed by the consistent quality and freshness" of the coffees he has been buying from Old Bisbee Roasters.
A cup either pleasingly delicate or disappointingly simple depending on taste and expectation. Balanced, gentle aroma with a very fresh, foresty cedar and a suggestion of pear-toned fruit. In the cup the cedar and fruit tones finally settle into a sweet, raisin-toned chocolate. Reader Laura Cheng nominated another Central American coffee from Caffe Vita that was not available, so we took the liberty of ordering this one instead.
Gently pungent cedar and pear-toned fruit in the aroma. In the cup sweetly and richly acidy with a continued pungent edge that hints at chocolate. The long, robust-on-the-edge-of-rough finish suggests that the attractive pungency of the profile may in part be powered by a slight, felicitous mustiness in one of the blend's green coffees.
Fine aroma: high-toned, elegant, combining suggestions of flowers, lemon, cedar and peach in a single suave, tight-knit aromatic gesture. In the cup delicately rich, light-bodied but not lean, gently acidy. The peach-floral-lemon gesture deepens and leans toward chocolate. Only the finish is disappointing: short and slightly but distractingly astringent.
The aroma is intense and complex: cherry, blueberry, brandy, chocolate, with an underlying edge of pungently spicy cedar. All carry richly into the cup with an excitement a bit too edgy for elegance. A slight shadow of astringency lurking in the cup emerges clearly in the long finish.
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.
Simple but classically appealing coffee. High-toned, sweetly spicy aroma with tight-knit suggestions of flowers, chocolate and sweet tomato that amplify in the richly acidy cup. The finish stays on the roundly hearty side of astringent.
The attraction of this coffee is a structure both powerful and elegant: richly and roundly acidy, with silky-verging-on-syrupy mouthfeel, fundamental sweetness, and ringing depth of sensation. The wispy hints of chocolate, cherry and cedar are a bonus. Reader Mike Venditto's nomination of a Counter Culture coffee was not available, so we substituted this rather similar Bolivia.
