LATEST REVIEWS

Vividly lively yet elegantly smooth coffee. Intense aroma with tart cherry and round, low-acid fruit notes, banana perhaps, with hints of fresh leather. In the cup sweet, lyric acidity, light but silky mouthfeel, cherry and cocoa notes. Rich, sweet, deeply long finish.

In the aroma sweet-toned, gently rich, with distinct cocoa, or perhaps carob, tones and hints of fresh-cut wood and vanilla. In the cup quite heavy in body. Bittersweet with continued low-key notes that read as a spicy, vegetal chocolate (cocoa or carob) with vanilla and floral top notes. The cocoa/carob notes persist in the long, sweetly pleasant finish. Very slight astringency.

Sweet-toned, deep aroma with a tight-knit complexity: dried cherry, raisin, moist leaves. Almost syrupy sweet in the cup, with a slight roasty edge. The dried cherry and raisin-toned fruit take on a port-wine richness before settling toward chocolate in the richly bittersweet finish.

(Tested as roasted - rather dark - by the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee.) Complex aroma: toast, banana-toned fruit, semi-sweet chocolate, perhaps a hint of tomato. In the small cup quite light-bodied though smooth in mouthfeel; very sweet, with a richly fruity character that continues to suggest banana and a prune-toned, semi-sweet chocolate, all of which carries elegantly into a rich finish. Rather lean and limited in milk, however; the chocolate and fruit notes are attractive but fail to bloom.

(Tested as roasted - rather dark - by Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company.) Very sweet-toned, gently roasty aroma, with peach-toned cedar and semi-sweet chocolate notes. Simplifies in the cup, but remains delicately sweet and balanced with continuing dry chocolate complication. Gently rich finish with the barest hint of astringency as the cup cools.

Sweet-toned aroma but rather quiet: raisin, dark chocolate, walnut, floral complication. In the small cup substantial body, smooth mouthfeel, salty-sweet, with continuing dark chocolate and walnut notes. Substantial presence in milk, though subdued and simple.

A mid-toned, gently crisp coffee. Rich aroma with semi-sweet chocolate, raisin, walnut, perhaps orange complication. In the cup, full though slightly rough body with a continued dry, semi-sweet chocolate character and hints of walnut and orangy raisin. Rich, simple, slightly heavy finish.

Fine, delicate aroma: sweet-toned with floral top notes and a hint of dark chocolate. In the small cup medium-bodied and sweet but rather simple: some continued dark chocolate notes and raisiny fruit. In milk remains sweetly delicate and restrained.

Very sweet-toned aroma with spice (nutmeg?) and toast notes. In the small cup full bodied and slightly rough in mouthfeel, bittersweet with toast, cedar and chocolate hints. Rich, heavy finish. Simple, powerfully rich presence in milk with chocolate and distinct banana notes.

Smoke and toast in the aroma, with a hint of flowers. In the small cup medium-bodied and smooth in mouthfeel, balanced, rich, simple, with hints of cedar, dark chocolate and toast. Sweet finish. In milk lean-bodied but lush, dominated by a smoky semi-sweet chocolate.

Sweet-toned, roundly balanced aroma with overlapping hints of apricot, cedar and milk chocolate. Medium-bodied in the small cup, crisp, almost sharp, with continued suggestions of apricot, cedar and milk chocolate. At its best in milk, which softens the sharpness without dampening authority, allowing the fruit and chocolate to bloom with gently luxury?

Sweet, lyric fruit in the aroma: cherry, chocolate-toned blueberry. The fruit mutes in the small cup but the underlying structure is pleasing: rich, intense, medium-bodied and silky in mouthfeel. The berry notes carry into the slightly heavy finish. The blueberry character fattens nicely in milk, though the chocolate side of the flavor complex remains a bit tight and restrained.

Smoke, toast and a hint of flowers in the aroma. In the small cup medium-bodied and smooth in mouthfeel, balanced, rich, simple, with hints of cedar, dark chocolate and toast. Sweet finish. In milk lean-bodied but lush, dominated by a smoky semi-sweet chocolate.

Superbly and naturally sweet espresso. Complex in the aroma: caramel, milk chocolate, hints of nuts, flowers, pear-toned fruit. In the small cup medium-bodied but very smooth, gently pungent, with semi-sweet chocolate and a hint of smoke. Very sweet finish, long and cleanly rich. Fills out milk nicely with plump semi-sweet chocolate and a continued slight smoky, pungent edge.

A big, muscular espresso. Smoky, sweet-toned aroma with hints of apricot-toned chocolate. The massive body and syrupy if slightly astringent mouthfeel tend to overwhelm the chocolaty fruit in demitasse and finish, but all turns out well in milk, where the body remains fat and the chocolate blooms deeply and darkly.

Very sweet-toned aroma with floral hints. In the small cup medium-bodied and slightly lean in mouthfeel, crisp, cedary, with raisiny, licorice-toned fruit. Slightly heavy finish but excellent flavor persistence, with the fruit turning toward chocolate. Comes into its own in milk, where it is balanced and roundly rich, with deep semi-sweet chocolate character.

Suave, cedar- and chocolate-toned aroma with floral top notes. In the small cup medium-bodied, rich, and very smoothly and sweetly cedar-toned. The chocolate and flowers return to complicate the cedar in the long, round finish. In milk rather lean in mouthfeel but expansively chocolaty with a continued suggestion of flowers.

A delicate but intense lemony chocolate dominates from aroma through demitasse to milk. The lemon-toned chocolate is lavish and sweet in the aroma; in the small cup tartly sweet; in finish pleasantly persistent despite a slight astringency. In milk the lemon mutes while the chocolate rounds out lushly.

Straightforward aroma with caramel and apricot-toned fruit. In the small cup syrupy and round, with a gentle fruit-toned cedar character and a mild musty-malty edge. Rich finish with a slight astringency. Very impressive in milk: semi-sweet chocolate with a fruity lean toward banana and apricot: rich, sweet, expansive.

A gently pungent complex of tart berry and semi-sweet chocolate runs through the small cup with brisk authority from aroma to finish. The berry and chocolate notes blossom beautifully in milk, softening and rounding without losing energy or character.