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.
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.
Sweet-toned, intense aroma with walnut and chocolate notes and a hint of peach-like fruit. In the cup gentle, delicate, sweet, with a pleasantly vegetal cocoa character, a continued hint of fruit, and walnut tones that turn just a bit flat and woody as the cup cools. Delicate, pleasing but simple finish with continued walnut notes.
Simple profile but deep, roasty and rich, quietly complicated by pungent cedar and suggestions of semisweet chocolate and yellow fruit, apricot perhaps. The mouthfeel is plump with a slight, not unpleasant roughness. The short finish is a touch astringent but quite rich; the chocolate tones linger nicely in the long.
Deep, pungently sweet aroma with cocoa, caramelly cedar, raisin, date and honey notes. In the cup rich, low-key, gently bittersweet with continued, very distinct cocoa and honey/date notes. Long finish with excellent flavor persistence. The cup flattens slightly as it cools.
A gently sweet, ingratiating coffee. In the aroma caramel, cedar and orange notes with a hint of flowers. In the cup very sweet, with a dominating fruit-toned cocoa that carries into the long, clean finish.
The roast dominates the coffee, though gently. Toast, cedar and a hint of chocolate in the aroma. Sweetly pungent but simple in the cup, with slightly scorched cedar and Mediterranean herb notes and a continued hint of chocolate. The chocolate intensifies in the finish.
Sweet-toned, round, caramelly aroma with hints of flowers and pears or peach. In the small cup full-bodied with a dominating sweet, cedary pungency complicated by raisiny fruit and dark chocolate with a slight whiff of brandyish ferment. In milk balanced and rich, with continued semi-sweet chocolate, richly grapy ferment and even a surprising resurfacing of flowers.
Balanced but subdued aroma: smoke, flowers, a hint of peach-toned fruit. In the small cup heavy-bodied with rounded cedar and raisiny fruit notes and hints of flowers, red wine and chocolate. Resonant finish with excellent flavor persistence. Distinct and pleasing milk chocolate presence in milk.
