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.
Ken was somewhat more enthusiastic about this classic Central American profile than co-cupper Rodger Owen, but both found lots to write about. Both found the aroma round and sweet, complicated by wine notes for Rodger and pear and a hint of cedar for Ken. In the cup both described a sweet, quietly vibrant acidity and a coffee fruit that read as black currant or slightly tart cherry for Ken and sweet pipe tobacco for Rodger. The essential sweetness carried into the short finish, tempering the slight astringency in the long.
A simple, lyrically appealing coffee, alive with floral notes and a vivid little twist that Ken associated with spice and co-cupper Rodger Owen with cedar. Ken also cited cherry-toned fruit in the aroma that leaned toward a delicate chocolate in the cup. Fresh, cleanly sweet finish.
Superb aroma: For Ken giddily floral with blueberry and cherry notes, for co-cupper Rodger Owen "a beautiful burst of lemon." In the cup crisply bright, intensely floral, sweetly and quietly lemon, then (for Ken) rounding toward an orange-toned chocolate. Slight astringency in the short finish but the floral notes had the last, lingering word in the long.
Sweet, quite smoky aroma, with floral top notes and suggestions of temperate fruit, pear perhaps. In the cup low-toned, smoky, sweet but salty, with chocolate undertones and continued hints of pear. The smoky tones carry into the finish.
A coffee that displays the more pungent side of the Yirgacheffe profile. Distinct ginger-snap notes in the aroma with suggestions of rosemary and pine. Sweeter in the cup, dominated by lemon and ginger-snap. The pine and Mediterranean herb notes resurface in the long finish.
Delicate, rather subdued aroma: milk chocolate, caramel, the sweeter sort of grapefruit. In the cup the caramel leans more decisively toward chocolate, with some delicate, attractive floral top notes. Slight astringency in the finish.
Resonant, tightly-knit, complex aroma: chocolate, cedar, leather, vanilla, raisin. In the cup delicately acidy and gently opulent: honey, vanilla, flowers. A quiet cup that rewards patience.
A very sweet, gently rich coffee. Spicy, perhaps slightly musty notes in the aroma lean toward a cocoaish, cedar-toned chocolate in a cup that grows more nuanced and quietly complex as it cools.
A showcase for the intense, sweetly tart sensation coffee people call acidity. The acidity is nuanced by tomato and orange notes in the aroma, softening toward chocolate and cedar in the cup. The acidity leaves a rich astringency behind in the short finish, but delicate orange notes outlast it in the long.
Subdued but rich aroma, complicated by cedar, leather and a shifty low-acid fruit, pumpkin one moment and pear the next. Simple in the cup but still rich, with a rather opulent mouthfeel and sweet dried fruit notes - raisin, apricot - leaning toward chocolate.
Deeply dimensioned, low-toned, quietly complex coffee. Semi-sweet chocolate, floral top notes, and a crisp temperate fruit that I read as pear carry from aroma into the cup, consolidating on chocolate in the finish.
The aroma, sweetly pungent with a hint of chocolaty fruit, provided only a hint of the intensity displayed by the cup - high-toned and richly acidy, with a simple but powerful flavor complex: dry berry (aka black current), a hint of grapefruit, and rich, dry chocolate.
The aroma is sweet-toned and intense: cedar, semi-sweet chocolate, raisins. In the cup, dry, spicy berry, grapefruit, Bordeaux-like wine notes. The flavor notes persist in the slightly but pleasantly astringent finish.
The aroma is very sweet in impression, gingery and orange-toned, the acidity gentle, the cup delicate but rich with a ginger-toned fruit that rounds and settles toward chocolate as the cup cools. Clean, chocolate-toned finish.
Smooth, rich with a sweet complex of low-acid fruit-related tones: banana, chocolate, raisin, honey, flowers. In the cup the mouthfeel is full and supple; honey, raisin and flowers dominate and carry into a cleanly resonant finish.
An essay in the difference between acidic and acidy, this commandingly dry coffee does not display a glimmer of sharpness. Tremendous range and complexity in the aroma: dry berry, high-toned cedar, orange, chocolate. The dry berry, orange and chocolate notes carry into the cup with crisp richness and fade into the finish without a hint of astringency.
Complex, smoky/toasty aroma with chocolate and vanilla suggestions. Medium body with a roundly smooth mouthfeel. Crisply elegant in the small cup: apricot and semi-sweet chocolate. Rich, chocolate-toned short finish, slight astringency in the long, but the chocolate well outlasts it. Superb in milk: good presence, sweet, with distinct milk chocolate and vanilla tones and a long, (once more) chocolate-toned finish.
A profile so delicate it has difficulty asserting itself. Gentle and lyric in the aroma, with sweet nut and a cherryish fruit that carry into the cup but remain subdued and without authority, a charming but distant warble in the woods.
The aroma is rather flat, though complicated by an interesting walnut- or maple-toned caramel character, perhaps with a hint of anise. The maple-nut-caramel character carries into the simple but balanced cup.
A very heavy-bodied coffee, roasty but not burned, low-toned to the point of bluntness, with pungent cedar notes that approach semi-sweet chocolate and a hint of Mediterranean herb.
