LATEST REVIEWS

A sweet Kenya, seductive rather than severe with its balanced acidity and delicate, quietly complex citrus and floral tones.

Deeply, richly acidy, but without any edge unblunted by an enveloping, buffering sweetness. Surprisingly heavy body; a shimmering cocktail of pineapple, pear, citrus and floral notes in the nose. Neighbors green buyer and quality assurance manager Chris Palmer tags these elusive notes "apricot-like ... with a hint of spice."

Exquisitely balanced cup. Delicately acidy and sweet with clean, high-toned fruit that nods gently at chocolate. Restrained yet complex; precious. Green buyer Carl Leonard finds this coffee "exhibits all the best attributes [that this] origin should deliver."

Reader "Siehata" nominated a "morning blend" from Seattle's Best Coffee,testifying that SBC "has been a favorite of mine for years. Better than Millstone or even theover-priced burnt Starbucks." I couldn't find a Seattle's Best morning blend, so I pickedSaturday's Blend, figuring that Saturdays have mornings, maybe better mornings than the otherdays of the week. I found it crisply roasty (though most definitely not burned), with pleasantlydry, bittersweet chocolate tones. For me it hit the sweet spot of dark roasted coffees, butdisplayed a limited range of aromatics and a lean body. Perhaps it had sat in its bag too long.

Reader "Cynmar69" reports this espresso blend "has a true coffee taste, ...smooth and flavorsome unlike most burnt flavored coffees." I found it full-bodied and fat on thetongue, with the kind of pleasantly fermented fruit tones that suggest chocolate-covered cherries.A shimmer of sharp acidity is balanced by sweetness. The finish is clean, rich and chocolaty.Slightly disappointing in small milk, where the coffee seems to simplify without softening, but inlarger milk the fruit and chocolate tones bloom nicely. The preground, canned format doubtlessaccounts for the subdued aroma.

Reader Derick Miller called Graffeo to my attention, testifying that this groupof three small in-store roasters produces "great coffee." I brewed this dark-roasted version of theGraffeo blend as espresso and found it medium-bodied, smooth in mouthfeel, sweet but crisplyroasty. In small milk the bittersweetness read as a dry, smoky chocolate; in larger milk as adelicately sweet but rather dilute chocolate.

Reader Ben Anderson calls this coffee "fantastic." That familiar adjectivefreshens up when applied to Sulawesi coffees, whose unexpected forest and fruit notes often doseem to express a sort of adventurous coffee fantasy. When hot, this Sulawesi displayed a richcup with a fine balance of acidity, sweetness and roastiness plus - the Sulawesi factor - carnally rich fruit notes reminiscent of cantaloupe. I started with a rating of over 90, but as the cup cooleda slight salty astringency in the finish lowered my assessment.

A classic medium-roasted Latin-American cup, acidy but distinctly sweet andfree of bitterness. The acidity displays some pleasant complication: tangy, grapefruity, perhapsspicy. Nominating reader John Schulz of Northglenn, Colorado rates his sample 90 - 94, findingit "rich and complex, with subtle winey notes." I tasted no wine notes in the sample I broughthome, but wine - sweet fermented fruit - notes are quite common in contemporary Colombiacoffees and doubtless appear in other batches of the Millstone presentation.

Reader Liz Snyder of Newark, Ohio rates this blend 95 - 100 on the basis of an evaluation thatmakes up in enthusiasm for what it may lack in technical detail: "I love [this coffee]. It tastes SOgood." I evaluated the Wiener Melange as espresso. In the demitasse I found it full and round inbody and heavily bittersweet in flavor, complicated by dry chocolate tones. In small milk itremained dry, smoky, chocolaty and rather heavy. In larger milk it came fully into its own,softening but still dominating with fruit- and chocolate-nuanced authority.

"Great crema - best espresso I've ever had," writes Mandy Elion of Pasadena,California, who rates Supreme Bean espressos 90 - 94. This all-organic espresso blend isbalanced, richly and roundly roasty in the demitasse, with undertones of fruity chocolate. Atingle of astringency in the finish is invigorating rather than rough. In small milk comes acrossheavy with fruity chocolate tones; in large milk sweetly and roundly fruity.

Reader Peter Lynagh nominated this coffee. I found it brightly acidy but richlysweet, with opulently high-toned lemon and orange notes. Simplifies a bit in the finish, leavingbehind a pucker of astringency.

Reader Derick Miller called Graffeo to my attention, testifying that this groupof three small in-store roasters produces "great coffee." I found this light-roasted version of theGraffeo blend acidy but sweet, rich, with a broad flavor range including delicate orange and floralnotes. Both aroma and finish showed a slight bitter edge which rounded and softened as the cupcooled.

Reader Jim Beckham of Athens, Texas reports he drinks "about a pound a week ofthis espresso. I frequently try others, but I always come back to this great blend." I might comeback to it too. Dry fruit, chocolate and leather notes, fat body, smooth, round, completelywithout bitterness. In milk excellent authority: rich, developing from dry chocolate in small dairyto milk chocolate in large.

Reader Ben Anderson finds this Blue Mountain "phenomenal," a "yardstickexample of the variety ... extremely complex and proportioned." Certainly a fine example of theBlue Mountain profile, far better than any production roast Blue Mountain I have cupped overthe past few years: balanced, with resonant, bell-toned dimension and classic fruit notes of pure essential coffee character.

A big, simple, acidy coffee only partly tamed by the darkish roast. The result is a bit of a hybrid: medium-bodied, roasty but acidy, reasonably sweet, but with only a hint of Antigua-style nuance, some fruit perhaps. The finish is slightly astringent, always a danger when an acidy coffee is brought to a darkish roast. The nominating reader Carolina Facciani of Redondo Beach, California rates the Starbucks Guatemala she or he tasted a 95 to 100, declaring it "one of the best tasting coffees I've had next to Costa Rica's coffees." The big acidity and relative lack of nuance does make this coffee resemble high-grown Costa Ricas.

"Auburnbulldog" gives this venerable grocery store coffee from Louisiana a 90 to 94 rating "because for a non-specialty coffee it is by far the best. I cringe when I go from Community to Starbucks." I found it a fine example of a (non-chicory) New Orleans-style blend: roundly low-acid coffees with a musty or mildewy edge (probably mainly Brazils) turned malty and rich by the moderately dark roast.

The reader who nominated this canned supermarket coffee describes it as "not a harsh acid coffee. The taste comes through. Try it." I did, and found it a good though not great medium-roasted Colombia coffee: robustly acidy with decent complementing sweetness, full-bodied, but with little complexity or nuance. I agree that the acidity is not "harsh," but I did find it just a shade too overbearing and perhaps a touch sour.

The reader who nominated this coffee rated it an 85 -- 89, citing its "great aroma and floral hints," and adding that it is "a great breakfast coffee." I'd agree, though the sample I cupped may have sat around in its elegant bag too long. It belongs to the authoritative rather than the delicate style of Panama: intensely acidy, yet still displaying the bright, high-toned sweet nut, floral and fruit notes characteristic of this underappreciated origin. I felt the profile suffered from bitterness, however, which turned the acidity a bit too assertive for many coffee drinkers.

This very dark-roasted blend teeters on the edge of burned, but backs off nicely to stay on the agreeably sweet side of bittersweet. Fruit and fruit-toned chocolate notes, a suggestion of flowers, with only a shadow astringency. The Seattle-based reader who nominated this blend describes it as his (or her) "favorite local coffee. And as I am from Seattle, that's saying something."

For a coffee from northern California, the home of ultimate and often bitter dark roasts, this one is quite delicate, subtly roasty but gently dry, unobtrusively sweet, with echoes of dry, high-toned fruit. "I have been coming to this shop for 10 years now," the nominating reader writes, "and they definitely have the best coffee in the world."