LATEST REVIEWS

Pungent and smoky throughout the profile, with some suggestions of semi-sweet chocolate, cedar and rosemary. In the cup the mouthfeel is lightly and pleasantly astringent, bracing rather than bitter or heavy.

A light-bodied, sweetly crisp coffee. Suggestions of leather, spice and a dry, fruity chocolate in the aroma. Melodic in the cup, with sweet citrus top notes and a hint of chocolate balanced by a slight tart sharpness.

Lively aroma, with fresh-cut cedar and cherry-chocolate notes. In the cup simple but deeply resonant, with hints of flowers, chocolate and cherry-leaning fruit shimmering through the gentle roastiness.

An intense, high-toned coffee with almost African character: distinct orange notes and hints of sweet spice, chocolate and flowers, lavender perhaps, in the aroma. The citrus, chocolate and lavender tones are sharper and simpler in the cup, though still intense. A tingle of astringency persists, not unpleasantly, into the finish.

Dominated by a low-toned but richly intense fruit complex that in the aroma clearly and pleasurably reads as semi-sweet chocolate. In the cup turns toward something less chocolate and more cherry perhaps, with a little pungent lean toward Mediterranean herbs. Full-bodied and deeply dimensioned throughout.

Mid-toned but rich, deep aroma, with fresh leather, pear, peach and milk chocolate suggestions. Simplifies a bit in the cup, undercurrents of pipe tobacco and a tartly refreshing, sweet fruit, pie cherries perhaps or kiwi.

A lush and coherent cup. Caramel and chocolate in the aroma. The caramel sweetness deepens in the cup, complicated by a wine- or apple-cider-toned fruit and continued hints of chocolate. Full, round mouthfeel.

Pleasant enough aroma: rich, with a lushly fruity, brandied chocolate complication. After that pleasant overture, however, things go downhill fast. In the cup blaringly bitter and astringent, though hints of cherryish, chocolaty fruit do survive. In the finish, however, nothing at survives except a hard, overbearing astringency.

The aroma is sweet but flat, with a distinct burned wood character. In the cup the burned tones come across as rather rich, bolstered by a dry spice, almost black pepper sensation. Sweetens and softens surprisingly in the finish, especially in the long.

In the aroma shallow in sensation but pleasantly sweet with orange- and aromatic-wood notes. The cup is sweet, delicate, complicated by orange and a hint of milk chocolate but shadowed by flat, woody undertones. Sweet, clean short finish, but in the long the woody, flat undercurrents resurface.

In the aroma flat, rather woody, with low-toned fruit notes suggesting a sort of spicy banana. These odd but pleasant fruit notes persist in the rich though rather monotoned cup, which grows flatter and woodier as it cools. Medium body, clean, rich, rather pleasant finish.

Richly smoky aroma, with some sweet chocolate- and apricot-toned fruit and wood tones that are just aromatic enough to escape smelling like burned old board. In the cup thin-bodied but smooth in mouthfeel, with pleasantly and delicately smoky wood tones and hints of cedar and semi-sweet chocolate. The finish is simple but clean, sweet and free of astringency, with some faint recollections of chocolate.

Richly balanced aroma with hints of chocolate- and sweet-spice-toned fruit. In the cup sweet, delicate, refreshingly light-bodied with some almost giddily high-toned fruit and floral notes, but betrayed by an undercurrent of cardboardy flatness. Whatever caused the cardboardy or woody sensation seems to dominate in the thin, flat finish.

Balanced, muted aroma with orange notes and a hint of milk chocolate. In the cup sweet, rather rich, balanced. Not much nuance, a hint of bittersweet chocolate perhaps. Pleasantly rich and sweet in the short finish; maintains sweetness in the long with little astringency.

Intense, cleanly bittersweet ultra-dark roast with complex, attractive fruit notes: cherry, pear and pipe tobacco in the aroma, with the cherry-toned pipe tobacco turning toward semi-sweet chocolate in the cup. Sweet and rich in the short finish, but rather heavily astringent in the long.

A simple but very balanced, sturdy dark roast. The aroma is intense and roasty with sweet cedar notes and perhaps little flickers of chocolate and caramel. Less nuance in the cup, but roundly and richly bittersweet without a trace of burned notes and perhaps some cedar-toned fruit. Clean, complex short finish with only a hint of astringency in the long.

A complex fruitiness anchored by musty notes that read persuasively as sweet earth immediately identify this coffee as a traditional style Sumatra. The fruit reads most clearly as chocolate in the aroma, with tickles of raisin, citrus, perhaps papaya. In the cup sweet and bracingly earthy with a tart twist that suggests pineapple or grapefruit. Medium body. Rounds from short finish to long in a sweet, gently rich trajectory.

In the aroma rich and simple, with musty/medicinal notes that aspire to chocolate but don't quite get there. In the cup full-bodied but gritty in mouthfeel, with dominating fermented fruit notes that can read as raisin or dried apricot and semi-sweet chocolate. Sweet in the short finish, astringent in the long.

The structure and aromatics are dominated by the impact of an aggressively dark roast. Roasty and neutral in the aroma with subdued charred cedar tones and rather remote suggestions of fruit and nut. When hot the cup is burned and rather soapy, with perhaps some spice and cedar-toned chocolate. As it cools, however, the soapy tones recede and the chocolate intensifies, turns distinctly semi-sweet.

In the aroma intensely but cleanly roasty: pungent cedar with faint fruit undertones: papaya and apricot. In the cup the aggressive charred cedar tones continue to dominate, but the fruit becomes more explicit, rounding and sweetening toward chocolate. Sweet chocolate tones buffer the astringency in the short finish, but in the long the astringency turns rather heavy and tongue-coating.