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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.
A balanced, straightforward West-Coast American espresso. In the demitasse bittersweet with a slant toward the bitter side, complicated by brisk cocoa tones. Medium-bodied but smooth. The cocoa tones turn agreeably fruity in milk, where the shot softens without losing character.
Superb aroma: rich, sweet, opulent with cocoa, flowers, and vanilla. A touch disappointing in the demitasse, however; the body is rather lean and the flavor acidy and sharp. But the sharpness rounds beautifully in milk with a lovely balance of dry cocoa tones and sweetness.
The demitasse confirms the bag copy: This is an intense blend. Intensely sweet, but even more intensely bitter; a strong gesture but a simple one. Softens and rounds a bit in milk, but maintains its bitter edge.
The smoky tones are sweet and floral in the nose, but rather sharply pungent in the demitasse, where the flowers transform to pruny dry fruit with a hint of burned tones. Excellent in milk, which softens and sweetens the sharpness.
Irrepressibly buoyant, superbly balanced. The acidity shimmers in the heart of a meadow of floral-toned sweetness. The aftertaste is clean, long, lavender. Exquisite, elegant, precious.
Powerful yet smooth and sweetly balanced. The acidity is round and ripe. High-toned fruit -- pears perhaps -- deepen toward roasty dry prune and bittersweet chocolate in the finish.
Classic, clean, complete, elegantly powerful. The acidity sings rather than stings: It is bright yet full-toned and winy. The aftertaste is richly dry without sharpness.
Medium bodied, high-toned but smooth, a quintessential American cup, from the vanilla-nut, sweetly acidy nose to the long swoon of the chocolaty finish.
A classic Central-America coffee dominated by a richly powerful acidity, a fat body, and a round, sweet, chocolaty finish.
A big, centered, complete Central-America- style coffee. Brightly acidy in the upper ranges, richly sweet in the lower, with hints of flowers and cedar in the nose and distinct chocolate in the finish. Displayed its true character as it cooled -- rather than falling apart, it opened up, revealing still more nuance.
Agreeably balances roast pungency and classic high-grown acidity. The roast rounds the acidity and turns the fruit richly dry.
A coffee that requires patience. The aroma is rather flat, the cup smoothly full but inert. A pleasant chocolate sensation surprises in the finish, however, and the aftertaste is sweet, rich and long.
The essence of brisk: a light, bright, acidy cup. Dry tones dominate the sweet undercurrents. A shimmer of flowers, a wisp of smoke, a hint of tart, winey fruit. Pleasant but thinly dimensioned.
The rather aggressive roast drives off nuance and sweetness, but the cup stays on the pleasantly pungent side of charred. A twist of acidity, some flowers and a hint of dry, pruny fruit survive the roast.
A classically sweet, chocolaty, fruity Yemen Mattari flawed by a slight touch of baggy staleness. Some on the panel were more than willing to overlook the staleness. "This [coffee] has character!" exclaimed one. "Hint of staleness, but then nice depth."
The quintessentially smooth, deep, rich Pacific coffee. Not so much complex as dense with sensation. Refined, crisply seductive cocoa tones carry elegantly from aroma to aftertaste.
A classic Guatemala in the lighter, softer mode: floral, gently acidy, high-toned but deeply dimensioned. Flowers permeate even the slight bitterness of the roast. A coffee as pure, sweet-toned and brightly complex as a Guatemalan weaving.
Acidy but balanced, softly powerful, saturated by elegantly dry cocoa tones and a touch of deep-toned, winey fruit. The cocoa tones linger exquisitely in the aftertaste.
A ripe, almost overripe, sweetness carries giddily from aroma to finish, anchored by a discreet touch of roast pungency. The lush fruit tones flirt with ferment but stay on the sweet side. A wonderfully juicy, deeply dimensioned coffee.
A hint of ferment pleasantly hovers between chocolate and cherry-toned, overripe fruit. The darkish roast turns the sweet fruit dryly rich.