Blind Assessment:

Richly sweet/tart, crisply complex. Dark chocolate, roasted cashew, pink grapefruit, sandalwood, Chinese five-spice in aroma and cup. Structure is drying but sweetly juicy; buoyant and plump in mouthfeel. Nut-toned chocolate with a hint of sandalwood and spice saturate a sweet, richly dry finish.

Notes:

This exceptional coffee was selected as the No. 7 coffee on Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2017. Produced by Heakyung Kang Burneskis of Finca Don Julian in full rustic shade and processed by the traditional wet or “washed” method, in which skin and fruit flesh are removed from the beans or seeds before they are dried. This lot is comprised entirely of the much admired, bold-bean Pacamara variety of Arabica, a cross between the giant-beaned Maragogipe variety and Pacas, a selection of the heirloom Bourbon. Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea is a pioneer specialty coffee roaster established in the early 1980s that has gracefully and successfully moved with the times and now offers a menu of extremely refined small-lot, single-origin coffees. Visit www.willoughbyscoffee.com or call 800-388-8400 for more information.

The Bottom Line: Superb Pacamara profile, crisply dry and spicy yet deeply, lavishly juicy sweet.