Blind Assessment: (Whole-bean coffee flavored with natural anise and vanilla extracts on an alcohol base) Intense anise character dominates in the aroma. When I cupped this coffee blind before it was identified for me, I read the anise as a combination of licorice and caraway seed and the vanilla as chocolate. In the cup the anise continues to dominate sharply, overpowering the softer vanilla-cum-chocolate notes. The vanilla/chocolate finally prevails over the sharp anise in the pleasant long finish.

Notes: Whole-bean coffee flavored with natural anise and vanilla extracts on an alcohol base. This coffee is one of a line of coffees flavored with alcohol-based extracts sold under the brand-name Passion Caf?. Conventional whole-bean flavored coffees use propylene glycol as a medium for flavoring; the alcohol used here is more volatile but also exerts far less distorting influence on flavor. Visit www.passioncafecoffee.com for more information.

Who Should Drink It: Perhaps in a vague reference to the French practice of drinking anise-flavored spirits garnished with a single dark-roasted coffee bean, this blend gives us a whole lot of anise with only a whiff of coffee. But the entire sensory package is rather interesting despite the heavy hand with the anise.