Blind Assessment: Rich, gently pungent aroma with butter, floral and apricot-toned fruit hints. In the small cup medium body, syrupy mouthfeel, and rather sharply but sweetly cedary with continued apricot and flowers and an explicit moist, leafy earth note. At its best in milk: rich, strong-presenced but sweet with dark chocolate and sustained suggestions of moist earth and flowers.

Notes: Lintong is the traditional market name for an admired coffee type grown near Lake Toba in north-central Sumatra. These coffees are distinguished by low acidity and idiosyncratic flavor notes that appear to result from serendipitous taints ? especially a mild earthiness or mustiness ? acquired during unconventional drying procedures. This character is apparent but very muted and agreeable in this Lintong, brought to a ?South Italian Espresso Roast? or medium-dark roast, and reviewed here as an espresso, evaluated as a 1-ounce shot at an approximately 30-second extraction with a brew temperature of 197?F. Terroir is a microroaster selling only elite single-origin coffees, no blends. It specializes in medium roast styles designed to foreground the character of the green coffee. Terroir is the creation of George Howell, one of the world?s leading coffee visionaries. Visit www.terroircoffee.com or call 866-444-5282 for more information.

Who Should Drink It: An espresso that subtly but powerfully expresses the pungently complex, earth-and-chocolate character of its Sumatra origin.