In 2015, we began the practice of recognizing top coffees by category to focus attention on fine coffees that may not have earned a place on our Top 30 Coffees list. The coffees below may not have attracted the highest scores of the year but they merit recognition for their excellence nonetheless. For more information, visit our expanded rankings post from 2015. We tip our hat to our 2018 top
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Best Value Coffees of 2018
Some readers seek coffees with highest scores regardless of price. Others look for great value, that is highly rated coffees that are also affordable relative to other similar quality coffees. The coffees below were singled out on our 2018 list of Top Coffees by Category as the best values in 2018. As of November 29, 2018, all of these fine coffees are available for sale on the roasters'
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Coffee Review's mission is to help consumers identify and purchase superior quality coffees and, in the process, help drive demand and increase prices to reward farmers and roasters who invest time, passion, and capital in producing high quality coffee beans. Many of our readers seek out highly rated coffees for their own enjoyment or as thoughtful gifts for coffee lovers. Coffees that appear
“Big-Bean” Coffee Varieties: Novelty, Scarcity, and Atypical Sensory Pleasures
Among the hundreds of coffees we review each year at Coffee Review, a very small percentage represent what we've come to affectionately call "big-bean" varieties, coffee from tree varieties that produce beans that are dramatically larger than average. The most common of these are Pacamara, Maragogipe and Maracaturra, though there are some even more obscure varieties whose beans are also
Cuxinales Guatemala
This coffee tied for the third-highest rating in a cupping of coffees from big-bean varieties for Coffee Review’s November 2018 tasting report. Produced at Finca Cuxinales entirely of the Pacamara variety of Arabica. The Pacamara is a big-beaned hybrid of the Bourbon-related Pacas and the huge-beaned Maragogipe, a mutant of the ancient Typica variety. This is a wet-processed or “washed” version,
Twenty Five
This exceptional espresso blend was selected as the No. 6 coffee on Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2018. This blend was designed to celebrate Barrington Coffee’s 25th anniversary as an artisan roaster dedicated to elite coffees, fresh delivery and roasting that foregrounds the coffee and not the roast. Visit www.barringtoncoffee.com or call 800-528-0998 for more information.
La Union (Colombia)
Produced by La Union de Nariño from trees of the Caturra, Colombia and Castillo varieties of Arabica. This is a wet-processed or “washed” coffee, meaning the fruit skin and pulp were removed from the beans immediately after harvesting and before drying. Barrington Coffee is an artisan roaster dedicated to elite coffees, fresh delivery and roasting that foregrounds the coffee and not the roast.
Berlina Geisha
This exceptional coffee was selected as the No. 19 coffee on Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2018. This coffee is available exclusively as a part of the Barrington Coffee Curated Collection, which includes four ounces each of three distinguished coffees for $39.95. Produced at La Berlina Estate from trees of the botanical variety Geisha (also Gesha). With its bold, boat-shaped beans
Gatugi Triple
This coffee is available exclusively as a part of the Barrington Coffee Curated Collection, which includes four ounces each of three distinguished coffees for $39.95. Despite grower discontent and urban encroachment on prime coffee lands, Kenya continues to produce some of the world’s most elegant and distinctive coffees. Produced by members of the Othaya Cooperative from trees of the SL28, SL34,
Sulawesi Toarco
This coffee is available exclusively as a part of the Barrington Coffee Curated Collection, which includes four ounces each of three distinguished coffees for $39.95. Toarco (TOraja ARabica COffee) is a coffee project in the famous Sulawesi coffee growing region of Toraja developed and financed by Japan’s Key Coffee Company and its Indonesian partners. Toarco coffees are processed by variants of
Mahonda Burundi
This coffee tied for the third-highest rating in a cupping of coffees from the Great Lakes region of Africa for Coffee Review’s June 2018 tasting report. Produced entirely of the Bourbon variety of Arabica and processed at the Buraza Community/Mahonda Washing Station. Burundi is a small, landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. Benefiting from ideal growing conditions and
Dodora Double
This exceptional coffee was selected as the No. 13 coffee on Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2018. This coffee is available exclusively as a part of the Barrington Coffee Curated Collection, four ounces each of three distinguished coffees for $29.95. This selection is produced by Desta Gola, a member of the of the Adame Gorbota Cooperative in the celebrated Yirgacheffe growing
Poas Red Honey
This coffee is available exclusively as a part of the Barrington Coffee Curated Collection, four ounces each of three distinguished coffees for $29.95. This selection is produced by Francisca and Oscar Chacon at Las Lajas farm from trees of the Caturra, Catuai and Villa Sarchi varieties of Arabica and processed by the red honey method. With all honey processing methods, some sweet pulp or fruit
Lekali (Nepal)
This coffee is available exclusively as a part of the Barrington Coffee Curated Collection, four ounces each of three distinguished coffees for $29.95. This rare Nepal coffee is produced by Mingma Dorji Sherpa at Lekali Coffee Estate from trees of the Caturra and Typica varieties of Arabica. This is a wet-processed or “washed” coffee, meaning the fruit skin and pulp were removed from the beans
El Peñon Nicaragua
Produced by Markus Fisher at Finca La Bastilla entirely from trees of the respected Red Catuai variety of Arabica. Processed by the wet or “washed” method, in which skin and fruit flesh are removed from the beans or seeds before they are dried. Barrington Coffee is an artisan roaster dedicated to elite coffees, fresh delivery and roasting that foregrounds the coffee and not the roast. Visit
Ntrambo Burundi
Produced by Jean-Clement Birabereye entirely from trees of the Bourbon variety of Arabica. Processed by the wet or “washed” method, in which skin and fruit flesh are removed from the beans or seeds before they are dried. Burundi is a small, landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. Most coffee is grown in the mountains of the north, bordering Rwanda. Benefiting from ideal
Aricha Yirgacheffe Ethiopia
Produced at Kebel Aricha Mill by Surafel Birhanu, who works with more than 700 family farms. Yirgacheffe is a coffee region in southern Ethiopia that produces distinctive coffees from traditional varieties of Arabica long grown in the region. This is a “natural” or dry-processed version, meaning the beans were dried inside the fruit, encouraging a flavor profile that is less predictable and deeper
Kenya Gathugu
Produced by the Mugaga Farmers’ Cooperative Society from trees of the SL-28 and SL-34 varieties of Arabica. Despite challenges ranging from unclear government coffee policy and urban encroachment on prime coffee lands to chronically unstable weather, the famed Kenya coffee auction system and its participating cooperatives continue to produce some of the world’s most elegant and distinctive coffee.
Gisuma Rwanda
Produced entirely from trees of the heirloom Bourbon variety of Arabica by the Gisuma Cooperative, situated close to Lake Kivu and the Rusizi River. This is a wet-processed or “washed” coffee, meaning the fruit skin and pulp were removed from the beans immediately after harvesting and before drying. Rwanda’s impressive potential as fine coffee producer has come to fruition over the past decade
Cachajinas Guatemala Huehuetenango
Produced by Juan Simón Velásquez from the Caturra and Bourbon varieties of Arabica. This is a wet-processed or “washed” coffee, meaning the fruit skin and pulp were removed from the beans immediately after harvesting and before drying. Barrington Coffee is an artisan roaster dedicated to elite coffees, fresh delivery and roasting that foregrounds the coffee and not the roast. Visit
