Africa Reviews

Frank but brilliant in its complex fermented fruit character: cocoa, dusk flowers, butter, brandy, lemon all layer engagingly in aroma and cup. The sweet, exuberant ferment seems to turn the mouthfeel almost effervescent. Sweetness and flavor outlast a hint of astringency in the long finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Complex dried-in-the-fruit profile. “Berries and more berries” in the aroma for co-taster Sean Kohmescher (91). For Ken (91) berries plus a lot of other notes: brandy, malty dark chocolate, fresh-cut cedar. In the small cup Sean felt the aromatics turned crisper and drier: lemon, flowers, green bitters (as in asparagus); Ken read the same rounder, brandyish, cedary berries-and-chocolate notes as he had in the aroma. Both found the body medium and the mouthfeel silky. Rather crisp in two parts milk; cocoa for Ken, lemon and flowers for Sean.

Low-toned, balanced aroma: nut, ripe citrus, flowers. Tart, lemony acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Aromatics turn rounder and riper in the cup: sweet citrus, gently tart berry, nut-toned cocoa. The cocoa and lemon in particular linger in a rich, clean finish.

Complex and almost giddily sweet-toned. Flowers, crisp black currant, lemon, blackberry, roasted nut carry from aroma to cup. Sweetly tart, refined acidity; light body but very smooth, silky mouthfeel. Resonant, flavor-saturated short finish simplifies just a bit in the long.

Soft, round aroma: muted notes of lemon and flowers. In the cup balanced, gently tart acidity, lightish body, silky mouthfeel, continuing lemon and flowers. Some flavor carries into a clean, simple finish.

Pungently sweet aroma: ripe lemony citrus, backgrounded nut. Round, soft acidity, medium body, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Nut moves forward in the cup, complicated pleasingly by dry berry, lemon, flowers, fir. Sweet-toned finish, with some flavor persistence.

Lemon-zest brightness and pungent fir in the aroma. The lemony character rounds in the acidity and the cup, where it is deepened and complicated by a crisp, floral-toned cocoa. Light but smoothly silky mouthfeel; cleanly sweet and flavor-saturated finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Rich, buttery aroma: ripe lemon, cherry, a hint of fresh-cut fir. In the small cup medium body, smooth mouthfeel, crisply complex flavor: the fruit and fir notes resolve toward a dark chocolate with a hint of anise. Deep, sweet, dark-chocolaty finish. The chocolate sensation rounds and softens in two parts milk; think a lemon-toned milk chocolate.

Intense, unusual profile, dominated by a citrus and molasses character that suggests both moist pipe tobacco and sweet black tea. Roundly rich acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The distinctive flavor complex lingers in the deep, rich finish.

Flowers, stone fruit and honey in the aroma. In the cup bright acidity and flavor that balances tart citrus with sweetness, more flowers and a hint of black currant as the cup cools. Fruit and flowers sustain in the rich, softly astringent finish.

Layers of rose, peach and lemon in the aroma. Silky mouthfeel, medium body, crisp acidity. Flowers move forward in the cup with complex suggestions of rose and lavender and continued complications of ripe citrus and a sweeter stone fruit. The flavor intrigue carries seamlessly from cup to a dry-edged, flavor-saturated finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Rich, concentrated fruit flavors in aroma and small cup: sweetly tart cranberry and pie cherry, floral top notes with a deepening hint of dark chocolate. Resonant, long, fruit-toned finish. Light-bodied. Balanced in two parts milk: The fruit softens toward milk chocolate but retains a pleasingly tart edge.

Richly floral, gently pungent. The floral notes are spicy and rose-like. Complicating hints of fir, citrus, cocoa, raisin. Bright but balanced acidity, syrupy mouthfeel. Very sweet, gently flavor-saturated finish.

Delicate, sweet-toned, giddily bright. Honey and rose-like flowers dominate in aroma in cup, with hints of ripe orange and moist pipe tobacco. Fruit-saturated acidity, light but very smooth mouthfeel, richly resonant finish in which the honey and floral notes turn vaguely but pleasingly toward milk chocolate.

Grandly pure and sweetly acidy. Symphonic citrus notes range from ripe orange to tart lemon to pungent bergamot, with a softening hint of flowers and a rounding hint of cocoaish nut. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The cocoa note turns decisively chocolate in a richly dry finish.

Depth and syrupy opulence in an extravagant aromatic profile: heavy-scented dusk flowers, rich, almost carnal fruit (apricot, plum, cherry), a brightening hint of lemon, crisp cocoa intensifying toward a resonantly flavor-saturated finish.

Ripe lemon dominates, with rounding complications of apricot and nut-toned chocolate and a crisp hint of fresh-cut fir. Rich, dry acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel; deeply lemony finish.

Crisp, bittersweet: lemon, bergamot, dark chocolate, a hint of flowers. Brisk, dry acidity; silky mouthfeel. Flavors linger in the long, dry finish.

Evaluated as espresso. In the small cup exhilarating floral-toned aroma balanced by orange and caramel, light though smooth mouthfeel, and continued floral tones in the flavor with complications of tart berry, lemon and baking spice. The flowers become even more pronounced in two parts milk, deepened by notes of butter, citrus and cocoa.

Richly sweet in aroma and cup; notes of dry berry, citrus and stone fruit slowly emerge and become more prominent as the cup cools. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel and sustained fruit-toned acidity. The fruit character lingers in the lushly sweet finish.