Blend Reviews

Difficult to assess in coffee terms, but an attractive and distinctive beverage. Sweet-toned, perfumy aroma: caramel, flowers, a hint of fruit. Delicate, wine-like acidity. The mouthfeel is light in weight but silky in texture. In the cup caramel dominates with floral and chocolate-fruit complications. Clean finish, though flavor fades rather quickly.

The aroma is rich with floral notes and a pungent black-currant-like fruit. Delicately and sweetly tart acidity; smooth, silky mouthfeel. The black currant note carries into the cup with an enveloping hint of dark chocolate. Slight hint of drying astringency in the finish.

Delicately sweet aroma highlighted by a complex range of fruit: ripe berry, spicy citrus, with a backgrounded nut and fir. Gently tart acidity, medium body, silky mouthfeel. In the cup flavor smoothes and rounds, with the nut and fir moving forward and the fruit softening toward chocolate. Flavor persists in the short finish but fades toward a mild astringency in the long.

Evaluated as espresso. Deep, rich, smoky dark chocolate with hints of fresh-cut fir and caramel in the aroma. In the small cup fresh-cut fir dominates, complicated by continued smoky dark chocolate, flowers and an apricot-like fruit. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel and crisp, sweet-toned, though slightly astringent finish. Impressively balanced presence in two parts milk: buttery dark chocolate, hints of flowers and apricot.

Roundly balanced, subtly complex. Hints of raisin, table grape, milk chocolate, molasses in the aroma. Ripe citrus notes develop in the cup, complicated by continued molasses and grape-like fruit. Rich acidity; full, syrupy mouthfeel. Simple, sweet finish.

oft notes of nut and baking spice with a suggestion of dusk flowers in the aroma, deepening and complicating in the cup. Quiet but rich acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. In the finish flavor fades rather quickly toward a mild astringency.

Rich aroma with layered nuances of sweet cherry, stone fruit, nut and chocolate. In the cup, gentle but sustained acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel and softer fruit flavors, tending toward tarter cherry and sweet citrus. Chocolate remerges in the finish along with a note of aromatic wood.

Notes of pipe tobacco, cherry and pungent aromatic wood in the aroma. Simplifies slightly in the cup, with continued aromatic wood and hints of baker's chocolate and nut. Pungent, roast-toned, softly astringent finish.

A big winner in four parts milk. Co-taster Andy Newbom (90) had it at 9 in milk while Ken (93) went to the limit at 10. Both keyed on a big, round, peachy fruit complexity and fine balance of milk and coffee. As straight espresso dominated by fruit as well: ripe, apricot-toned, a little wine-like, with a tart "sparkle" (Andy) of citrus. But the whole sensory package bloomed in milk with particular power and completeness.

Evaluated as espresso. Crisp cocoa and pungent fruit dominate in the small cup with impressive vanilla and floral top notes nuancing the aroma. Medium body, smoothly syrupy mouthfeel. Co-taster Andy Newbom (91) particularly admired a "complete and elegant" structure that balances sweet with a pungent hint of savory. The savory drops away in milk where both Ken (91) and Andy found impressive chocolaty sweetness ("Cocoa pops!" Andy exclaimed) deepened by a rich, fig-like fruit.

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce 10- and 12-ounce servings): Caramel, toast and a suggestion of orange in the aroma. Simplifies somewhat in the cup, with intensified caramel and fleeting hints of orange, chocolate and cedar, all more noticeable in the 10-ounce serving size. Sweet finish.

Sweet-toned aroma and flavor: caramel, dark chocolate, aromatic wood and a hint of fruit. Soft but distinct acidity and a round, silky mouthfeel. A richly sweet short finish gives way to a slightly papery astringency in the long.

Sweet and delicate in aroma and cup. Fruit-toned cocoa, flowers, nut in both aroma and cup. Gently balanced acidity, light but silky mouthfeel, very sweet finish with a continued clear cocoa note.

Light-roasted blend with striking aromatics. Intense aroma: fresh-cut wood, perfume-like flowers, molasses, ripe lemon, pine nut, all saturate the intense aroma and carry into a delicately bright cup. Silky to lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The flavors soften and consolidate in a sweet-toned, rich finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig Platinum single-serve home brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce an 8-ounce serving size): Sweet-toned aroma with suggestions of caramel, smoky scorched wood and toast. In the cup, medium-bodied and lightly syrupy in mouthfeel, with a continued bittersweet, gently scorched wood character complicated by muted caramel and chocolate notes, all of which carry into a rich, briskly astringent finish.

(As brewed in a Keurig Platinum single-serve home brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce an 8-ounce serving size): Sweet but subdued aroma, with toasty and vaguely fruity notes. Soft and delicate flavor, showing hints of caramel and perhaps, honeydew melon-like fruitiness. The simple caramel sweetness lingers into the finish.

Sweet-toned, fresh aroma, with hints of orangy fruit, dry berry, dark chocolate. In the cup very soft acidity, plush mouthfeel, and an almost sugary sweetness with continued hints of dry berry. The sweetness carries into the finish, where a suggestion of the chocolate revives.

Pungent aromatic notes of roasty cinnamon and a muted fruitiness. In the cup, full body, smooth acidity and continued pronounced pungency with the fruit note becoming more distinct and cherry-like. The dry finish leans toward the bitter side of bittersweet chocolate.

Crisp, sweetly pungent aroma: tart berry, lemon, nut, aromatic wood. In the cup delicately rich acidity, silky mouthfeel. Continued tart yet lushly sweet berry notes with a hint of earth complicate the aromatic wood notes. Long, flavor-saturated finish.

Sweet, round-toned aroma with distinct cherryish fruit and aromatic wood notes. Intense and complex in the cup; the cherry tones deepen and sweeten to dessert-wine complexity with complicating suggestions of dark chocolate, herb and flowers. The chocolate carries into a long, dry finish with continued hints of wood and Mediterranean herbs.