Blend Reviews

Once again, a rather flat astringency, a sort of strident monotone, dominates the center of the profile, abetted in this case by a touch of carbony sharpness. Some fruit and sweetness, though the grace notes tend toward the tobacco and herb.

A rather rough ride. The first impression is complex, but not entirely pleasantly so: a hard, ropey sensation sits on the profile. Behind and around the hard center a bracing, fruity richness opens, but we never get completely out from under the hardness, which, among other things, seems to depress the sweetness in the fruit.

Everything happens in the higher registers here, and a lot does. A wonderful, dry/sweet complex, almost effervescent, lifts the heart of this light, bright coffee. An amazing range of grace notes shimmer in the higher registers: dry chocolate, herb, even a suggestion of vanilla in the finish. I had to strain to find a hint of Red Sea gaminess amid all the aromatic action; it may have shown up in the long, subtly complex aftertaste. Hard to believe so much complexity made it through the decaffeination process. Perhaps a good Yemen coffee is so intense that the muting effect of decaffeination actually helps by mellowing it a bit.

This remarkably light, self-effacing blend displays no acidity and no bitterness. Only the slightest carbon astringency surfaces in the aftertaste. Unfortunately, this tribute to subtlety doesn't display much power or complexity either -- only an evanescent caramel-chocolate sweetness, which loses its way almost completely in milk.

The aromatics of the vanilla-chocolate complex fade fast under the impact of the carbon, although the clean-sweat pungency will please lovers of extremely dark roasts. The blanketing astringency of the carbon reaches a climax in the aftertaste, but even there sweetness balances and pungency complicates.

I found this blend low-toned and pungently fruity, although the fruitiness was dry rather than sweet. For me the pungency turned pleasantly round, sweet, and chocolaty when combined with milk. My tasting colleague didn't respond to the pungency in any context. She found this blend too sharp in a demitasse and too thin in milk.

Simple but centered, a classically solid Espresso. Once past the low-key, caramel/toast/chocolate nose I didn't register much in the way of grace notes, but neither was I oppressed by carbon. My taster colleague picked up muted wine-fruit tones. In milk, sweet and substantial.

Herbal tones in the aroma turn spicy and fruity in the cup. The fruit nuances in the acidity lift the top of the profile and keep it light and shimmering all the way through to finish and aftertaste. Enough bottom for resonance.

This coffee arrived pre-ground (not available whole bean), perhaps accounting for its flatness in nose and cup, although some herbal or prune notes survive in the thin, carbon-toned acidity.

This classic medium-dark coffee gives us solid, mouth-filling dark-roast pungency, though the carbon notes seem to co-opt its sweetness. Some acidity survives the roast, and fills out the top of the profile nicely.

This coffee is so complex at the top that it positively levitates, alive with sweet, light vanilla tones. In the finish whatever is left of the body vanishes, the vanilla tones fade, but the sweetness lingers.

This coffee gets better as it goes, probably owing to its heavy body. The dark tones of the aroma modulate with increasing power through the cup to a complex finish.

An exquisitely balanced traditional American-style coffee. The acidity is dry without astringency, alive with slight fruit or wine notes. Enveloped in the matrix of the body, it is always present but never dominant.