Central America Reviews

Intense aroma with a tightly knit complexity: muted spice, apple, pear, chocolate. In the cup sweet, delicate and balanced, with subtle but distinct chocolate notes and a quietly vibrant acidity. The chocolate turns toward cocoa in the mildly astringent finish.

A rich and vividly fermented fruit dominates. The cherry-toned ferment is overlaid by a cedary roastiness in the aroma. In the cup the ferment deepens toward a dark chocolate and brandied cherry, but also displays a distracting pine or rosemary pungency. Smoothes out toward a cleanly rich chocolate in the short finish, though slightly astringent in the long.

Deep, complex aroma: slightly smoky cedar, chocolate and vanilla with floral top notes. Settles out to a rich semi-sweet chocolate in the cup with shimmery hints of flowers and vanilla. Rounds and sweetens as it cools without losing complexity. Very rich in the short finish, slightly astringent in the long.

Exquisitely delicate aroma suggests a fine Oolong tea, with extravagant floral notes but a distinct (and coffeeish) hint of chocolate. The chocolate strengthens in the cup, with a tartly sweet, lemon-toned acidity. The lemon-chocolate notes outlast a gentle astringency in the long, pleasing finish.

A crisp, malty fruit runs through the profile, suggesting a low key bouquet of possibilities: peach, cedar, chocolate, black currant, cherry. The finish is particularly impressive, rich, sweet, long, and nuanced with persistent berry and cherry tones.

A quiet, very sweet, delicately chocolate-toned coffee. Caramel and chocolate tones dominate in aroma and cup, gently complicated by floral top notes. Slightly astringent in the long finish.

Smoky, cedar- and cherry-toned fruit in the aroma. In the cup round, rich, bittersweet, with a tart, cherryish chocolate - think pie cherries rolled in unsweetened chocolate - and a sweet, floral-toned acidity. The finish strikes me as slightly too astringent.

Exceptional aroma: floral notes complicated by vanilla for co-cupper Rodger Owen and lemon and pineapple for Ken. In the cup brightly but sweetly acidy and delicately smooth in mouthfeel with a subtly balanced flavor that disappointed Rodger but excited Ken with its jasmine-like floral notes and (for Ken at least) a rich, chocolaty lemon.

Muted aroma with notes that Ken called "quietly pungent" and co-cupper Rodger "smoky." Ken also found pleasantly floral top notes as well. In the cup substantial body and smooth mouthfeel; the pungent notes in the aroma reappear as nut (Rodger) or semi-sweet chocolate (Ken). Simple, sweet short finish, very slight astringency in the long.

Complexly fruity and richly floral coffee - papaya, lemon, coffee fruit, hints of dusk-blooming flowers and chocolate, all ride a strong, balanced structure: good body, smooth mouthfeel, supple, sweet acidity.

Finely balanced cup: delicately roasty, very sweet, with a shimmer of dry acidity. Under the impact of the roast the crisp aromatics lean toward leather and an herb-toned chocolate.

Impressive aroma: balanced, sweetly acidy yet gently roasty, with suggestions of chocolate and low-toned fruit - papaya or apricot. In the cup neither roasty nor acidy, however; simply bitter. Softens toward the finish but never completely recovers its opening balance and complexity.

A challengingly acidy coffee, by sweetly so. A sensitive roast rounds the acidity and deepens the fruit, turning it toward sweet cocoa and ripe cherry. Glints of jasmine. The cocoa-toned fruit persists agreeably through the finish.

A powerfully acidy coffee, sharply rich and winy. Beneath the acidy assertion patient drinking reveals subdued but seductive floral undertones. The aromatics are splendid but the mouthfeel is a bit too astringent for my taste.

The cup is dominated by a simple, rich acidity. The acidy sensation is rather sharp and overbearing when the cup is hot, though it rounds and sweetens as the cup cools, revealing wine-toned fruit and a resonance that could only be guessed at when the cup was hot.

Giddily sweet, rich, balanced. Gentle wine-toned fruit (call it chardonnay) and low-key floral notes run through aroma and cup, rounding toward milk chocolate n the finish. A superb expression of the El Salvador type.

Dry and forceful. The acidity is intense but sweet. The fruit is crisply austere: black currant, sauvignon blanc wine grapes. A challenging coffee that commands rather than seduces.

The aroma is remarkable: rich, sweet, caramelly, complete. In the cup substantial, brightly rich, with tickles of citrus and cocoa. The chocolate-toned finish sits rather heavily on the palate.

Clear, sweet ferment tones are turned cherryish chocolate by the darkish roast. Clean, bittersweet chocolate finish. The winy ferment tones, giddy and buoyant when the cup is hot, flatten just a bit as the cup cools.

Rich, sweet, with a gentle lift from the acidity, complicated by pronounced chocolate fruit tones (think chocolate-covered cherries). The body reads as bigger than it is owing to the general richness of the cup. Not much range or complexity, but a fundamentally pleasing cup.