Cup of Excellence Reviews

Complex; floral and chocolaty. The floral notes are particularly intricate, both sweet yet incense-like; the chocolate is sweet with crisp hazelnut-like complication. Round, quiet acidity; full, syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor consolidates but retains character in a cleanly rich finish.

Crisply sweet, complete. Roasted cacao nib, orangy citrus, almond butter, honeysuckle, apricot in aroma and cup. Sweetly tart, juicy acidity; lightly but distinctly syrupy mouthfeel. Cacao and flowers in particular persist in a sweet finish.

Resonant and complex from aroma through finish: roasted cacao nib, vanilla, apricot, hazelnut. Crisply bittersweet acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The long, deep, flavor-saturated finish is particularly impressive.

Balanced structure, complex and rather unusual aromatics. Orangy citrus, butter, roasted nut, lush flowers, a hint of sweet chocolate in aroma and cup. Crisp, juicy acidity; lightly syrupy, lively mouthfeel. The finish is gently rich, buttery, sweet-toned.

Honey and sweet night flowers balanced by a gently lemony tartness and pungent, fresh-cut cedar. Pronounced but roundly balanced acidity; syrupy mouthfeel. Rich, resonant short finish simplifies very slightly in the long.

Pungent, sweetly tart: Cranberry, honey and nectarine-like stonefruit in an intense aroma rounded by a cocoaish dark chocolate in the cup. Rich, fruit-toned acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Fruit and cocoa in particular carry into a slightly dry finish.

Nut and molasses-like sweetness in the understated aroma. “Heavy and smooth” (co-cupper Wendy De Jong 89) to “lightly syrupy” (Ken 90) mouthfeel. Balanced acidity. Both Wendy and Ken found low-acid fruit leaning toward dark chocolate in cup and finish, though their associations varied, from Ken’s simple “cherryish fruit” to Wendy’s evocative “apricot … mulled wine and apples.” Both agreed that this coffee stayed on the rich side of astringency in the sweet, chocolate-toned finish.

A bright-toned cup with an intense aroma. Flavors combine sweet and tart citrus, round toasty notes and hints of baking spice. Clean, crisp and softly astringent in the finish, with sweet citrus reemerging and lingering in the long.

Elegant floral aroma, with fruity hints of mixed berries and stone fruit, bright acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel and medium body. The floral tones carry into the cup with tart notes of Meyer lemon and strawberry rounding and sweetening to cherryish chocolate and nut. A mild sweet cocoa note lingers in the long finish softening a touch of astringency.

Soft aroma of flowers and flowering grass, lime-like citrus and a hint of milky chocolate. Notes of toast, sweet citrus and dry white wine in the cup, with floral hints reemerging as it cools. Balanced acidity, medium body, with a hint of astringency in the mildly fruit-toned chocolate finish.

Improves as it moves along. The aroma is delicate, almost too delicate, with only slight hints of chocolate and flowers. Picks up energy in the cup: soft but vibrant acidity, silky mouthfeel. The dark chocolate and night flowers retain their delicacy but turn distinct and rich, carrying into a long, sweet-toned finish.

Round, sweet-toned aroma: flowers, molasses, spice. In the cup intense but sweetly balanced acidity, silky mouthfeel, lemon, floral and caramel notes. Sweet, rich, citrus-rind- and nut-toned finish.

Sweet ripe citrus aroma with hints of flowers and mulling spices. Lively, assertive acidity, medium body, and a soft, round mouthfeel. Complex flavors range from flowers to sweet lemon to butter and toast. Clean, floral-toned finish, with a suggestion of milk chocolate in the long.

Delicately lush, very sweet-toned aroma: flowering grass, honey, molasses. In the cup sweet but intense acidity, light body, silky mouthfeel, flowers, pipe-tobacco, lemon notes. Sweet, rich, nut-toned finish.

Gentle, balanced and round. Light tangy notes in the aroma with hints of toast and geranium. In the cup soft chocolate and nut flavors are balanced by suggestions of citrus. Fairly clean in the finish with light nutty tones lingering in the long.

A light-roasted coffee rather too bright and lean-bodied to fulfill conventional expectations for espresso, though shimmeringly floral and citrusy throughout the profile. "Very clean and floral in the aroma" for co-taster Heather Perry (87). In the small cup refreshingly if rather sharply citrus, with "delicate butter and floral notes" (Ken, 87) that carry into an impressive, sweetly dry finish. The delicate floral and citrus profile fades in milk, however, retaining a tart sweetness but quite lean in mouthfeel.

Intense, crisp yet sweet-toned aroma with honey, cedar and rose notes. In the cup soft acidity, medium body, and a lyric, delicate complexity: honey, sweet cherry, molasses, cedar, hints of milk chocolate and flowering grass. Clean, elegant, though rather short finish.

A quiet, very soft coffee with delicate but lush aromatics. In the nose distinct flowers, lemon, butter. The cup displays a gently bright acidity, silky, buttery mouthfeel, and a finely balanced bouquet of coffee fruit, cocoa and lemon. The cocoa softens toward chocolate in the long finish.

Delicate, gently bright coffee with distinct, cedar-toned dry berry notes (the kind often called black currant) carrying from aroma to cup, support by cocoa, orange (perhaps better, tangerine) and floral nuance. The body is rather light, but the mouthfeel is gently lively, almost effervescent. Clean, rich finish with impressive flavor persistence, particularly of the orange/cocoa notes.

Sweet-toned and alive with a dense, shifting complexity. Cedar, orange, distinct butterscotch, tomato, perhaps chocolate in the aroma. In the cup low-toned acidity and lightly syrupy in mouthfeel, with an almost sugary sweetness and tight-knit notes of butterscotch, caramel, honey, ripe but slightly tart orange. Rich and sweet in the short finish, though a slight hint of astringency surfaces in the long.