Estate Reviews

Deep and balanced, smooth in mouthfeel, low in acidity, rich with sweet wine- and chocolate-cherry-toned fruit and a resiny hint of cedar. Nominating reader John Outler applies the technical tasting term "Yummy!" to this coffee before continuing "Perfect intersection between dark and light [roast]. Not too bitter."

Delicately rich, with a shimmer of flowers in the aroma, pear deepening toward cherry and chocolate in the cup. Sweet, softly complex finish. The sample I cupped probably was delivered slightly stale from the restaurant; a fresh sample of the same coffee might well merit a higher rating.

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.

The aroma is high-toned but pungent, laced with caramel, cantaloupe and leather. In the cup a sweet, wine-toned fruit leads, with richly malty, bracingly bitter tones opening up behind. The bitterness dissolves in the long, clean, chocolate-toned finish.

Low-key, pungent aroma laced with cocoa and caramel. Sweet in the cup with enveloping bottom notes of overripe fruit and sweet humus. Surprising floral notes in the finish.

Crisp, wine- and cherry-toned fruit dominate in both aroma and cup. A delicate mustiness reads as leather and sweet pipe tobacco. The rather heavy finish lightens and sweetens as the cup cools.

A tribute to classic balance: pure but substantial, quietly intense without extremes. Gently acidy, deeply rich, discreetly complicated by tightly laced notes of leather, chocolate and fruit.

Mid-toned and complex in the nose with fresh apricot and sweet cocoa. Simplifies slightly in the cup, turning roundly tart in a rich Meyer lemon direction. The immediate finish is slightly sharp, but the long finish smoothes out in a silky lemony, chocolaty trajectory.

The aroma is high-toned and softly intense, with peach and cantaloupe notes that carry gracefully into the cup. A gentle acidity and a glint of citrus give the soft fruit authority.

Variants on citrus shimmer through this buoyant, sweetly acidy cup: lemon and cocoa in the aroma, lemon and pink grapefruit in the cup. The finish is sweetly tart.

The roast dominates this delicate coffee, but pleasantly so, turning the aroma caramelly with low-toned raisin and delicate vanilla notes. In the cup a finely balanced synthesis of acidity and roast taste, sharp but sweet, with the caramel and vanilla tones persisting through the long finish.

A balanced, smoothly full-bodied cup with a sweet acidity and a subdued roastiness that turns the fruit toward cantaloupe and black cherry.

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.

Both Ken and co-taster Willem Boot remarked on a medium but smooth, buttery body. Aromatics and flavor were "floral and slightly malty/musty, toasty and crisp" (Ken), "light chocolate & elegant, spicy-smoky" (Willem). "Pleasant[ly] caramel" in milk for Willem, "balanced, sweet yet crisp" for Ken. Willem 90, Ken 88.

Both Ken and co-taster Willem Boot found the aroma impressive: "elegant, sweet nut" for Willem, "elegant, sweet and fruity" for Ken. Once to the cup, however, neither found much to praise. Willem found the flavor "pungent but sweet and sour," Ken "bittersweet but sharp and shallow." Willem faintly praised this coffee's presence in milk as "mellow," whereas Ken found it "thin, a bit sharp." Willem 79, Ken 82.

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.

Aroma is superbly rich, sweet and deep with chocolate notes. In the cup the powerful but low-key acidity is enveloped in richness. Ultimately more about solid balance and satisfying structure than nuance, though an apricot-toned chocolate makes itself felt toward the finish.

The moderately dark roast takes on equal billing with the green coffee here. It preserves the essential sweetness of the coffee, but pushes the acidity toward a rich, pungent citrus, a sort of roasty grapefruit, if that can be imagined. The finish is mildly but bracingly astringent.

Displays a fundamentally pleasing balance of bitter tones, sweetness, and low-toned, roast-nuanced fruit, but ultimately seems restrained and faded. Probably last year's crop; the new crop may bring more liveliness and nuance to the cup.

A Kenya in the more delicate mode: dry yet sweet, crisply fruity with grapefruit, apricot and black currant notes. Turns from crisp to slightly astringent in the finish.