Estates Reviews

Sweet-toned, quiet aroma with nut, dried cherry and chocolate. Elegantly balanced cup: softly acidy, silky in mouthfeel, with continued dried cherry, cocoaish chocolate and a slight brightening hint of lemon. The chocolate notes in particular carry into the long, rich, complex finish.

Sweet-toned, crisply rich aroma with chocolate, cedar, flowers, ripe tomato notes. In the cup powerfully but sweetly acidy, with continued flowers, cocoaish chocolate, tart cherry notes and a pungent hint of cedar. Rich, sweet, chocolate-toned finish; very slight astringency in the long.

Lightly and sweetly acidy with delicately crisp floral, walnut and orange notes running from aroma through cup to the particularly impressive finish, where the sweetness peaks and the flavor notes consolidate and survive a slight tightness.

Delicately but richly nuanced throughout the profile with cherryish fruit, flowers, honey, milk chocolate. In the cup the acidity is tart but luxuriously sweet and the mouthfeel lightly syrupy. Flavor saturated and flawless finish.

The aroma has great depth and range of sensation: flowers, butter, cherry, hints of chocolate and cedar. In the cup rich acidity, supple mouthfeel. The aromatics simplify slightly in the mouth but retain great depth and power: tartly pungent though ripe cherry, distinct honey, a continuing hint of chocolate. Clean, sweet finish.

Rather simple aromatically, but sweet-toned, balanced and rich. In the aroma butter, cedar and a hint of white wine. In the cup gentle, deep acidity, round mouthfeel, continued cedar and white wine notes with a hint of flowers.

Deep, lush aroma: cherry, semi-sweet chocolate, flowers. In the cup smooth acidity, supple mouthfeel, sweet- and low-toned fruit and floral character suggesting semi-sweet chocolate, molasses, pipe tobacco. Simplifies a bit in the finish, particularly as the cup cools.

A soft, balanced, gently lively coffee. In the aroma orange, flowers and a cedary chocolate. In the cup medium body with silky mouthfeel and quiet but distinct floral and orange notes, perhaps with some molasses-toned hints suggesting moist pipe tobacco. Sweet, clean, floral-toned finish.

Crisp, rather limited aroma: caramel and milk chocolate. In the cup sweet, delicate, rather shallow and lean, with a pleasant dry nutty chocolate character. Unexpectedly, the finish stretches out splendidly, rich and chocolate-toned.

In the aroma delicately complex: berries, flowers, sweet lemon, honey. In the cup opulent: syrupy mouthfeel, sweet acidity, crisply powerful berry notes, continued hints of honey and flowers. Only a rich but simple finish prevents this coffee from rating in the high 90s.

Very sweet throughout the profile. Nut and semi-sweet chocolate notes in the aroma. In the cup tart coffee fruit notes make a distinct and delicate lean toward chocolate. The tart cherry tones persist in the sweet short finish, fading toward astringency in the long.

A classic cup: pure, simple, intense, refined. Sweet-toned but crisp aroma: tomato, cedar, cardamom, chocolate. Richly and sweetly acidy in the cup with the classic complex of flowers and fresh coffee fruit with rounding hints of chocolate.

Cocoa laced with citrus in the aroma. Flavors are as complex and sculpted as a top Alsatian Riesling, with intense lemon and orange acidity, chocolate, and a suggestion of fresh chive or tarragon always associated with this variety. A powerful, aristocratic grand cru. This fragile, low-density variety is a major challenge to roast (and cannot handle dark roasting); this is a particularly masterful roasting job.

Cocoa and caramel aroma. Blazing acidity, dark chocolate and caramel, regal balance. A nicely conducted, relatively light roast makes this balanced but assertive coffee particularly well-suited for vacuum pot and drip brewing.

Cherry notes dominate in the very sweet-toned, pungently acidy aroma. Relatively light-bodied in the cup, but sweetly and buoyantly acidy, with striking and complex aromatic notes: cherry, tea rose, Meyer Lemon, orange, honey. Honey in particular persists in the rich, sweet, though slightly astringent finish.

A whisper of an aroma, but a complex one: flowering grass, caramel, honey, a hint of chocolate. Amazingly sweet and delicately lush in the cup, with the honey notes intensifying and the floral notes declaring as spicy tea rose. The honey and floral notes persist in the surprisingly long, resonant finish.

High-toned, delicate aroma, with sweet flowering grass and cherryish coffee fruit notes, hints of flowers, milk chocolate, apple-toned pipe tobacco. In the cup rich but still delicate with flower and apple notes and a wine-like, or perhaps apple cider-like, character, crisp yet lush. Clean, sweetly tart finish.

Flowers dominate in the lush, buttery, apple- and cherry-toned aroma. Gently and sweetly acidy in the cup, light-bodied, delicately rich, with more giddy floral notes, a sweet, orangy citrus, and an underlying roundly chocolaty fruit. Richly delicate finish.

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.

Intense, very deep aroma, with buttery or perhaps toffee-like notes and hints of flowers and wine. In the cup very sweet and very acidy, though never sharp. Continued hints of flowers and white wine. Rich, complex, slightly astringent in the finish.