Fair trade Reviews

Sweet, rich, with an impressive balance of dry acidy notes and sweetness. A combination of slightly fermented fruit and musty earthiness reads here as a fine intrigue of papaya, raisins and chocolate.

Dry fragrance: lemon, flowers and freshly laundered linen. In the hot aroma dark molasses and licorice on the pour, rich ripe fruit and milk chocolate in the break. While the floral, citrus and deep-red fruit notes remain intact from first sip through last (a neat trick in such a dark roast) these flavors assemble themselves differently with each taste as the cup cools. Complex and beautifully structured cup (Lindsey Bolger).

Minty and fresh tobacco notes in the dry fragrance. In the hot aroma dry fruit notes of prune and wisps of spicy sweet chocolate. In the cup the dark roasting amplifies body, but mutes many of the attributes specific to this elegant origin. For me this coffee ultimately suggested a lovely old-master painting, sparkling with jewel-toned detail that centuries of darkened varnish have dulled. Nevertheless, it displays the depth and intensity of a well-crafted and classic French roast. (Lindsey Bolger)

Big, pungent, flame-born phenols boldly emerge in the dry fragrance. In the hot aroma, lush and mouth-watering double chocolate cake. A dense and chewy coffee with an elegant, silky velvet finish - surprisingly sweet for a coffee pushed to its limits during the roast. (Lindsey Bolger)

Intense aromatics of coffee blossom (imagine jasmine, gardenia and lime), laced with milk chocolate, dried orange peel, bees' wax and lemon. While many Yirgacheffes display flourishes of mint, here oregano is the more dominant herbal note. If this coffee is big and robust in fragrance and aroma, the cup is quiet and a bit timid - a contradiction that adds to the appeal of this delicately balanced coffee. (Lindsey Bolger)

Lovely, lyric coffee. Distinct apricot and milk chocolate notes in the aroma. In the cup sweet, balanced, with a delicate acidity lifting on rich undercurrents of bittersweet chocolate and apricot-toned fruit. For such a lyric coffee the finish is surprisingly long and bracing.

Intensely sweet, round fruit swoons toward milk chocolate in the aroma. Simplifies in the cup, the aromatics dominated by an intense acidity that is properly sweet but -- perhaps owing to its sheer intensity -- lacks an impression of depth and fruit.

Deeply roasty in the aroma with grapefruit top notes and apricot and spicy chocolate undercurrents. In the cup sweet and complexly rich with chocolate and a caramelly fruit. A slight sharpness in the cup turns distinctly astringent and bitter in the finish.

A lush, complex cup that derives some of its considerable appeal from slightly fermented fruit tones: apricot in the aroma, apple and pear in the cup, all turned overripe and slightly chocolate-leaning by the ferment. Some cups were gloriously sweet and juicily fruity; others slightly bitter in the finish. Marcus Fitzsimmons nominated this coffee, adding a general plug for Caribou Coffee: "Awesome selection of various coffees including a welcoming store-side atmosphere."

In the nose sweetly pungent, with a round, full, balanced roastiness free of burned tones. The roasty tones sharpen in the cup, however, carrying into a long but rather astringent finish.

The aroma doesn't provoke much anticipation: roasty, edge of burned, midtoned, without range or nuance. Softens and complicates in the cup, displaying a pleasantly wine-toned balance of sweet acidity and a discreetly bittersweet roastiness. Simplifies again in the rather sharp finish.

The aroma is sweet, gently pungent, rich with low-toned, spicy fruit notes. The cup is medium-bodied, round, very sweet, with just enough acidity for authority. The low-toned fruit leans elegantly toward chocolate.

When hot, complexly and giddily floral and fruity - caramel in the aroma, suggestions of lilac and violet, papaya and cantaloupe in the cup. The extravagantly fruity character of the cup hints at sweet ferment, which in fact emerges as the cup cools, hardening the profile a bit and turning it slightly salty. But try it; no one drinks coffee cold anyhow except coffee reviewers.

High-toned, rather delicate, with a crisply dry but sweet acidity. Raisins and vanilla, in the aroma, tart tropical fruit tones - tamarind or passion fruit - in the cup.

Both Ken and co-taster Willem Boot remarked on the vanilla- and floral-toned aroma. Once to the cup, however, neither was impressed. For Willem "chocolate-bitter flavor and aftertaste" in the small cup and "spicy and slightly oniony in milk." Ken found the coffee rather lean-bodied and thin with roasty, sharp tones in the small cup, though rounder and fatter in milk. Willem 82, Ken 82.

High-toned, sweet, light-footed and delicate, yet rich and deeply dimensioned. Lemon and red-wine notes in the aroma, in the cup red wine, cherry and a shimmer of flowers. Long, complex finish.

This coffee provides about half the virtue of a great Sumatra: the full body and low-toned profile are here, but the vibrant dimension and complex nuance are missing. The cup is a bit monotoned and heavy rather than rich. Some bittersweet chocolate in the finish.

Lindsey Bolger: "A coffee with some interesting twists and turns. While dominated by a less desirable woody flavor, a sweet and chocolaty aroma and clean finish redeems what may be an otherwise ordinary coffee" (82). Ken: "Bittersweet, with dry chocolate and nut tones. A little too bitter and not quite sweet enough for me. The finish is astringent but rich." (83)

This very dark-roasted coffee reveals almost nothing about the potentially interesting green coffee itself except its ability to stand up to a severe degree of roast and still taste quite agreeable. The profile is roasty and charred, but pleasantly free of bitterness and haloed by sweetness.

Rich, round and balanced, with a sweetly understated acidity. Not a lot of nuance, but a hint of mustiness reads as an agreeably peppery chocolate. The finish is smooth, clean and long.