Green Reviews

A hint of flowers and perhaps chocolate in the finish were the only complications in this straightforward but sweetly ingratiating cup. The chocolate tones may have revealed a slight twist of sweet ferment as the cup cooled.

I found this coffee floral and brightly buoyant when hot, and deeply dimensioned as it cooled. A hint of monotoned bitterness also emerged, however, which I tolerated, but which put off other jury members.

Elegant rather than authoritative, with a clear, bell-like, but not overpowering acidity, delicate, flower-toned aromatics, and a smooth, sweet finish.

A sweet, voluptuous, full-bodied coffee, though almost aggressively neutral. Consensus found the acidity soft, the aroma caramelly, the body creamy or buttery. I found no nuance and little dimension, but some on the panel detected a hint of India: “spicy, A traditionally wet-processed or “washed” coffee grown under shade at elevations of over 4,000 feet. […]

A coffee flawed by a veritable anthology of processing taints: harsh, musty, dirty, with an unpleasant old vegetable taste that one panelist described as "dirty carrots." Somebody was not minding the mill when this coffee came in from the fields. A traditionally wet-processed or "washed" coffee grown under shade at elevations of 3,000 to 3,500 feet. From the contemporary hybrid variety S4345.

Most of the panel found this coffee defective; "medicinal, nose-wrinkling," said one. Others acknowledged the defect but found some virtue in the cup, reading the mustiness as cedar or cardamom.

The panel was divided on this coffee. Some admired its sweetness and rich, deeply dimensioned balance; others were put off by a slight off-taste read variously as soapy, bitter, or sour. A small and subtle flaw, but it apparently dragged down the rating of an otherwise quietly complex and sweetly resonant coffee.

This pleasant but monotoned coffee prompted little comment from the panel. Most detected a mild grassy or astringent note. I found the aroma sweet but grassy, the cup agreeable and balanced but unremarkable.

Is the fruit character of this coffee ripely spicy or disturbingly overripe? Panelists apparently admired the complex lushness of this organically grown coffee, but were put off by a whiff of slightly bitterish ferment A traditionally wet-processed or “washed” coffee grown under shade and certified organically grown. Nuggets Extra Bold is a meticulously sorted super […]

I found this coffee pleasantly sweet but flat to a fault. Other panelists complained of a subdued but clear defect, mustiness perhaps. One complainant found this shadow defect ambiguously interesting: "harmonic earthy & aromatic woods?" he asked himself.

When hot, this cup impressed many of the panel with its light-footed, teasing nuance of lemon, flowers and cocoa. Complex in the nose, but as the cup cooled it flattened disappointingly.

This coffee attracted a split vote; some found it impressive: low key but smooth, cleanly floral and citrusy, discreetly acidy, with a fresh, fruit-toned finish. Others found it complex and interesting, but marred by sour, medicinal tones. Impossible to tell late in the game whether the coffee was inconsistent or we were.

A light, bright, fragrantly smooth cup. When hot alive with shimmers of citrus, spice, and nut tones. As the cup cools, however, a disturbing vegetative undertone surfaces: "grassy," "dried peas," "sour," panelists complained. A potentially superb coffee, an India version of the great, brightly nuanced coffees like Guatemala Antigua and Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, but flawed by either processing/storage errors or too much unripe fruit.

A light, bright, fragrantly smooth cup. When hot alive with shimmers of citrus, spice, and nut tones. As the cup cools, however, a disturbing vegetative undertone surfaces: "grassy," "dried peas," "sour," panelists complained. A potentially superb coffee, an India version of the great, brightly nuanced coffees like Guatemala Antigua and Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, but flawed by either processing/storage errors or too much unripe fruit.

An impressive coffee, and distinctive in the India mode: sweet, svelte, smooth, balanced, with some intrigue that read as chocolate, nut, or spice (I tasted cardamom). "Big coffee, sweet," one panelist concluded.

A hint of Indian spice and perhaps some flowers in the nose, but rather unremarkable in the cup: simple, straightforward, pleasingly sweet when hot, bland and inert when cold. Perhaps the spice and flowers account for the high rating of this coffee relative to the others in the India cupping.

A fine coffee in the India mode; almost all panelists had something positive to say about it. Sweet, deeply resonant, softly acidy, long in the finish, gently nuanced with tones variously read as spice, nut, and citrus. Sustained its virtues beautifully when cold. Given the enthusiastic written assessments, I have no idea why this coffee was not more highly rated.

"Very pleasant, sweet, solid cup -- milk chocolate," reported one panelist. Another pursued the same theme with more enthusiasm: "sweet; soft, creamy, beautiful to behold, subtle yet complete, ... understated." Apparently too understated for the majority of the panelists, who felt the virtues of this coffee stopped with the impressive sweetness.

Soft, sweetly brisk, balanced, but edging on bland. "No flaws, but not many grace notes. Good, inoffensive cup," wrote one panelist. "Nice combo of sweet & floral ... just missing intensity," offered another.

An intensely contradictory coffee. On one hand: full, smooth body, expressively and deeply sweet, long, vibrant finish. On the downside: grassy undertones and an odd edginess to the fruit that grew more obvious as the cup cooled. Some panelists went exclusively with the upside, others only with the down, while a few celebrated the paradox, sometimes in rather unconventional language: "bold, rough, strong -- Neanderthal ancestors," wrote one. One thing is certain: This coffee is considerably more interesting than its rating suggests.