Pacific Reviews

Most cups of this sample were very sweet in aroma and flavor, with soft earth tones (think the odor of freshly fallen, moist leaves that have just begun to compost), and pleasingly round cherry, cocoa and caramel notes. Unfortunately one cup of five was very, very foul tasting, probably owing to a bad bean called a "stinker," so we deducted 4 points from a coffee that otherwise might merit a 90.

Delicate but intense aroma: sandalwood, hints of cherryish fruit. In the cup lean in mouthfeel; the aromatic wood notes settle toward chocolate while the fruit displays a distinct and pleasant grapefruit twist. The chocolate and fruit persist only momentarily in the finish before they are lost in astringency. Reader Frank Baker nominated this coffee as "a quintessential Sumatra, absolutely the best I have ever tasted."

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule at a cup volume of 7.25 ounces): Sweet, simple, caramelly aroma. In the cup medium-bodied but lean in mouthfeel, with a thinly pungent, musty/malty character and hints of cherryish fruit. A mild musty astringency in the finish leans toward rich.

The aroma, sweetly pungent with a hint of chocolaty fruit, provided only a hint of the intensity displayed by the cup - high-toned and richly acidy, with a simple but powerful flavor complex: dry berry (aka black current), a hint of grapefruit, and rich, dry chocolate.

Powerful and complex. Extraordinary aroma: spice, a fresh, nostril-tingling cedar, low-toned tropical fruit, bananas perhaps. In the cup a tingle of sweet acidity, more cedar, and fruit that turns sweetly and richly tart - grapefruit, tamarind. Memories of this complexity persist in the finish, softening a mild astringency. Reader Amy Bowser nominated this coffee, calling it "clean but with huge depth and character."

Deeply and opulently sweet, big-bodied, with a bracing, bitter edge of spice, herb and cedar. The cup reveals undercurrents of wine-toned fruit. The short finish is rich, the long leaves us with a slight astringent saltiness.

Delicately rich and comfortably round, dominated by a winy ferment that reads as spice, mango, chocolate and cedar in the aroma, cocoa and spice in the cup. Rich finish with only the slightest tickle of astringency.

Lushly high-toned, remarkably complex aroma: flowers (tea-rose?), temperate fruit (pear perhaps), milk chocolate. Slumps toward a lower-key bittersweet character in the cup with only occasional glimpses of chocolate, but the giddy floral top notes persist. Slightly shallow finish.

In the aroma cedar, spice, papaya, and a hint of semi-sweet chocolate. Delicate in the cup, with very sweet citrus notes, pink grapefruit perhaps, and a distinct cedar character with a continuing hint of chocolate. Rather heavy finish for such a light-footed coffee.

Rich, low-key, smoky, with an agreeably mild musty ferment that reads in aroma and cup as raisins and semi-sweet chocolate. In the aroma complex, in the cup balanced but a bit simple; surprisingly clean, soft finish.

At its best in the aroma: rich, deep, smoky, cedary, with undercurrents of sweet dark chocolate. Crisply bittersweet in the cup, with rich, slightly charred cedar and hints of spice-toned cherry. Sweet and chocolaty in the short finish, though rather sharply astringent in the long.

Agreeably dominated by the roast. Deeply and gently charred cedar in aroma and cup, with hints of low-key fruit ? banana or papaya ? and chocolate. The astringency in the finish is nicely wrapped in a rich memory of fruit and chocolate.

This unusually light roasted Sumatra is very sweet and richly high-toned, and exceptional in its lush but delicate expression of the natural character of coffee fruit and flower. The fruit suggests cherry leaning toward unsweetened chocolate, but those who have visited coffee farms will recognize it as the taste of the coffee fruit itself, with shimmers of jasmine-like coffee flower. The short finish is cherryish and rich, though the long leaves us with just the slightest hint of astringency.

The aroma is rich and rather deep with apple, pipe tobacco and semi-sweet chocolate notes. In the cup lively when hot, but almost immediately contracts in sensory range, turning monotoned and heavy, though still with pleasant allusions to the dry apple and chocolate notes.

A gentle, sweet coffee whose balance and understated depth and completeness genuinely merits the word elegant. A delicate, dry chocolate flits through the profile from aroma through finish; the acidity is soft, rich, and sweet with pink grapefruit notes.

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.

In the aroma liquored and slightly fermented fruit are accompanied by dark chocolate notes, all of which mask hints of coffee oils going slightly rancid. A heavy body with gritty mouthfeel dominates the cup. Long, rather oily finish. (Lindsey Bolger)

Superb aroma: rich, deep, pungently chocolate. The chocolate turns more intensely pungent, almost pine-toned in the cup, balanced by sweet, lush undercurrents of fruit.

Deep, resonant aroma, gently pungent, complicated by ripe cherry and fresh leather. In the cup settles into a classic traditionally processed Sumatra cup: musty earth tones and tart fruit notes, tamarind and dry cherry perhaps. Reader Pat Teel nominated another Hunter Bay coffee (Kaffe Moose Drool); we received this one as a bonus.

The aroma is intense but narrow in range and lacking nuance. In the cup definitively flat, with a flavor-dampening mustiness that reads as dull mildew rather than rich earth. Brightened only by a faintly woody sweetness and the barest hint of acidity. Nominated anonymously.