Supermarket Reviews

Cloying raw nut and vaguely spicy wood dominate in both aroma and cup, with some suggestions of roasted cacao nib and raisin. Simple, bittersweet acidity; syrupy, though rather inert, mouthfeel. Flavor smooths out a bit in the finish, with a little more cacao and raisin and a little less raw nut and wood.

Crisply sweet, delicate, balanced but simple. Molasses, raisin, freshly cut fir, a hint of hazelnut in aroma and cup. Crisp, though rather muted, acidity; silky, but very light, mouthfeel. Sweet in the finish, though drying and rather woody.

Sweetly and gently pungent, quietly complex. Dark chocolate, cedar, hazelnut, plum in aroma and cup. Round, backgrounded but softly resonant acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Hints of dark chocolate, cedar and plum all linger faintly but persistently in a sweet-toned finish.

Those who value a roundly assertive Kenya with rich, complexly stated sweetness enveloping tart fruit notes. An almost shockingly low price for a Kenya this distinctive and pleasing.

A quiet, sweetly rounded coffee. Cherry and a hint of chocolate in the aroma, softly acidy and rather full-bodied in the cup, with candied walnut, cacao and pipe tobacco notes. Simple, gently rich finish.

The reader who nominated this canned supermarket coffee describes it as "not a harsh acid coffee. The taste comes through. Try it." I did, and found it a good though not great medium-roasted Colombia coffee: robustly acidy with decent complementing sweetness, full-bodied, but with little complexity or nuance. I agree that the acidity is not "harsh," but I did find it just a shade too overbearing and perhaps a touch sour.

Understated to the point of self-effacement. The aroma is subdued but sweet and enlivened with a tickle of dry, fruit-toned chocolate. In the cup round, rather deeply dimensioned, with just enough acidity to keep the cup subtle rather than banal.

Low-toned but complex. A floral sweetness is supported by a slightly roasty pungency and a touch of mustiness, the agreeable kind that gives weight and character to the cup and hints at dry chocolate.

Cloyingly sweet and sharply musty - imagine the taste of mildewed nuts left sitting in a damp basement closet for a few weeks. The musty tones hint at cocoa but don't come through.

Rather intensely acidy, with clean floral and wine-toned fruit notes that deepen toward a bright chocolate in the finish. The acidity is clean and free of astringency, but may be too aggressive for some coffee drinkers.

Dominated by sweet grainy nut tones overlaid with a sour, musty ferment. I can think of no analogy for this odd combination of sensations because human beings normally don't consume products that are both fermented and mildewed-tasting.

Delicate but authoritative, richly and sweetly acidy. The classic fruit/floral aromatics lean toward chocolate in the aroma, fruit in the cup, and carry through cleanly into the long, sweet finish.

Densely bitter; heavy rather than full. Some sweet, raisin-like fruit struggles to get out from under the bitter weight of the cup.

The aroma is thin, faintly sweet and tea-like, with mildewed nut notes. The cup is, well, thin, faintly sweet and tea-like, with mildewed nut notes.

Low-key to the point of neutrality. The interesting wood, leather and spice tones in the aroma are overwhelmed by a dominating woody character in the cup. Literally tastes as though it had just dribbled off a board into the cup.

Flat, feeble, tea-like aroma. The cup is sweet but the acidity is weak-kneed and a bit sour. A pleasant hint of fruit, but not enough to save the cup from its general dull listlessness.

The intentions of this blend announce themselves in the nose with extremely roasty, explicitly burned notes. In the cup the charred tones fade, giving way to a rather neutral woodiness with sweet undertones that suggest pungent spice.

About half of a classic American breakfast cup. The acidy brightness, gently complicated by a touch of nut-toned sweetness, is there. Nevertheless, shallow in dimension and limited in range, with a hint of musty, grainy robusta lurking not very far beneath the traditional brightness.

When hot, an impressive dark-roast cup: balanced, sweet modulating to bittersweet in the finish; dry, prune-like fruit complications with a pleasant roasty bite. As the cup cools, however, distinct (and rather unpleasant) rubber tones emerge.

The aroma is sweet, rather full in dimension, the cup pungent and roasty with a balancing hint of acidity. Limited but satisfying.