Top-rated Reviews

For both Ken (90) and co-cupper Christy Thorns (91), extraordinary aroma: For Christy "freshly grown ginger, orange peel, apricot, mint and lemon." Ken stressed the "caramelly fruit that transforms completely into chocolate." In the cup, smooth, creamy mouthfeel and, for Ken, a character "sweetly and deeply tart - dark chocolate and lemon."

Ken (91) admired this coffee a bit more than co-cupper Christy Thorns (88), who praised its "gentle grapefruit-like acidity and a nicely rounded, sweet and berry finish" but didn't carry on about it much. For his part, Ken particularly admired this coffee's citrus-toned acidity, which he found sweet, rounded, and "profoundly rich and cleanly and elegantly wine-like."

Balanced and classic. The acidity is sweet and well integrated, the mouthfeel round and cleanly smooth, the flavor rich and straightforward with coffee fruit (the closest analogy is red cherry) that hints gently at milk chocolate. Long, resonant finish.

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.

Bright but sweet, lyrically and complexly high-toned. Lemon, cherry, black currant in the aroma. In the cup cherry, tart berries, sweet grapefruit, even a rounding hint of milk chocolate.

Delicate and refined aroma: flowers, oranges and a hint of fresh-cut cedar. The cup is light-bodied, sweetly tart, refreshingly floral- and fruit toned with the pure, literal character of the flower and fruit of the coffee tree.

In the small cup deeply sweet, with a heavy, buttery mouthfeel and carnal fruit tones: papaya, mango, bittersweet chocolate. Exceptional in milk: very sweet with chocolate-toned fruit of almost lyric lift and complexity balanced by a dry, authoritative finish.

Complexly fruity and richly floral coffee - papaya, lemon, coffee fruit, hints of dusk-blooming flowers and chocolate, all ride a strong, balanced structure: good body, smooth mouthfeel, supple, sweet acidity.

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.

Very sweet aroma with fresh peach and chocolate mid tones and balancing cedar bottom notes. Delicate in the cup with a gently tart acidity wrapped in a rather giddy sweetness. The fruit notes are cleanly wine-like.

The aroma is elegantly simple: toasty and sweet with low-key fruit notes suggesting ripe apricot. Superb in the small cup: velvety mouthfeel, substantial body, deep-toned but crisply dry chocolate and apricot notes, with a long, clean, sweet finish. Solid, chocolaty presence in milk, but the glory here is in the classic but powerful straight shot.

Superb single-shot espresso distinguished by its fruit tones and general resonant depth of sensation. The aroma is robustly fruity and sweet, the small cup roundly and sweetly roasty with toast and chocolate notes. Simplifies slightly in milk but still agreeably expresses a high-toned, fruity chocolate.

The Gimme!Coffee package describes this blend's aroma as "Centennial Harley leather." I can-t say much about Centennial or Harley, but I'd agree on the leather, with maybe a kinky smear of chocolate thrown in. Flavor is described as "Dive Bar Chic." As a dive bar innocent I'd call it dense, simple, but big and balanced, with more leather and perhaps some pleasantly pungent cedar notes. No leather makes it into the milk, but a very pleasant, high-toned chocolate-and-nuts sweetness does.

Serenely balanced yet powerfully complete. Low-key, roundly rich in the small cup, with dry fruit and bittersweet chocolate notes. Masters milk with crisp, quiet assurance: fresh leather, milk chocolate, dry fruit.

Fresh cut cedar and fruit. The fruit richly and sweetly dominates in the aroma. In the small cup the cedar complicates and gives a resiny authority to the fruit. The fruit and cedar turn to an intriguingly pungent chocolate in milk.

An enormous, enveloping coffee, grandly acidy yet voluptuously sweet. So sweet the term acidy becomes almost moot, though its dry rigor necessarily grounds and complicates the sweetness. Cabernet wine and ripe cherry notes. Anonymously nominated.

Deep and balanced, smooth in mouthfeel, low in acidity, rich with sweet wine- and chocolate-cherry-toned fruit and a resiny hint of cedar. Nominating reader John Outler applies the technical tasting term "Yummy!" to this coffee before continuing "Perfect intersection between dark and light [roast]. Not too bitter."

Sweetly melodic, soft but substantial, with a gentle tickle of acidity. A spice-toned chocolate complicates the aroma and resurfaces in a long, easy finish. Nominating reader Monique Tam calls this "The best 100% Kona I have tasted." It certainly was the best of the four Konas I sampled for this month's cupping.

Crisply rich in the aroma, with sweet apple-toned high notes. In the cup simple and engaging as an early Beatles song, with an acidity felt rather than tasted and seductively fruity milk chocolate notes. W. Morris Brown Jr. nominated this coffee with a simple tribute: "I like it."

A classic high-grown Latin-American profile: Cherry- and grape-toned fruit in the sweet, high-toned aroma. In the cup big and smooth-bodied, rich, sweetly but intensely acidy, with an essence-of-coffee fruit that edges toward chocolate.