Extraordinary, luxurious coffee, lushly sweet yet vibrantly acidy, with ripe, opulent fruit tones and delicately intense floral high notes. Utterly free of bitterness or astringency. Perfectly roasted, and as extravagantly complex as the very finest East Africa coffees. Nominator David Lubertozzi of Berkeley raves about its "amazing body and milk-chocolateyness," and confesses he enjoys it even better cold than hot -- always a sign of an exceptional coffee.
A startlingly distinctive coffee: richly fruity with almost symphonic aromatics and pronounced but sweet acidity. "Best blend in the world!" exclaims the nominating reader. "One of the few blends that has distinctive regional characteristics -- in this case a lighter roast highlights and protects a wonderfully lively flavor."
Classic Kenya profile: Austerely dry and acidy, with a crisp, astringent-yet-sweet fruit note that coffee professionals are fond of describing as black current. If black current does not ring any synapses, try dried cherries. However described, this flavor note is exceptional in the world of coffee. The discerning reader who nominated this coffee offered no description, but bravely rated it a 95 to 100.
Reader Peter Lynagh nominated this coffee, rating it a 90 to 94. He describes it as "sweet, bold, fruit-toned, yet perfectly balanced and round," as well as "paradoxical." Paradoxical perhaps because it maintains the fruity brightness of medium-roasted coffees while avoiding aggressively dry or acidy notes. I would agree with all of the above, though I wish that my sample had not displayed a slight, muted bitterness.
Reader Peter Lynagh nominated this coffee, rating it a 90 to 94. He describes it as "sweet, bold, fruit-toned, yet perfectly balanced and round," as well as "paradoxical." Paradoxical perhaps because it maintains the fruity brightness of medium-roasted coffees while avoiding aggressively dry or acidy notes. I would agree with all of the above, though I wish that my sample had not displayed a slight, muted bitterness.
This very dark-roasted blend teeters on the edge of burned, but backs off nicely to stay on the agreeably sweet side of bittersweet. Fruit and fruit-toned chocolate notes, a suggestion of flowers, with only a shadow astringency. The Seattle-based reader who nominated this blend describes it as his (or her) "favorite local coffee. And as I am from Seattle, that's saying something."
For a coffee from northern California, the home of ultimate and often bitter dark roasts, this one is quite delicate, subtly roasty but gently dry, unobtrusively sweet, with echoes of dry, high-toned fruit. "I have been coming to this shop for 10 years now," the nominating reader writes, "and they definitely have the best coffee in the world."
The reader who nominated this coffee rated it an 85 -- 89, citing its "great aroma and floral hints," and adding that it is "a great breakfast coffee." I'd agree, though the sample I cupped may have sat around in its elegant bag too long. It belongs to the authoritative rather than the delicate style of Panama: intensely acidy, yet still displaying the bright, high-toned sweet nut, floral and fruit notes characteristic of this underappreciated origin. I felt the profile suffered from bitterness, however, which turned the acidity a bit too assertive for many coffee drinkers.
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.
"Auburnbulldog" gives this venerable grocery store coffee from Louisiana a 90 to 94 rating "because for a non-specialty coffee it is by far the best. I cringe when I go from Community to Starbucks." I found it a fine example of a (non-chicory) New Orleans-style blend: roundly low-acid coffees with a musty or mildewy edge (probably mainly Brazils) turned malty and rich by the moderately dark roast.
A big, simple, acidy coffee only partly tamed by the darkish roast. The result is a bit of a hybrid: medium-bodied, roasty but acidy, reasonably sweet, but with only a hint of Antigua-style nuance, some fruit perhaps. The finish is slightly astringent, always a danger when an acidy coffee is brought to a darkish roast. The nominating reader Carolina Facciani of Redondo Beach, California rates the Starbucks Guatemala she or he tasted a 95 to 100, declaring it "one of the best tasting coffees I've had next to Costa Rica's coffees." The big acidity and relative lack of nuance does make this coffee resemble high-grown Costa Ricas.