Clean and elegant aroma with a shimmer of vanilla. In the demitasse complex, exciting, but not entirely balanced. The contrast of pungent sharpness and underlying caramelly sweetness is dramatic but stark, and carries the coffee precariously toward a rich but slightly astringent aftertaste. Blooms beautifully in milk, softening without losing authority and revealing deep, dry, bittersweet chocolate tones.
Displays a rich, deeply matrixed acidity reminiscent of the best Sumatras. Although the cup is not quite as sweet and roundly ingratiating at first sip as some others in the cupping, the acidity sustains power as the cup cools, hence the somewhat higher rating for this coffee compared to those with comparable sweetness and body. A slight edginess to the acidity may indicate a scattering of cherries that were close to ferment as the coffee dried, but this shadow fault, if present at all, is so faint that it strikes me as a quibble. A fine coffee well-roasted.
Rich with a low-toned, vibrant acidity. The body is creamily smooth, though a touch lighter than the heaviest-bodiedBrazils in the cupping. Here the sweet spice tones characteristic of natural Brazils are buoyant and floral, almost Yirgacheffe-like in their perfumes. The floral tones linger sweetly in the aftertaste.
An impressive tribute to the tactile dimension of taste: the body is smooth, buttery, alive yet full. The profile is sweet and deeply dimensioned with a pleasantly spicy tickle at its heart, but remains rather limited in range. The aftertaste reveals the merest hint of hardness.
Crisp and toasty nose. In the demitasse heavy though not sharp; some sweetness but little nuance. The heaviness turns smooth in milk, expanding richly, but even there the cup remains austere and rather monolithic.
Distinct orange-citrus tones are exhilaratingly fresh when the cup is hot, but turn mildly astringent as it cools. The body is round and creamy, but lighter than any of the straight Brazils in the cupping.
For me this coffee lacks sufficient sweetness to support its attractive tobacco, spice and floral notes. Sweetness in dry-processed coffees like this one comes from sustained contact of the bean with ripe fruit during drying. The profile-flattening lack of sweetness here may derive from too many green or unripe cherries in the mix.
A dullness, perhaps a shadow defect from rain-interrupted drying, shadows an otherwise splendidly sweet profile. The sweetness, enlivened by spice and chocolate, almost sneaks out from under the hardness at the finish, but never quite makes it. Too bad.
Either an over-aggressive roast or a drying-related defect in the green coffee deadens a promising profile. Satisfying body and richness, but little sweetness or nuance.
Restrained but elegant nose; in the demitasse sharply rich but lacks sweetness. The aftertaste is distinctly astringent. Masters milk nicely, but even in dairy not quite enough sweetness and nuance for my palate.
Very sharp, carbony cup, with little richness or sweetness. Both aroma and body seem burned off the coffee by the rather aggressive roast. I also tried this coffee as espresso. In the demitasse it remained sharp, but softened and sweetened a bit in milk.
A hard, nasty ferment mars an otherwise sweetly rich profile.