Impressive complexity: high, sweet notes, caramel in the middle, crisp, edge-of-burned tones, a touch of floral acidity. Excellent body. Pungent, bitter tones propose sugar for the demitasse, but give this blend tremendous staying power in milk, where it blossoms with little loss of range or complexity.
The aroma is clean and high-toned with innuendo of fresh leather. The demitasse is complex but controlled, with a classic balance of sweetness and bitterness embellished by cocoa and nut notes and a crisp shimmer of acidity. In discreet amounts of milk seductive with caramel and cocoa tones.
This espresso, dominated by a musty flavor, showed best at a rather quick extraction, which encouraged the mustiness to read as crisply effervescent, exhilaratingly spicy cocoa. Extremely heavy body and rich crema. Carries very well in milk.
Clean, elegant, balanced. Fragrant with toast, nut, and caramel notes in aroma, suave in body. The straightforward balance of bitter and sweet tones in the demitasse is complicated by the slightest edge of floral acidity and dry fruit. Light, bright and sweet in milk.
The demitasse confirms the bag copy: This is an intense blend. Intensely sweet, but even more intensely bitter; a strong gesture but a simple one. Softens and rounds a bit in milk, but maintains its bitter edge.
Superb aroma: rich, sweet, opulent with cocoa, flowers, and vanilla. A touch disappointing in the demitasse, however; the body is rather lean and the flavor acidy and sharp. But the sharpness rounds beautifully in milk with a lovely balance of dry cocoa tones and sweetness.
A balanced, straightforward West-Coast American espresso. In the demitasse bittersweet with a slant toward the bitter side, complicated by brisk cocoa tones. Medium-bodied but smooth. The cocoa tones turn agreeably fruity in milk, where the shot softens without losing character.
The smoky tones are sweet and floral in the nose, but rather sharply pungent in the demitasse, where the flowers transform to pruny dry fruit with a hint of burned tones. Excellent in milk, which softens and sweetens the sharpness.