SEARCH RESULTS

Sweetly fermenty, chocolaty. Milk chocolate, black cherry, wine barrel, cedar, tangerine zest in aroma and cup. Sweet-tart structure with winey acidity; plush, syrupy mouthfeel. Fruity, chocolaty finish with aromatic wood undertones.

Delicate, sweet, quietly nuanced. Clover, oak, cocoa powder, macadamia nut, agave syrup in aroma and cup. Sweet-toned with a quietly present, backgrounded acidity; velvety-smooth mouthfeel. Sweet, subtly complex finish.

Evaluated as espresso. Richly spice-toned, deeply floral. Honeysuckle, black cherry, baking spices, dark chocolate, amber in aroma and small cup. Plush, syrupy-smooth mouthfeel; finely balanced, flavor-saturated finish. The milk shot amplifies floral tones suggesting honeysuckle with undertones of black cherry and warming spices.

Evaluated as espresso. Deeply and richly sweet. Dark chocolate, lightly scorched cedar, tart pie cherry, molasses, gardenia in aroma and small cup. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel; heavy, bittersweet finish. In three parts milk, chocolate notes are foregrounded, supported by hints of aromatic wood and molasses.

Gentle, delicate. Crisp chocolate and hazelnut notes dominate in aroma and cup; complicating hints of fir and citrus. Gentle, balanced acidity; light, silky mouthfeel. Sweet-toned, slightly drying finish.

Balanced, sweetly crisp. Floral-toned peach and a tart, mandarin orange dominate, rounded by a backgrounded nut-toned chocolate. Brisk, sweet-toned acidity; silky mouthfeel. The chocolate suggestion carries into a clean finish.

Sweet, deep, tartly pungent aroma: ripe lemon, black currant. Rich acidity, slightly lean mouthfeel. Aromatics simplify in the cup, but remain pleasing and lively: lemon, pungent black currant, nut-toned cocoa.

A delicately bright-toned coffee, with sweet citrus and floral notes in aroma and cup. As the cup cools a hint of black currant emerges and sweetly persists in the long, toasty finish. Silky mouthfeel.

Rich, deep, grapy sweetness in aroma and cup, with distinct dark chocolate and cedar notes. Rich, rounded acidity, syrupy mouthfeel. Long, deep finish.

Sweet, deep-toned, balanced coffee. Chocolate, citrus, nut and a hint of flowers in the aroma. In the cup richly rounded acidity, buttery mouthfeel. The soft citrus notes are more prominent in the cup, with continued complications of chocolate, nut and a bare suggestion of flowers. The citrus in particular carries into a resonant finish.

Sweet, richly roasty, cocoa-toned aroma. In the cup smooth mouthfeel, soft acidity and roasty pungency with suggestions of nut and toasted grain and, as the cup cools, black currant and butterscotch. The dominant flavor notes linger in a long, dry finish.

Alive with dry nuance and surprise: pruny fruit, crisp chocolate, sweetening slightly toward the finish. As the cup cools the chocolate sharpens a bit toward tobacco and herb. Long, richly dry aftertaste.

The majority of panelists dismissed this coffee as fermented, the flavor defect that results from the some of the beans picking up the rotten-fruit taste of fermenting sugars during processing or drying. "Trying to be constructive here but can't find any grounds for redemption," wrote one. However, three panelists were open to redemption, rating this coffee in the low 80s, perhaps reading the ferment tones as fruity or wine-like. Two of the three yea-sayers struggled with their ambivalence in their comments, finally coming down on the positive side of the fruit/ferment continuum. The matrix of sensation under and around the ferment definitely was full and complex.

Something was slightly off with this coffee. Two panelists mentioned ferment but I doubt it. One called the taint grassy; "slightly harsh & earthy" wrote another; I had it as "a touch of hard tobacco, herb." Whatever it was, it brought down the rating of this otherwise ingratiatingly sweet, rounded coffee with subtle grace notes variously described as chocolate, vanilla, and (the favorite) caramel.

I found this coffee quite impressive when hot, with the sort of resonant dimension and long, gradually sweetening development I admire. However, for me the profile turned a bit grassy and hard as it cooled. The rest of the panel didn't have much to say about this coffee one way or the other. A few complaints surfaced suggesting roughness or hardness; one panelist reported "good intensity/balance, [though] not enough intensity for my taste." It would appear that a lack of character rather than taint or weakness doomed this coffee to a relatively low rating.