Dark Roasts Coffee Review

Thanksgiving Coffee Mayan Harvest Breakfast Blend, Organic Fair Trade
Origin: Huehuetenango growing region, northwestern Guatemala
A rich and vividly fermented fruit dominates. The cherry-toned ferment is overlaid by a cedary roastiness in the aroma. In the cup the ferment deepens toward a dark chocolate and brandied cherry, but also displays a distracting pine or rosemary pungency. Smoothes out toward a cleanly rich chocolate in the short finish, though slightly astringent in the long.
Overall Rating: 87 points

Hula Daddy Kona Coffee Hula Daddy 100% Kona Peaberry
Origin: South Kona growing district, Big Island of Hawaii
A simple, rich, deeply dimensioned dark-roasted cup. Sweetly roasty in the aroma with semi-sweet chocolate notes. In the cup the roast continued to dominate with mildly charred wood tones overlaying semi-sweet chocolate and perhaps some dry berry notes. Rich, clean finish with continued dry chocolate notes.
Overall Rating: 88 points

The Supreme Bean Espresso Bella Luna
Origin: Not Disclosed
An impressively sweet, smooth, deeply dimensioned, softly complex espresso. One of the co-cuppers (92) used the term "resonant" twice to describe flavor and finish in the small cup. Another one (90) was most impressed by the details: a fresh-cut cedar character that was pungent but sweet and round, and wine-toned fruit notes. Bloomed in milk with discreet balance and a rich chocolate. Reader nominated another of Supreme Bean's espresso blends, but we ended up reviewing this one instead.
Overall Rating: 92 points

Majik Coffee Indian-Indonesian Espresso
Origin: India; Indonesia 
In the aroma, vanilla, floral, earth, leather and fruit notes. In the small cup medium body, leanish but smooth mouthfeel, with a rather sharp, musty/fruity flavor that persisted in the mildly astringent but resonant finish. Probably at its best in milk, which rounded and softened the coffee, turning the musty fruit toward a pleasingly complex chocolate. Reader testifies that "Simply put, [this] is the best espresso I have ever tasted. And I have tasted plenty."
Overall Rating: 89 points

Left Bank Cafe Custom Espresso
Origin: Not Disclosed
Delicate floral and vanilla-toned aroma, clean and precious. In the small cup medium-bodied, with a sweet, softly fruity character that suggests banana, perhaps, or papaya. Long, sweetly resonant finish with a slight astringent bite. Co-taster felt this soft, delicate blend faded a bit in milk; another found it limited perhaps in nuance but sweet and substantial in presence. Nominating reader exclaims that this "best espresso blend ever ... rich, creamy ... deep, fragrant ..." is "WORLD CLASS."
Overall Rating: 88 points

Caffe Fresco Ambrosia Espresso
Origin: Not Disclosed
An attractive if underpowered espresso. Muted notes of flowers, fruit and chocolate in the aroma. In the small cup medium-bodied, supple in mouthfeel, but limited in flavor: some floral hints persist but the main impression is a thinnish pungency that was called smoky and spicy. Nevertheless, rounds and richens in the finish, and reveals a round, semi-sweet chocolate character in milk. Nominating reader Andrey Akselrod says simply "It is one of my favorite espressos."
Overall Rating: 87 points

Thanksgiving Coffee Organic Espresso, N. Italian Style
Origin: Not Disclosed
The co-tasters ended with comparable overall ratings but differed in how they got there. The aroma is a bit flat but delicate, with toast, apple and floral notes. The body is fulL enough and the mouthfeel is rather substantial. The flavor in the small cup toasty/smoky and a bit sharp in the finish. Both admired the way the blend rounded and sweetened in milk. Nominating reader praised this blend as "perfectly balanced ... big body, slightly sweet, not too much acidity but enough to enliven the cup; holds up well in big milky drinks but is fantastic as a straight shot."
Overall Rating: 86 points

Zoka Coffee Roasters Espresso Paladino
Origin: Not Disclosed
Once past the aroma, the co-taster had little positive to say about this blend, finding it lean in body, rather burned/bitter in flavor, and weak in presence in milk. Another one also found the mouthfeel too lean and the finish too astringent, but enjoyed the berry-like, chocolate-leaning fruit that carried through the profile from aroma to milk. The reader who nominated this blend said he wanted "to see if this espresso is everything it is claimed it is."
Overall Rating: 82 points

Lighthouse Roasters Espresso
Origin: Not Disclosed
For both co-tasters the aroma was muted and burned. One found the body in the small cup light; another found it fuller but rough in mouthfeel. None of them had much positive to say about flavor: pungent and rough, burned and sharp. In milk pleasantly sweet but thin-bodied for; another one was more positive here, finding that the milk smoothed out the sharply roasty character of the coffee, turning it toward a pleasing fresh leather and a clove-toned spice. The reader who nominated this blend found it "exceptional, that's all".
Overall Rating: 80 points

Quartermaine Coffee Roasters Costa Rica Heirloom Typica
Origin: Tarrazu growing region, Central Costa Rica
Deep, rich, roasty aroma with considerable complexity: in it were found flowers (especially), cloves, fresh cedar, caramel. Cuppers found the cup medium-bodied and intensely and pungently bittersweet, with shimmers of flowers and a low-toned fruity character that suggested pipe tobacco and a caramelly fruit. One of the cuppers sample finished cleanly and richly, even with a hint of semi-sweet chocolate, but another drastically reduced his final rating owing to what he described as metallic, rubbery end notes, perhaps a mild roasting fault.
Overall Rating: 88 points

Remy Sol Coffee Costa Rica Dota Tarrazu SHB Peaberry
Origin: Tarrazu growing region, Central Costa Rica
The aroma displays a fruit complicated by aromatic wood tones that one co-cupper associated with pine and another one with cedar. The body is light, the mouthfeel bordering on thin, the flavor delicate and tartly sweet, with sustained aromatic wood notes. Both cuppers found the finish clean, simple and rather short.
Overall Rating: 84 points

Ancora Coffee Roasters Kenya AA Nyeri Fine Cup
Origin: Kenya
An essay in the difference between acidic and acidy, this commandingly dry coffee does not display a glimmer of sharpness. Tremendous range and complexity in the aroma: dry berry, high-toned cedar, orange, chocolate. The dry berry, orange and chocolate notes carry into the cup with crisp richness and fade into the finish without a hint of astringency.
Overall Rating: 94 points

Ancora Coffee Roasters Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
Origin: Yirgacheffe growing region, Sidamo Province, south-central Ethiopia
A coffee that displays the more pungent side of the Yirgacheffe profile. Distinct ginger-snap notes in the aroma with suggestions of rosemary and pine. Sweeter in the cup, dominated by lemon and ginger-snap. The pine and Mediterranean herb notes resurface in the long finish.
Overall Rating: 85 points

Superior Coffee Chicago Blues Blend
Origin: Not Disclosed
Sweet, quite smoky aroma, with floral top notes and suggestions of temperate fruit, pear perhaps. In the cup low-toned, smoky, sweet but salty, with chocolate undertones and continued hints of pear. The smoky tones carry into the finish.
Overall Rating: 84 points

CC's Coffee Colombia Dark Roast Decaf
Origin: Colombia
Dominated by a low-toned but richly intense fruit complex that in the aroma clearly and pleasurably reads as semi-sweet chocolate. In the cup turns toward something less chocolate and more cherry perhaps, with a little pungent lean toward Mediterranean herbs. Full-bodied and deeply dimensioned throughout.
Overall Rating: 89 points

Counter Culture Coffee Roasters Decaf Organic Peru Chanchamayo
Origin: Chanchamayo Valley, south-central Peru
Lively aroma, with fresh-cut cedar and cherry-chocolate notes. In the cup simple but deeply resonant, with hints of flowers, chocolate and cherry-leaning fruit shimmering through the gentle roastiness.
Overall Rating: 88 points

Orleans Coffee Exchange Decaf French Roast Blend
Origin: Not Disclosed
Pungent and smoky throughout the profile, with some suggestions of semi-sweet chocolate, cedar and rosemary. In the cup the mouthfeel is lightly and pleasantly astringent, bracing rather than bitter or heavy.
Overall Rating: 86 points

Allegro Coffee Indonesia Malacca Straights Pure Water Decaf
Origin: Indonesia, probably northern Sumatra or southwestern Sulawesi
A very heavy-bodied coffee, roasty but not burned, low-toned to the point of bluntness, with pungent cedar notes that approach semi-sweet chocolate and a hint of Mediterranean herb.
Overall Rating: 85 points

Daybreak Coffee Roasters Midnight Obsession
Origin: Not Disclosed
The aroma is rather flat, though complicated by an interesting walnut- or maple-toned caramel character, perhaps with a hint of anise. The maple-nut-caramel character carries into the simple but balanced cup.
Overall Rating: 85 points

Hevla Coffee Company Dark Roast Gourmet Low Acid Coffee
Origin: Not Disclosed
A simple but very balanced, sturdy dark roast. The aroma is intense and roasty with sweet cedar notes and perhaps little flickers of chocolate and caramel. Less nuance in the cup, but roundly and richly bittersweet without a trace of burned notes and perhaps some cedar-toned fruit. Clean, complex short finish with only a hint of astringency in the long.
Overall Rating: 87 points

Coffee Legends Johann Wulff's Stomach Friendly Dark Roast
Origin: Not Disclosed
Intense, cleanly bittersweet ultra-dark roast with complex, attractive fruit notes: cherry, pear and pipe tobacco in the aroma, with the cherry-toned pipe tobacco turning toward semi-sweet chocolate in the cup. Sweet and rich in the short finish, but rather heavily astringent in the long.
Overall Rating: 86 points

Caffe Botanica Wake-Up Healthy Echinacea-Infused Coffee Beans
Origin: Not Disclosed
Balanced, muted aroma with orange notes and a hint of milk chocolate. In the cup sweet, rather rich, balanced. Not much nuance, a hint of bittersweet chocolate perhaps. Pleasantly rich and sweet in the short finish; maintains sweetness in the long with little astringency.
Overall Rating: 86 points

Caffe Botanica Wake Up Healthy Asian Ginseng-Infused Decaf
Origin: Not Disclosed
Richly smoky aroma, with some sweet chocolate- and apricot-toned fruit and wood tones that are just aromatic enough to escape smelling like burned old board. In the cup thin-bodied but smooth in mouthfeel, with pleasantly and delicately smoky wood tones and hints of cedar and semi-sweet chocolate. The finish is simple but clean, sweet and free of astringency, with some faint recollections of chocolate.
Overall Rating: 84 points

Jeremiah's Pick Coffee Go Joe J.O.E. (Java of Evolution)
Origin: Not Disclosed
The aroma is sweet but flat, with a distinct burned wood character. In the cup the burned tones come across as rather rich, bolstered by a dry spice, almost black pepper sensation. Sweetens and softens surprisingly in the finish, especially in the long.
Overall Rating: 83 points

Puroast Colombian Supremo
Origin: Colombia
Pleasant enough aroma: rich, with a lushly fruity, brandied chocolate complication. After that pleasant overture, however, things go downhill fast. In the cup blaringly bitter and astringent, though hints of cherryish, chocolaty fruit do survive. In the finish, however, nothing at survives except a hard, overbearing astringency.
Overall Rating: 80 points

St. Ives Coffee Roasters Brazilian
Origin: Cerrado growing region, Minas Gerais State, Brazil
In the aroma intensely but cleanly roasty: pungent cedar with faint fruit undertones: papaya and apricot. In the cup the aggressive charred cedar tones continue to dominate, but the fruit becomes more explicit, rounding and sweetening toward chocolate. Sweet chocolate tones buffer the astringency in the short finish, but in the long the astringency turns rather heavy and tongue-coating.
Overall Rating: 84 points

Iron Brew Coffee Brazil Cerrado Dark Roast
Origin: Cerrado growing region, Minas Gerais State, Brazil
The structure and aromatics are dominated by the impact of an aggressively dark roast. Roasty and neutral in the aroma with subdued charred cedar tones and rather remote suggestions of fruit and nut. When hot the cup is burned and rather soapy, with perhaps some spice and cedar-toned chocolate. As it cools, however, the soapy tones recede and the chocolate intensifies, turns distinctly semi-sweet.
Overall Rating: 82 points

Thanksgiving Coffee Organic Espresso, N. Italian Style
Origin: Not Disclosed
A superb, versatile blend. The aroma is deep with chocolate and tropical fruit tones (banana?), the mouthfeel buttery and the body full, the small cup sweetly cedar toned with a lush, very slightly fermented fruit that reads as a rich raisin- and floral-toned chocolate. The finish is resonant and long with a low-key, pleasantly bracing astringency. In milk the shot rounds and sweetens without losing identity or authority.
Overall Rating: 93 points

The Supreme Bean Organic Decaf Espresso
Origin: Not Disclosed
Deep, sweetly pungent aroma with echoes of apricot or papaya. The mouthfeel is a bit rough but pleasantly so. The small cup is rich and sweet with a tightly-knit, deeply fruity complexity complicated by hints of cedar and toast. The sweet richness persists from short through long finish. Impressive range of sensation in milk: crisply sweet yet lushly chocolate.
Overall Rating: 92 points

Taylor Maid Farms Organic Shade-Grown Espresso Occidental
Origin: Not Disclosed
Delicate aroma, sweet with milk chocolate innuendo. In the small cup medium in body, smooth in mouthfeel, cedar-toned and gently bittersweet in flavor with a lean toward chocolate. Rich finish with a continuing shimmer of chocolate. Relaxes but doesn't quite bloom in milk; remains balanced and reticent with understated complications: fresh leather, cedar, raisiny chocolate.
Overall Rating: 89 points

Barefoot Coffee Roasters Bossa Nova Espresso
Origin: Not Disclosed
Chocolate and toast show in the rather subdued aroma. In the small cup the body is medium and the mouthfeel slightly lean, with a simple but attractive pungent/sweet character complicated by a cocoa or dry chocolate. Rich, semi-sweet chocolate finish. In milk balanced and crisply sweet, with the chocolate retaining its dry authority.
Overall Rating: 88 points

D&M Coffee Hi-Octane Organic Espresso
Origin: Not Disclosed
Deep, gently pungent aroma resonating with chocolate and low-acid tropical fruit notes. In the small cup the body is full, the mouthfeel a touch rough, the flavor slightly sharp and roasty with cedar and a hint of chocolate. The finish is rich and mildly astringent. Milk softens and sweetens the profile, nicely developing the implicit chocolate and fruit, though never completely plumping out the mouthfeel.
Overall Rating: 87 points

Gimme! Coffee Piccolo Mondo Espresso Blend
Origin: Not Disclosed
A rather aggressively roasted espresso. Delicate floral and fruit notes complicate an aroma that is toasty and almost burned. In the small cup medium to full body, creamy mouthfeel, and a flavor dominated by a gentle but slightly sharp bittersweetness. The complicating fruit notes are a bit too dry to read as chocolate. Sweetens and rounds in milk but never quite blooms.
Overall Rating: 85 points

Taylor Maid Farms Organic Occidental Decaf Espresso
Origin: Not Disclosed
Delicate but attractive aroma complicated by chocolate and low-acid tropical fruit notes. In the small cup medium body and a rather lean mouthfeel. The flavor is simple, cedar-toned, pungent-sweet, with a hint of semi-sweet chocolate. Rich in the short finish, a bit heavy in the long. In milk rather delicate, sweet-cedar-toned with a continuing hint of chocolate.
Overall Rating: 85 points

Kaldi's Best Sustainable Coffees Fellowship of the Bean Espresso
Origin: Not Disclosed
A pleasant but rather predictable American-style espresso blend. Subdued chocolate and fruit in the aroma, medium body with a somewhat lean mouthfeel, smoky and pungently cedar-toned flavor with a little shimmer of dry cocoa. Softens and sweetens in milk to a cedarish chocolate with a hint of fresh leather.
Overall Rating: 84 points

Allegro Coffee Organic Espresso Sierra
Origin: Not Disclosed
Subdued cedar and prune in the aroma. In the small cup medium body and lean mouthfeel. In flavor slightly smoky, slightly sharp, cedar-toned and rather shallow, with a suggestion of fruit and semi (very semi)-sweet chocolate. Shortish and rather astringent finish. Sweetens and rounds in milk, with some fruity chocolate softening the cedar and smoke.
Overall Rating: 82 points

Thanksgiving Coffee Rwanda Gorilla Blend
Origin: Rwanda, Central Africa
Low-toned fruit (peach?), semi-sweet chocolate and fresh-cut cedar notes in the aroma. The cup is delicate but lush, enlivened by a softly tart acidity and complicated by continued fruit (cherry, peach) and semi-sweet chocolate notes. The finish is simple but sweetly clean.
Overall Rating: 90 points

Diedrich Coffee Bantu Blend
Origin: East, Central, and southern Africa
Simple but deeply rich aroma, with a distinct raisin/prune complication. The cup displays a gentle acidity wrapped in a deep, fundamental sweetness, with muted notes of dusk-blooming flowers, papaya, caramel, raisins. Simple but long, clean finish.
Overall Rating: 87 points

Caffe Fresco Kilimanjaro Peaberry, Full City
Origin: Tanzania, probably the Mt. Kilimanjaro region in the north
Richly and deeply roasty in the aroma with some fruit complication - fresh plum perhaps. The roast gently dominates in the cup, bittersweet, with undercurrents of fresh plum and hints of chocolate and flowers. Richly roasty in the short finish, slightly astringent in the long.
Overall Rating: 86 points

The Supreme Bean Tanzania Zanzibar Peaberry
Origin: Tanzania, probably the Mt. Kilimanjaro region in the north
Smoothly pungent, roasty presentation. Cedar, prune and raisin notes contribute to a pleasingly complex aroma, but the roast dominates the aromatics in the cup, relieved mainly by subtle but distinct floral top notes. Astringent though rich in the short finish, floral-toned in the long.
Overall Rating: 84 points

Quartermaine Coffee Roasters Sumatra
Origin: Northern provinces of Sumatra, Indonesia
Powerful and complex. Extraordinary aroma: spice, a fresh, nostril-tingling cedar, low-toned tropical fruit, bananas perhaps. In the cup a tingle of sweet acidity, more cedar, and fruit that turns sweetly and richly tart - grapefruit, tamarind. Memories of this complexity persist in the finish, softening a mild astringency. Reader Amy Bowser nominated this coffee, calling it "clean but with huge depth and character."
Overall Rating: 90 points

Stumptown Coffee Roasters Sumatra Mandheling Grade 1
Origin: Mandheling growing region, North Sumatra Province, Sumatra, Indonesia
Deeply and opulently sweet, big-bodied, with a bracing, bitter edge of spice, herb and cedar. The cup reveals undercurrents of wine-toned fruit. The short finish is rich, the long leaves us with a slight astringent saltiness.
Overall Rating: 89 points

Dazbog Coffee Sulawesi
Origin: Toraja (also Kalosi) growing region, southwestern Sulawesi, Indonesia
Lushly high-toned, remarkably complex aroma: flowers (tea-rose?), temperate fruit (pear perhaps), milk chocolate. Slumps toward a lower-key bittersweet character in the cup with only occasional glimpses of chocolate, but the giddy floral top notes persist. Slightly shallow finish.
Overall Rating: 88 points

Kaldi's Best Sustainable Coffees Organic Fair-Trade Sumatra Gayoland
Origin: Gayo growing region, Aceh Province, northern Sumatra, Indonesia
In the aroma cedar, spice, papaya, and a hint of semi-sweet chocolate. Delicate in the cup, with very sweet citrus notes, pink grapefruit perhaps, and a distinct cedar character with a continuing hint of chocolate. Rather heavy finish for such a light-footed coffee.
Overall Rating: 87 points

Coffee Tea Etc. Organic Fair-Trade Sumatra French Roast
Origin: Gayo growing region, Aceh Province, northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Rich, low-key, smoky, with an agreeably mild musty ferment that reads in aroma and cup as raisins and semi-sweet chocolate. In the aroma complex, in the cup balanced but a bit simple; surprisingly clean, soft finish.
Overall Rating: 87 points

Peet's Coffee & Tea Sumatra
Origin: Northern provinces of Sumatra, Indonesia
At its best in the aroma: rich, deep, smoky, cedary, with undercurrents of sweet dark chocolate. Crisply bittersweet in the cup, with rich, slightly charred cedar and hints of spice-toned cherry. Sweet and chocolaty in the short finish, though rather sharply astringent in the long.
Overall Rating: 87 points

Snowy Mountain Coffee Wild Horses Sumatra Decaf
Origin: Northern provinces of Sumatra, Indonesia
Agreeably dominated by the roast. Deeply and gently charred cedar in aroma and cup, with hints of low-key fruit ? banana or papaya ? and chocolate. The astringency in the finish is nicely wrapped in a rich memory of fruit and chocolate.
Overall Rating: 87 points

Starbucks Coffee Sumatra
Origin: Northern provinces of Sumatra, Indonesia
Agreeable but a bit lazy in the aroma: spice, cedar, with the barest hint of apricot-toned chocolate. In the cup sweet, balanced gently rich, still dominated by cedar and smoke, but the chocolate-toned fruit, barely perceptible in the aroma, opens and blooms nicely.
Overall Rating: 85 points

Starbucks Coffee Decaf Sumatra
Origin: Northern provinces of Sumatra, Indonesia
Muted aroma with roasty pine and spice notes and a hint of low-key fruit. Delicate in the cup, with distinct and explicit spice notes ? cinnamon, nutmeg perhaps, with a continuing hint of apricot-toned fruit.
Overall Rating: 84 points