Organics Coffee Review

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Organic Mexican Select, Fair-Trade Medium Roast
Origin: Southern Mexico
Intense aroma with a tightly knit complexity: muted spice, apple, pear, chocolate. In the cup sweet, delicate and balanced, with subtle but distinct chocolate notes and a quietly vibrant acidity. The chocolate turns toward cocoa in the mildly astringent finish.
Overall Rating: 88 points

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

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Fair Trade Organic Peru
Origin: Peru
Lushly complex but delicate aroma, alive with floral and low-acid fruit notes: apple perhaps, even banana, leaning toward chocolate. In the cup displays a simplifying sharpness when hot, but softens and sweetens as the cup cools. The seductively low-acid fruit notes persist from aroma into cup, reading as red wine and chocolate. The finish is long and rich with a slight astringent edge.
Overall Rating: 88 points

Organic Planet Coffee & Tea Finesso Espresso
Origin: Not Disclosed
A full-bodied espresso with exotic aromatics. Floral and fruit tones throughout the profile, with pungent notes that read herbal and licorice-like and smoky. The full body and heavy mouthfeel seemed partly to stifle flavor in the small cup, but this blend came into its own in milk, where it rounded and sweetened richly without losing power or nuance. Nominated by Kemp LaMunyon of Las Vegas.
Overall Rating: 90 points

Thanksgiving Coffee Organic Espresso, N. Italian Style
Origin: Not Disclosed
Co-taster ended with comparable overall ratings but differed in how they got there. The aroma a bit flat; but delicate, with toast, apple and floral notes. The body fuller and the mouthfeel more substantial. Both found 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

Flying Goat Coffee Organic Panama Boquete Casa Ruiz
Origin: Boquete growing district, western Panama
Intense, rather acidy aroma with vanilla-toned chocolate and fruit notes. In the cup the acidity was either sweet and lushly lively or a touch too soft, the flavor a bit too simple or intriguing in its simultaneous sensory allusions to wine and chocolate.
Overall Rating: 88 points

Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters Organic Fair-Trade Costa Rica
Origin: Tarrazu growing region, Central Costa Rica
Muted aroma with notes called "quietly pungent" and "smoky." Also found pleasantly floral top notes as well. In the cup substantial body and smooth mouthfeel; the pungent notes in the aroma reappear as nut or semi-sweet chocolate. Simple, sweet short finish, very slight astringency in the long.
Overall Rating: 87 points

A&E Custom Coffee Roastery Costa Rica Organic
Origin: La Amistad growing region, southeastern Costa Rica
Round, rich, rather simple coffee, with spicy and gingery notes in the aroma. In the cup a soft, sweet acidity and buttery mouthfeel with a low-toned fruit that to Ken suggested prune and semi-sweet chocolate.
Overall Rating: 85 points

Flying Goat Coffee Organic Fair-Trade Decaf Mexico
Origin: Pluma growing region, southern Oaxaca State, Mexico
An intense, high-toned coffee with almost African character: distinct orange notes and hints of sweet spice, chocolate and flowers, lavender perhaps, in the aroma. The citrus, chocolate and lavender tones are sharper and simpler in the cup, though still intense. A tingle of astringency persists, not unpleasantly, into the finish.
Overall Rating: 88 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

Higher Grounds Trading Company Fair-Trade Mexican Decaf
Origin: Oaxaca State, Mexico
A profile so delicate it has difficulty asserting itself. Gentle and lyric in the aroma, with sweet nut and a cherryish fruit that carry into the cup but remain subdued and without authority, a charming but distant warble in the woods.
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

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Organic Sumatran Reserve
Origin: Aceh Province, northern Sumatra, Indonesia
A complex fruitiness anchored by musty notes that read persuasively as sweet earth immediately identify this coffee as a traditional style Sumatra. The fruit reads most clearly as chocolate in the aroma, with tickles of raisin, citrus, perhaps papaya. In the cup sweet and bracingly earthy with a tart twist that suggests pineapple or grapefruit. Medium body. Rounds from short finish to long in a sweet, gently rich trajectory.
Overall Rating: 88 points

Allegro Coffee Organic Brazil
Origin: Minas Gerais State, Brazil
Quietly but giddily complex. Fruit notes read as a sort of spicy papaya and semi-sweet chocolate in the aroma. The cup reveals dramatic floral notes with the fruit reading as orange, though still with a semi-sweet chocolate tendency that carries from the rich short finish to clean, lingering long.
Overall Rating: 91 points

The Roasterie Organic Fair Trade Espresso
Origin: Not Disclosed
Delicate aroma, toasty with distinct raisin and chocolate notes. Deepens in the small cup; the mouthfeel is buttery and the raisin and chocolate notes turn lavishly rich with a tickle of brandyish ferment. Long, resonant finish. Transforms beautifully in milk; the chocolate intensifies without turning trite or candyish, while the fruit seems to lift and reveal lighter, brighter tones of melon and flowers.
Overall Rating: 93 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

Ecco Caffe Northern Italian Roast Organic
Origin: Not Disclosed
Superb front end to this blend: velvety crema, the aroma deep but delicately and crisply chocolate- and vanilla-toned. In the small cup the body is full, the flavor caramelly and crisp but slightly salty and a bit shallow. Blooms with discreet elegance in milk, complicated by a dry but opulent chocolate.
Overall Rating: 89 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

Kaldi's Best Sustainable Coffees Sweet Spot Espresso Blend
Origin: Not Disclosed
Deep, chocolate-toned aroma. In the small cup medium to full in body, in flavor sweetly cedar-toned with dry chocolate and apricot complication. The short finish is rich, the long fades toward astringency. Rounds nicely in milk, displaying a fine balance of crisp cedar and chocolate-toned fruit.
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

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