Despite the current trend in specialty coffee leaning toward fruity, juicy light roasts (which I love!), I think that a really good medium/medium-dark roast coffee is a thing of beauty, and it is something that goes under-appreciated these days. There’s something supremely comforting about a cup that has toasty, fragrant notes of chocolate, nuts, and […]
semisweet chocolate
Review: Ceremony Coffee Roasters Thesis Blend (Annapolis, Maryland)
I’ve had the pleasure of trying coffee from Ceremony Coffee Roasters before; in addition to their single-origins, they offer blends with nerdy names, and I had made a mental note that someday, I wanted to try their Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis blends. The packaging makes it appear that the Thesis is light, Antithesis is dark, […]
Review: Klatch Coffee Hawaii Rusty’s Ka’u (Upland, California)
The Ka’u district of Hawaii is the largest and southernmost district of the Big Island, with the North and South Kona districts bordering it to the west. Coffee from Hawaii (Kona coffee in particular) is world-famous for its smooth, sweet flavor profile, but it’s rare to see 100% Kona coffee being sold, as it fetches […]
Review: Simple Beans Guatemala Jovenes (La Jolla, California)
Chocolate lovers, you’re gonna want to check this out! I will sometimes get asked by friends for help with finding a new coffee. For those people that really enjoy chocolaty, nutty, sweet black coffees, I usually think that grabbing a medium-roasted Guatemalan, Brazilian, or Mexican coffee is a good place to start (just check the […]
Review: Gordon St Coffee Glasgow Roast (Glasgow, Scotland)
In early July, I was traveling for work for about a week, and I had limited access to coffee. While I was grateful that my AirBnB provided a Keurig, I found the flavor to be really depressing compared to what I’m used to having. Quality coffee is one of my little luxuries in life, so […]
Review: Prosum Roasters Colombia Paraiso Jose Ignacio Gomez (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
This is the second coffee I got over the holidays from Prosum Roasters; you can read more about their company mission and my visit to their roastery here. Whole bean: There was just the barest sheen of oil on these beans. Very evenly roasted. Once the hot water hit the beans, there was a wild […]
Review: Dark Horse Coffee Roasters No Problemo Espresso Blend (San Diego, California)
On the same trip when I bought the Dark Horse Odd Harmonics blend, I also picked up this bag of their No Problemo, which the barista told me is their espresso blend. As of summer 2018, this is a blend of beans from Guatemala, Brazil, and Colombia. Whole bean: Smells like chocolate with a hint […]
Mini review: Slightly Coffee Roasters Guatemala Chochajau (Eugene, Oregon)
When Slightly Coffee’s head roaster, Joe (yes, that really is his name! How appropriate, right?), sent me the sample of his excellent Ethiopia Torea Village, he also included a small bag of this Guatemala Chochajau. It was a bit too small of a quantity for me to do a full battery of tests in my usual […]
Review: Blue Bottle Coffee Bella Donovan (Oakland, California)
My lovely friend Chloé recently made an order from Blue Bottle for two bags of this blend, and she graciously let me have one of them to review. When I started dipping my toe into the world of craft coffee around 5 years ago, Blue Bottle was one of the first craft roasters I tried, and […]
Review: West Oak Coffee Milk and Honey Blend (Denton, Texas)
Every time I visit Denton, Texas, I marvel at how much it’s changed since I was doing graduate work at the University of North Texas in the early 2000s. Denton has always had a counterculture vibe, with people taking pride in their differences and individuality, but the city has grown in the last 15 years […]