El Conquistador Tarrazu

Costa Rica

As I have seated myself and am preparing to write this review I ask that you would bear with me a bit while I go get another cup of this Tarrazu.

O.K., I have returned. Thank you for waiting.

As a Full-City+ roast I find this cup to be very pleasing. The aroma is strong and spreads around the house like a fine linen blanket that invites you to snuggle in while it brews. Very smooth with a strong fragrant scent.

The flavor is very earthy, and (as someone else describes it) pleasingly straightforward. Straightforward is a great term that describes the flavor in this cup because other adjectives do not seem to identify the quality here. It really is a flavor that has to be experienced to be understood. I read that the Tarrazu is a classical bean that is known for its fruity and nutty attribute but I am afraid that the nut is lost on me - all I taste is the pleasing fruitiness that seems to make this cup "straightforward".

From 1 to 10 I rate this coffee a 6.

Salimba

Zimbabwe

At city, to full-city, this is a very pleasing and surprising cup. You know that it is a good cup when you take a sip and say "wow" and you look for your wife to try it.

The coffee has a dominant floral quality that hits you with a definite floral sweetness right off. There is a nutty quality to this brew which is only slightly noticeable upon the finish.

The aroma did not stand out as one of distinction - smelled like coffee. I will comment later about how it tasted over ice.

From 1 to 10 I rate this coffee a 6.