Reviews for Seattle's Best Coffee
Straightforward, simple but satisfying dark-roast: cleanly roasty, pleasantly smoky but without burned or excessive bitterness. In cup and finish the roastiness takes on a toasty, campfire chocolate character.
Reader "Siehata" nominated a "morning blend" from Seattle's Best Coffee,testifying that SBC "has been a favorite of mine for years. Better than Millstone or even theover-priced burnt Starbucks." I couldn't find a Seattle's Best morning blend, so I pickedSaturday's Blend, figuring that Saturdays have mornings, maybe better mornings than the otherdays of the week. I found it crisply roasty (though most definitely not burned), with pleasantlydry, bittersweet chocolate tones. For me it hit the sweet spot of dark roasted coffees, butdisplayed a limited range of aromatics and a lean body. Perhaps it had sat in its bag too long.
A typical shape-shifting Sumatra that gives us something different in every cup. Lindsey Bolger: "Characteristic of a Sumatra prone to schizophrenia, with multiple personalities ranging from toasted grains and nuts to chocolate and spice. This confusing, sometimes combative complexity seems to improve and stabilize as the coffee cools" (82). Ken: "Some cups rich, sweet, fruity chocolate with an utterly clean finish; others still sweetly chocolaty but with leathery, spicy undertones and a heavy finish" (84).
A big, centered, complete Central-America- style coffee. Brightly acidy in the upper ranges, richly sweet in the lower, with hints of flowers and cedar in the nose and distinct chocolate in the finish. Displayed its true character as it cooled -- rather than falling apart, it opened up, revealing still more nuance.
Aromatic and gently complex. Delicate, sweet-vanilla nose. In the demitasse smooth, balanced body and well-nuanced flavor, with pungent chocolate modulating to sweet chocolate in the finish. Slight fruit flourishes. Tends to fade in milk, but retains a light, pleasingly fruity chocolate character.
Like so many of the coffees in this cupping, a splendid overture in the aroma (nut, vanilla, caramel), then disappointment. A slightly hard, full-bodied but monotonal cup which softens and sweetens only in the finish.
This coffee gets better as it goes, probably owing to its heavy body. The dark tones of the aroma modulate with increasing power through the cup to a complex finish.
