Reviews for City Bean Coffee

Sweet-toned, softly pungent aroma with considerable complexity: caramel, milk chocolate, nut, raisin, a hint of flowers. In the cup delicate, floral-toned acidity, lean but silky mouthfeel, and continued understated complexity: milk chocolate, raisin, dusk flowers. Good flavor continuity in a sweet finish.

Either an over-aggressive roast or a drying-related defect in the green coffee deadens a promising profile. Satisfying body and richness, but little sweetness or nuance.

The acidity is light and bright with a shimmer of fruit. At the center of the profile a slight pungency is nuanced by dry wine tones. Not much range, but solid dimension and outstanding balance.

Some cups display a muted but disturbingly hard off-taste, probably a fault in the drying. The clean cups are low-key, sweet, with a pleasant, round earthiness and excellent resonance or dimension.

A clean, simple pop across the palate. No carbon, not sharp, but not much sweetness or nuance either. Nut tones surface in the finish. My tasting partner was more specific: peanuts. Delivers a straightforward, clean cup in milk, neither particularly sweet nor pungent. A generous assessment would call this profile balanced and forceful; a critical one might accuse it of simplicity and overstatement.

For an espresso this coffee is relatively light-roasted, allowing cup characteristics of the green coffee to emerge in the demitasse. The vanilla-nut tones characteristic of many Brazil dry-processed coffees weave pleasantly through the profile, appearing with particular clarity in aroma and aftertaste. Unfortunately, the herby, earthy sharpness of some dry-processed Brazils also surfaces, especially in the aftertaste. All earthy peccadilloes disappear in milk, however. The sharp, earthy tones mute, the nut tones bloom, and the entire profile relaxes and turns sweet yet forceful.