This is the best organic value coffee I've had. On those nose, I got cherry cola and champagne - that effervescence has really been there for me. This made brilliant pourover. Balanced, smooth, just the right amount of acidity. If I had a cafe where I had to serve one light roast all the time, this one might be it. Intelligentsia puts out remarkable quality at the scale they operate at.

Cupping Method:Chemex pourover, 207 F

The best coffee I had in 2022. I had this twice in the Intelligentsia store in Chicago. I doubt this is one you'll see in stock a lot but I hope it's available year to year. Might be worth setting a Google alert.

I think these are remarkable beans, carefully treated, then perfectly roasted by a great roaster. Mossto anaerobic means the coffee seed was submerged in its fruit pulped, and then the juice was expelled in a container for more than 3 days.

How to describe the result - there is a lot going on, and it's all amazing. The first thing you notice, on the nose and first sip is the floral notes, paired with a strong Earl Grey tea type scent. The acidity is crisp and just right through, a kind of pineapple lime, and then the finish is a combination of all of it, and lingers a long time.

Cupping Method:2x pourover in Chicago Intelligentsia, summer 2022

Great

Cupping Method:REally good

Great

Cupping Method:Yup

Best

Cupping Method:Hot

Straightforward but tasty cup with just the right level of sweetness, a silky mouthfeel, and no bitterness. Notes for me are blackberry pie and milk chocolate. It doesn't have much acidity or complexity, but it's a very good easy drinker.

Subtle with a silky mouthfeel, the standout note here is a pleasant mintiness that's quite prominent.

Lovely medium dark roast. Great depth of bittersweet dark chocolate note that lingers through the palate. Smoke and a slight hint of bergamot on the palate. Nice crema and mouthfeel. A little plum jam and well-balanced.

Cupping Method:At Nirvana shop in Barnstable. Double espresso.

This is an interesting and flavorful decaf. I think it has a slight ripe banana aroma. And I get banana in the coffee as well. Strawnana, then raspberry lemonade. The fruitiness and acidity overrides a background tea note. It's a lovely flavorful light roast decaf.

Cupping Method:I got this coffee from Bean Archives. 18:1, 92C in the Hario v60 worked well.

I enjoyed this coffee. Really nice acidity for drip. Good body as well. Dark chocolate, cocoa, tamarind, blackberry, and the white part of the pineapple are the notes I get.

Cupping Method:Complex drip at Revival on Lexington

Classic clean Ethiopian. Delicately roasted with a silky mouthfeel. Peach, black tea, and honey.

Reminds me a bit of a Blue Bottle Tokyo Kissa blend that I had last year. I'm grading this based on my understanding of this style of Japanese dark roast blend rather than my usual preference.

This is an very good blend with a wonderful balance of smoke, a slight creaminess, light nuttiness, and balanced acidity that makes it pleasantly bitter. Kudos to Ogawa here for being willing to do this as iced Aeropress, as I think that's an optimal use for it.

The first time I made this cup, I was in a bit of a hurry and I don't think I got the best extraction and didn't really pick up the subtle notes. There's a Chinese tea. My mom makes for me sometimes called self healing or prunella spike tea. I get that note as well as a cool vanilla linger. And a bit of rooibos. I like it. Some really good, natural, sweetness, and that characteristic silky Dak mouthfeel.

Cupping Method:I got this coffee from Bean Archives. I liked the 93C, 17:1 extraction the best.

Earthy, blackberry, sour cherry, green apple, a bit of tamarind. Bergamot within the palate but more within the finish. Chocolate/earthy/floral linger. Nice crema and mouthfeel. Another standout espresso in Montreal (from a Toronto roaster).

Cupping Method:At Ri Yue Cafe, Japanese cafe in Montreal.

I enjoyed this espresso quite a bit. Lands nicely in the medium range with a nice chocolate note, a touch of nuttiness and a slight touch of earthiness. It's well balanced and has some blackberry acidity.

Cupping Method:I had this espresso at Onna Cafe in Montreal.

I think this is one of my favorite Nespresso capsules, and boy have had I had a lot over the years. I mean, it's probably not a 4.5 for normal specialty coffee. But this has a really nice spice note, a little black pepper. The sort of Wheet-a-bix toasty note that many Nespresso capsules have. The right amount of the bittersweet note in dark roast form. Just a touch smoky.

In a rush at the door here, but interesting coffee that's super fruit and very slightly hoppy.

A coffee with very bright acidity in the blackcurrant range with an extra bit of tangerine/raspberry. Nice mouthfeel with honeyed sweetness. The finish doesn't quite come together with a slight cloying tartness. A fun one.

A bright, fruity coffee. Lively acidity. Notes of raspberry lemonade and blackberry. Iced tea platform. A bit one note but a very good notes.

Cupping Method:91C, 17:1 on v60 was best.

I wrestled with this one a bit. There's a lot here. Blueberry, persimmon, a super smooth mouthfeel. Black tea, subtle florality. I had 3 shots and the best cup was at 89C.

Cupping Method:Came from Bean Archives. 17:1, 89C on v60 was best cup.

In St. Louis for work and stopped in for a quick cortado here. I thought it was very good. Good depth of flavor, well-foamed milk.

Beautiful even roast, visually appealing. Chocolate orange aroma! 18g sample here. Chocolate, orange, tea, sort of within the classic Colombia notes is what I get. This isn't super exciting by specialty coffee standards now but I do think it is a well -executed version of the archetype. Beautiful roast and good depth in a straightforward light roast.

Cupping Method:18:1, 18g sample, 92C on Hario v60

Clean but fruity Ethiopian natural. Only very slightly funky with an oolong tea lead and lots of red fruit. I do get cherry but not the stale black cherry type. Some tangerine on the back side. It's a nice cup!

Cupping Method:18:1 on 18g sample, 92Con v60

I missed this review but had notes and a 20g left so made it again and got the same results. Very smooth, honeyed, full mouthfeel. Light strawberry and citrusy notes. Love the mouthfeel but missing a bright hit of acidity.

Lovely Kenyan with bright citrus acidity, lemonade, plum/prune, and a nice tea background. Will have to check out more of this roaster.

Cupping Method:Complex drip at Revival in Lexington, MA

I haven't really been sure whether to classify Ogawa as a large chain/brain or not. In any case, this Guatemalan helped my opinion of them.

It's quite good, with a very smooth mouthfeel, clean strawberry, sweet orange, and oolong notes. A touch of milk chocolate.

A bit pricy at $10 for the pourover, but it's downtown Boston.

Cupping Method:Pourover, Ogawa @ Downtown Crossing Boston

I got a great cup out of this coffee at 90 degrees C. Red tea, pineapple, jasmine, orange blossom. Slightly funky/winey at this temp. I did not like it at any higher temperature where it got a grapefruit zest note.

Cupping Method:From Bean Archives.

From Cometeer Advent notes.

This Ethiopian coffee leans toward the darker end of the specialty spectrum, landing firmly in the medium-dark range. It performs best as espresso, where the roast profile brings forward depth and structure rather than high florality.

The cup shows good smoothness for a roast at this level, with darker aromatics leading the profile. Notes of bergamot and light smoky spice appear up front, followed by a restrained blackberry character through the midpalate. As with many Ethiopian coffees taken this far roast wise, some of the brighter floral elements are muted, reinforcing the roast-driven character over origin expression. But it is present.

Chocolate tones provide a solid foundation and carry into a moderately long finish. The crema is medium and reasonably persistent, contributing to a smooth, slightly weighty mouthfeel. Bean uniformity is good, and the roast avoids excessive oil development.

Overall, this is a great medium-dark Ethiopian that balances depth and drinkability, though it stops short of delivering the clarity or complexity found in top-tier examples of the style.

This shows considerable skill from the roaster as Ethiopians are a fine balance when roasting darker.

Pear, nutmeg, citrus, and berry. While I don't think it would be a daily drinker, this is a pretty interesting cup at 90C. It has especially nice acidic balance when cool. At my usual 92C I didn't get as much subtlety and it picked up a sort of grapefruit zest note.

Cupping Method:This coffee came from Bean Archives and I brewed using v60.