Shoebox Coffee Roasters Reviews

Aroma: 9.5/10 Taste: 9.5/10 Sweetness: 5/5 Acidity: 5/5 Body: 4.5/5 Finish: 4/5 Score: 93.75 The aroma was juicy and fruit forward. Dark fruit notes came through strongest. Black currant was most prominent. Nice blackberry presence too. Excellent balance of sweet and savory. Touch of earthiness. As the coffee cooled, the dark fruit notes and the overall sweetness really intensified. The blackberry notes became sweeter and juicier and the earthiness intensified as well. The flavor profile was somewhat similar to the nose but less sweet and more acidic. Excellent sweet-tart combo up front. Ripe raspberry notes were most apparent. Red currant was noticeable as well. Good doses of start cranberry too. There was a big, zippy, lemony acidity in the center. As the coffee opened up, sweet blackberry notes appeared on the back end. The overall sweetness became more pronounced too. Lemon notes lingered in the impeccably crisp, clean finish. All in all, outstanding sweetness in both the aroma and the flavor. Exceptional acidity in the both aroma and flavor. Excellent soft, juicy, medium bodied mouthfeel. This is a beautifully roasted Kenyan coffee that demonstrated tremendous complexity and nuance after an extended period of rest.

The aroma was extremely delicate and tea like. Matcha tea came to mind. There was a big grassy note as well. Hint of sweetness. As the coffee opened up, a subtle stone fruit quality appeared. Fuzzy peach skin came to mind. The sweetness also intensified. The flavor profile was also delicate and tea like and fairly similar to the nose. Green tea was most prominent. Hint of juicy stone fruit character as well. Like in the aroma, fuzzy peach skin came to mind. Touch of lemony acidity in the center. More green tea and some drying tannins carried into the back end and the finish. Zippy lemon notes reappeared here as well and lingered after the swallow. As the coffee approached room temperature, the stone fruit presence intensified, as did the overall sweetness. Hint of florality as well. Overall, medium-high sweetness in the aroma and high sweetness in the flavor. Medium-high acidity in the aroma and outstanding acidity in the flavor. Fantastic soft, creamy, juicy, lighter bodied mouthfeel. This is a really delicate and nuanced Ethiopian that requires both patience and focus to truly appreciate. Like almost all of Shoebox's coffees, this one improved considerably after a lengthy rest

This is a pretty trippy red bourbon. I'm grading it up a little bit because it's so interesting. It reminds me a lot of something. I really loved as a kid, a prunella and chrysanthemum tea that my mom made me with rock sugar. The roosters notes are a little bit more traditional, but I can pick them up a bit as well. There's tons of natural sweetness here and a very smooth mouth feel. This is a very easy coffee to chug but a lot of nuance when you slow down with it. Probably the best Rwandan I've ever had.

Theo Chan, Managing Editor

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