Review #28: Upside Coffee

Name of Roaster: Upside Coffee Location of Roaster (City, State, Country): Dublin, Ireland Name of Roast: Classic Espresso Type of Roast (Light, Medium, Dark): Medium Origin of Beans: Mexico Turruno Nayarita (2/3), El Salvador Montoleon (1/3) Price: €9.50 (250g) / $11.65 (8.82 oz) Brewing Method (Drip, Chemex, AeroPress, etc.): Chemex Time Between Purchase and Brewing (Ballpark is fine): Twenty-Two Days Aroma: The first scents upon opening the bag are of rich brownie batter and chocolate cake, followed by a subtle roast smell and chocolate ganache. The grind offers more nuance, with a lightened version of the aforementioned chocolate cake, along with a hint of nutmeg and a touch of red berry. On the pour, thick honey dominates, with an undercurrent of brown sugar and toffee.

Flavor Profile: The coffee had a high-to-mid entry on the tongue, with a rich nuttiness on the front end that hugs the roof of the mouth before creeping its way back across the tongue. The toasted nut is followed by a honeyed sweetness that coats the tongue prior to a rich finish of medium-dark chocolate. The sides of the tongue pick up a slight acidity with soft herbaceous notes that fade complementarily beneath the rich cocoa. Aftertaste of crisp chocolate chip cookie accompanies slight red berry and chocolate aromatics. Overall Impression (What did you think of it? Anything else we should know?): This was a well-balanced espresso blend, offering more complexity than we are used to seeing. The coffee had a number of complementary, nuanced layers of sweetness that coupled well with the primary note of rich chocolate. We look forward to trying this as a french press and with our AeroPress, but we think this understandably would best be experienced as an espresso shot to get the full experience of the sweetness. That stated, this is a lovely coffee we would readily recommend to anyone looking for a rich cup with exceptional balance and truly pleasant aromatics. Final Score (1-10, with 10 being the best cup of coffee in your life): 8.1 Where to Buy: Upside Coffee Looking to do a review of your own? Hop over to the Community and get to it!