Best Of 2018: Top 9 Coffee Reviews

Hi, everyone! As we bring 2018 to a close, we wanted to recap our top nine coffees that we reviewed over the past calendar year. Below is our list, along with a brief description and a link to the full review. We hope that we were able to introduce you to new coffees and new roasters this year, and we look forward to continuing to showcase and promote local craft roasters in the coming year. With that said, to our countdown, and to auld lang syne!

Honorable Mention: Detour Coffee Roasters - Santa Lucia Costa Rica

Detour Coffee Roasters, from Burlington, Ontario, developed a striking Costa Rican coffee that showed flavors of dark chocolate, orange marmalade, raspberry, and cocoa nibs along with a luxurious mouthfeel. We listed it as an honorable mention due to the fact that while we posted this review in 2018, we tasted the coffee in 2017. Detour is an exceptional Canadian roaster whose El Patio roast topped our 2017 "Best Of" list, so be sure and check them out. Rating: 8.5. Full Review.

9. Passenger Coffee Roasters - San Jacinto 2017 Reserve Lot Offering

Lancaster, Pennsylvania's Passenger Coffee Roasters introduced us to a vibrant coffee that provided notes of mango, guava, dried banana chips, mandarin orange, peach, milk chocolate, black tea and orange peel. Rating: 8.5. Full Review.

8. Dogwood Coffee Co. - Luis Joaquin Lovo

Dogwood Coffee Co., from Minneapolis, created a Nicaraguan coffee that showed notes of smoke, toasted marshmallow, baking spices, melted dark chocolate, honey, and a faint berry. Rating: 8.5. Full Review.

7. Sunergos Coffee - Ethiopia Hambela

Louisville, KY's Sunergos Coffee crafted an Ethiopia Hambela that provided notes of tart red berry, almond, cashew, dark chocolate, blood orange, cocoa powder, and dry white wine. Rating: 8.6. Full Review.

6. Mudhouse Coffee Roasters - Limu Dabessa

Mudhouse, Roast Magazine's 2017 roaster of the year, hails from Charlottesville, Virginia, and their Limu Dabessa, a Good Food Award winner, showed sweet nuttiness, dark berry juice (a mix of strawberry and blackberry), hibiscus, and dark chocolate crust. Rating: 8.6. Full Review.

5. Boxcar Coffee Roasters - El Salvador Mambo #5

Boxcar Coffee Roasters, from Boulder, Colorado, introduced us to a coffee that was tea-like and floral on the front, then showed tropical notes, including mango, creamsicle, pineapple, lemon, and lychee, a hint of tomato, Meyer lemon, hibiscus, rose petal, and mandarin orange. Rating: 8.6. Full Review.

4. Bar Nine - The 9

Hailing from Culver City, CA, Bar Nine developed The 9, our lone blend on this list, which makes it all the more impressive. The 9 shows flavors of dark chocolate, rich brown sugar, a compote of cherry, plum, and blueberry, orange peel, and a touch of lime. Rating: 8.6. Full Review.

3. The Boy & The Bear - Don Mario

This roaster, based in Redondo Beach, CA, introduced us to an impressive Colombian coffee that showed notes of lush, vibrant dark chocolate, warm spice, lemon, raspberry, mandarin orange, mango, guava, and papaya. Rating: 8.7. Full Review.

2. Saint Frank Coffee - Las Nubes

This San Francisco roaster introduced us to a Honduran coffee that showcased flavors of warm toasted cashew, red berry, guava, blood orange, and a pinch of cinnamon, and we could not get enough. Rating: 8.7. Full Review.

1. Blueprint Coffee - Finca Manzano

A playful and powerful coffee showcasing flavors of guava, green apple, pear, currant, muted orange, and red berry jam, the Finca Manzano from St. Louis roaster Blueprint Coffee was our highest rated coffee of 2018. Rating: 8.9. Full Review.

For our running list of all of our coffee reviews, click here.

See you all in 2019!