Two new Coffee Review scores & our Balanced Blends Coffee Subscription

This week we received new Coffee Review scores for two filter coffees you know and love: Blue Sky Blend, which has been a part of Paradise since 2014, and our Ethiopia Awassa Blend, which had been around since 2008 but just made a return to Paradise after a short hiatus.

Both filter coffees are part of our Balanced Blends Coffee Subscription, which is easily among the best values of anything we have at Paradise Coffee Roasters right now. It's tailored for those who appreciate good coffees and the craftsmanship behind blended coffees and wines, but don’t consider themselves a “coffee geek” or a “coffee snob”.

We sent the high-end (Awassa at 16.95) and low-end (Blue Sky at 9.95) of our Balanced Blend coffee subscription into Coffee Review, to assess and compare the scores. This is what we found:

Awassa: 93 Points

Aroma:   9
Acidity:   8    
Body:   9
Flavor:  9
Aftertaste:   8

"Deeply rich, sweet-toned. Jasmine, dried mango, sandalwood, orange zest, chocolate fudge in aroma and cup. Gentle, crisp acidity; full, satiny mouthfeel. The finish consolidates to dried mango and cocoa-toned sandalwood notes.

The bottom line: A pretty washed-process Ethiopia coffee characterized by dried fruit and chocolate notes throughout.”

Blue Sky Blend: 91 Points

Aroma:   9
Acidity:   8      
Body:     8
Flavor:   9
Aftertaste: 7

“Intensely rich, deeply sweet. Halvah, cedar, rhododendron, lime zest, fresh pipe tobacco in aroma and cup. Sweet-savory acidity; lightly syrupy mouthfeel. The gently drying finish centers around sandalwood and pipe tobacco.

The bottom line: A journey through sweet, vanilla-toned florals to zesty citrus that concludes in aromatic wood and tobacco—a wild and interesting ride.”

About blending

There’s an art to blending coffees so the separate components build on each other to create a balanced expression of taste and aroma - like a tiramisu. We blend to achieve a goal: accentuate or abate characteristics of aroma, flavor, acidity, sweetness and body. And we adjust until the coffee is both tight-knit and well-rounded. In the Blue Sky Breakfast Blend, we’ve aimed for pleasing balance between sweetness, acidity and mouthfeel.

We also blend to express the essence of an origin. Our Ethiopia Awassa & Sumatra Danau Toba have been blended from some of the best lots we’ve cupped of their respective region, giving you - the coffee lover - an elemental experience of place. Sumatra Danau Toba is a wild coffee with spicy/sweet tobacco-like tones, a huge mouthfeel and deep, wild character. Ethiopia Awassa is an exotically floral cup with light, bright blueberry, cantaloupe and green tea character.

There's a fair amount of cupping, experience, time and testing that goes into formulating a blend of any kind. And we don't put out anything we won't stand behind. It's for that reason our Balanced Blends Coffee Subscription is among our best value coffee subscriptions (tied with the Espresso Tour).