“City to FC: White honey, mild fruits, and toffee almond. Cherry juice, citrus, and Earl Gray tea come through, along with a floral note.” -Sweet Marias
The initial sips are sweet, and the honey definitely comes across in the mouthfeel and sweetness. The toffee almond hints come right after. There is a fruit note, but it is very light. The finish is very tea like, but the toffee does linger a little as well. There is a hint of citrus acidity, and something floral, but I can’t nail it down. There is a dark sugar sweetness in the finish that lingers, which I feel comes from the toffee almond hints. The body feels juicy, with a light sweetness that lasts through the finish.
Still at a medium temperature, the citrus note is more noticeable, like a hint of lemon, and the body definitely feels thicker, but it still has a juiciness to it. The honey sweetness is smooth, and there is a flash of tartness that does remind me of cherry juice, but it was very slight and only lasted a few sips. As the cup cooled down, the acidity is still light, and there are hints of dark sugar toffee, which gave it a medium body. The finish definitely reminds me of Earl Gray, but it still has a nice sweetness to it, and both the tea and dark sugar linger.
Overall, this is a good first cup of coffee in the morning, especially with the sweetness, and the dark sugar toffee almond notes which take time to develop strength. The honey sweetness is not too sweet, and balances well with the tea like finish. As for the roasting details, the roast was done in the Gene Cafe roaster, with a heat setting of 460 degrees, for 15.0 minutes. First crack started approximately around 13:30 minutes and continued for about 1.5 minutes. Cooling was done in the Gene, down to 215 degrees, and then removed and cooled in a colander until room temperature.