“City to FC: Complex fruit notes, papaya, passion fruit, orange, kiwi. Pulpy citrus and black tea finish. SO Espresso.” -Sweet Marias

Dare I say I may have learned my lesson in not burning myself with hot coffee (knock on wood)? We shall see. That said, there is a complexity to the initial sips, a hint of strange fruit notes that I can’t really identify right away. There is a hint of orange, and what I think is papaya. The black team is very evident in the finish. The body feels juicy, with a light sweetness that lasts through the finish. The acidity is light, when compared to the black tea tones.

Still at a medium temperature, the fruit notes have increased with orange and passion fruit, and the body definitely feels thicker, but it still has a juiciness to it. The sweetness is smooth, and the black tea finish definitely lingers more. As the cup cooled down, the acidity was still light, and there were hints of kiwi, and bright acidity as well. The finish is still very black tea like, but it does have a little acidity to it now, a light citrus tartness, and both the tea and acidity linger.

Overall, this is a good first cup of coffee for the weekend, or lazy mid-morning, especially with the complex fruit notes, which take time to develop. The citrus flavors are not too bright, and balance 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.