Here you will find, by brand, the list of varieties I've acquired, along with their short flavor descriptions that come from the website or are on the bag. On the page for each variety you will find general impressions as well as side-by-side comparisons I've done with that roast against other roasts.
Ecuador Light Roast - "Rich and Floral"
Ecuador French Roast - "Bright and Robust"
Ghana Light Roast - "Chocolatey and Smooth"
Ghana French Roast - "Bold and Roasty"
Nicaragua Medium Roast - "Dark and Chocolatey"
Venezuelan Medium Roast - "Rich Chocolate and Smooth"
Uber Dark Spanish Roast - "Dark and Darkest"
Ocumare Light Roast - "Rich and Complex"
Mexico Medium Roast - "Sweet Fruit and Subtle Spice"
Double Chocolate Light Roast - "Chocolatey and Chocolatey"
Highlander Grogg Light Roast - "Hazelnut, butterscotch, and Irish Cream"
Maya Light Roast - "Like the ancient Mayan kings, with a dash of cayenne and cinnamon"
Mocha Light Roast - "Taste of Coffee and Cacao without the Coffee"
Ecuador Dark Roast - "Robust, complex chocolaty tones"
Ecuador French Roast - "Complex, robust & coffee-like"
Ivory Coast Medium Roast - "Light chocolaty flavor with subtle grainy notes"
Ivory Coast Dark Roast - "Light chocolaty flavor with earthy tones"
Ivory Coast French Roast - "Medium-bodied, chocolaty with earthy tones and little smoky"
Nigeria Medium Roast - "Robust, Chocolatey and Smooth Flavor"
Nigeria Dark Roast - "Dark Chocolatey Flavor, Smooth and Roasted"
Nigeria French Roast - "Complex, Robust, Smoky and Smooth"
Volta Medium Roast - "Rich chocolaty flavor"
Volta Dark Roast - "Rich chocolaty and smoky"
Volta French Roast - "Rich, mocha-like flavor"
#2 Anakin - "A shadow of the darkness to come. A mixture of sharp innocence and a hint of darker things to come."
#3 The Big O - "A frighteningly painstaking blend... outside my comfort zone. Bright and snappy and fruity."
#3 Shot in the Dark - "espresso in brewed coffee, without the coffee"
#7 The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul - "High, low, sharp and round. It's all here and in harmony... but in a haunting minor key."
#8 Shadow's Silhouette - "This is right in the center. The Goldilocks zone if you will... like I had baking brownies in the oven."
#9 Ancillary Darkness - "More nutty with a ton of chocolate and very little fruit... depth of flavor without any bitterness of some the darker roasts."
#11 Foglifter - "Chocolate, woody note undertones, hints of smoke"
Bolivia - Wild Harvest Itenez - 2021 - "bold fudge and clear chocolate with undertones of well tanned leather and burnt sugar"
Colombia - Arauca 2021 - "round, full, creamy, succulent"
Dominican Republic - Öko Caribe 2021 - "Wood, sweet cherry, huckleberry, walnut skins, mango, sugar cane sweetness and a dry woodland earthiness."
Dominican Republic Zorzal 2021 - "fudge, tart cranberry, dates, burnt sugar, leather"
Guatemala - Cahabón 2020 - "delicate fruit blossom (plum or apricot), large chocolate flavor, walnut, mildly tannic brazil nut, hint of caramel"
India - Idukki Hills 2021 - "dutched cocoa, cashew, bold raisin, notes of creamy butterscotch and sweet caramel, hints of allspice, cinnamon and clove."
Republic of Congo 2018/19 - "tannins, wine, warm summer raisins, almond nuttiness, notes of tamarind and molasses"
Uganda - Semuliki Forest 2020 - "deep chocolate, super sweet caramel, dark brown sugar, spiced pudding, notes of cinnamon and clove, clean earthiness, fig jam laced cinnamon toast"
A couple of weeks into starting to drink brewed cocoa, I was really feeling like I was missing something. I thought maybe my lack of coffee experience was inhibiting my ability to taste the difference between the any of the roasts. I decided that the best way to see if I really was missing something or if the brands and roasts were just that similar was to do side-by-side taste testing. I was going to brew two cups at the same time, and when they were cool enough to drink and taste, I was going to take a sip from one and then immediately take a sip from the other and see if that would be enough to help me figure this out.
Back when I started doing comparisons, I brewed the two roasts for that day using different methods, such as a french press and a tea infuser. I even went through a couple of different tea infusers because the first one I had left a lot of sediment in the cup. Once I got a second french press and everything could be brewed evenly, I went back and did rematches for those earlier pairings to see if my thoughts or opinions changed. I wanted to make sure everything was done as evenly as possible.
Once I got through that, I went through every variety I had and did side-by-sides with every other variety, only keeping the flavored varieties mostly separate from the non-flavored ones. The end result was over 180 comparisons, possibly even over 200 with the rematches, and I'm not done yet.
As of now I'm working my way through new varieties from Chocolate Alchemy, which will be the rest of the ones they offer that I have not yet tried, and the new Nigeria offering from Choffy. As I only went with the 4 oz samples for the new Chocolate Alchemy varieties, I won't be able to compare each one against everything else, but hopefully I can hit enough of the high points to be able to understand each one well. If I feel any of them warrant extra testing, I can always get a second round.
Once all of that is done, then I guess that's pretty much it until new offerings become available or until a new company pops up. It's been quite a rabbit hole of discovery, but I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel.
Rematches, Blends, and Miscellaneous
Consider doing CB Venezuela with almond milk vs some of the previous losses
Chocolate Alchemy Bolivia
* Crio Bru Nicaragua Medium
* Chocolate Alchemy Anakin
* Chocolate Alchemy Foglifter
* Chocolate Alchemy Shot in the Dark
Choffy Ecuador Dark
Choffy Ecuador French
Choffy Ivory Coast Medium
Choffy Ivory Coast Dark
Choffy Ivory Coast French
Choffy Nigeria Medium
Choffy Nigeria Dark
Choffy Nigeria French
Choffy Volta Medium
Choffy Volta Dark
Choffy Volta French
Crio Bru Ecuador Light
Crio Bru Ecuador French
Crio Bru Ghana Light
Crio Bru Ghana French
Crio Bru Venezuela Medium
Crio Bru Uber Dark
Crio Bru Ocumare Light
Crio Bru Mexico Medium
Chocolate Alchemy Shadow's Silhouette
Chocolate Alchemy Colombia
Chocolate Alchemy Dominican Republic Oko Caribe
Chocolate Alchemy Dominican Republic Zorzal
Chocolate Alchemy Guatamala
Chocolate Alchemy India
Chocolate Alchemy Republic of Congo
Chocolate Alchemy Uganda
Chocolate Alchemy #11 Foglifter
(only a 4 oz sample. Will need to pick and choose. Candidates marked with an asterisk *)
* Chocolate Alchemy Shadow's Silhouette
* Choffy Nigeria Medium
* Chocolate Alchemy Shot in the Dark
* Crio Bru Mexico Medium
* Crio Bru Ghana Light
* Crio Bru Ecuador Light
* Crio Bru Nicaragua Medium
* Crio Bru Ecuador French
Choffy Ecuador Dark
Choffy Ecuador French
Choffy Ivory Coast Medium
Choffy Ivory Coast Dark
Choffy Ivory Coast French
Choffy Nigeria Dark
Choffy Nigeria French
Choffy Volta Medium
Choffy Volta Dark
Choffy Volta French
Crio Bru Ghana French
Crio Bru Venezuela Medium
Crio Bru Uber Dark
Crio Bru Ocumare Light
Chocolate Alchemy Anakin
Chocolate Alchemy Bolivia
Chocolate Alchemy Colombia
Chocolate Alchemy Dominican Republic Oko Caribe
Chocolate Alchemy Dominican Republic Zorzal
Chocolate Alchemy Guatamala
Chocolate Alchemy India
Chocolate Alchemy Republic of Congo
Chocolate Alchemy Uganda
Chocolate Alchemy #3 Shot in the Dark
(only a 4 oz sample. Will need to pick and choose. Candidates marked with an asterisk *)
* Choffy Ecuador French
* Choffy Volta French
* Crio Bru Uber Dark
* Choffy Nigeria French
* Choffy Nigeria Dark
* Chocolate Alchemy Anakin
* Crio Bru Nicaragua Medium
* Crio Bru Ocumare Light
* Crio Bru Mexico Medium
* Choffy Nigeria Medium
* Crio Bru Venezuela Medium
* Crio Bru Ecuador French
* Crio Bru Ghana French
* Crio Bru Ghana Light
Choffy Ecuador Dark
Choffy Ivory Coast French
Choffy Ivory Coast Medium
Choffy Ivory Coast Dark
Choffy Volta Medium
Choffy Volta Dark
Crio Bru Ecuador Light
Choffy Nigeria French
(Note: Comparisons with Nigeria French are on hold indefinitely due to hating it. I'll have to see if I can make myself come back to it at some point.)
Crio Bru Ocumare Light
Choffy Ecuador Dark
Choffy Ivory Coast Medium
Choffy Ivory Coast Dark
Choffy Ivory Coast French
Choffy Nigeria Medium
Choffy Volta Medium
Choffy Volta Dark
Crio Bru Ecuador Light
Crio Bru Ecuador French
Crio Bru Ghana Light
Crio Bru Ghana French
Crio Bru Venezuela Medium
Master list
Choffy Ecuador Dark
Choffy Ecuador French
Choffy Ivory Coast Medium
Choffy Ivory Coast Dark
Choffy Ivory Coast French
Choffy Nigeria Medium
Choffy Nigeria Dark
Choffy Nigeria French
Choffy Volta Medium
Choffy Volta Dark
Choffy Volta French
Crio Bru Ecuador Light
Crio Bru Ecuador French
Crio Bru Ghana Light
Crio Bru Ghana French
Crio Bru Nicaragua Medium
Crio Bru Venezuela Medium
Crio Bru Uber Dark
Crio Bru Ocumare Light
Crio Bru Mexico Medium
Chocolate Alchemy Anakin
Chocolate Alchemy Shot in the Dark
Chocolate Alchemy Shadow's Silhouette
Chocolate Alchemy Foglifter
Chocolate Alchemy Bolivia
Chocolate Alchemy Colombia
Chocolate Alchemy Dominican Republic Oko Caribe
Chocolate Alchemy Dominican Republic Zorzal
Chocolate Alchemy Guatamala
Chocolate Alchemy India
Chocolate Alchemy Republic of Congo
Chocolate Alchemy Uganda