My own description of the flavor here
Amount of grounds:
2 tablespoons per 10 oz of water
Brewing time:
8.5 minutes
Additions:
None
Reusing grounds:
Not tested
Using grounds in food:
Not tested
First Impressions:
The aroma at the beginning seemed a bit on the pungent side, almost like it was going to be another Ancillary Darkness or Shot in the Dark, but once I took a sip, it was actually pretty decent. It is decently chocolatey, but I can also pick out the "well tanned leather" feel to it, and maybe a little bit of the burnt sugar. Adding a little bit of almond milk to it, I got a really pleasant surprise of getting some of that toasted marshmallow flavor I get out of Anakin, but with a much bigger kick of chocolate! That was really interesting and really good!
General Thoughts:
General feeling about the roast
This is my first side-by-side with the Bolivia. I was pretty pleased with it when I had it on its own, so let's see how this plays out.
Overall, the aroma coming from these two as they cool is reminding me a bit of Foglifter. There's a very fudgy and brownie like aroma going on. Getting the aroma of the Bolivia up close, there's a very woody and leathery smell to it, and maybe just a hint of fruity. Taking my first sip, there's some chocolate, and the woody and leathery flavors are definitely there and fairly strong. There's another flavor that's kind of reminding me of something, but I can't quite pick it out. Oh, maybe a little smoky? It's decent right out of the gate. The Nigeria is quite bitter and really does come across as one of those super dark chocolate bars, but it also has almost a musty aroma and flavor to it. It's not bad, but it does make me crinkle my nose a tiny bit. Going back to the Bolivia, it still has the leather and smoke and chocolate, but now it also tastes slightly meaty. But in spite of that, I do prefer it over the Nicaragua.
Giving the Nicaragua a little splash of vanilla almond milk, its flavor is definitely improved. It's gone fairly chocolaty, and the strong bitterness is mostly gone now. The Bolivia next to it is coming across as even more meaty and smoky. The Nicaragua is my definite preference here.
With a little splash of almond milk in the Bolivia, I have to say that I'm surprised that there's not much more of a change. In my initial impression I had said it went into the toasted marshmallow flavor of Anakin but with a bigger chocolate kick. That doesn't seem the be the case at the moment, and it's now just "less meaty". The aroma still has a good bit of the leathery and smoky qualities to it, but the flavor hasn't budged too much. The Nicaragua, on the other hand, is picked back up some of its bitterness, but it's still very chocolaty overall. I think the Nicaragua still wins here.
After the strong "meaty" flavor coming out of the Bolivia during the comparison to Nicaragua, I figured this was the natural place to go because Anakin has also been known to get that flavor when comparing against others. Right off the bat, just looking at them, Anakin is much darker than the Bolivia. Taking a sip of Bolivia, there's still a slightly meaty flavor to it, but it's more on the side of woody and leathery for now. There's also a decent fudgy flavor in there, which may make for an interesting comparison against Foglifter later. Anakin has a much more roasted flavor to it, coming out as much more smoky. A lot of times when I drink it black, I really don't like it, but here, it's not too bad. Going back to the Bolivia, now things are starting to go tart! It's still fudgy and leathery, but compared to the Anakin, there's little to no smoke in it, and the "meaty" flavor, which I think is a combination of the leather and smoke, isn't really there anymore. I'm not a big fan of either one like this, and it's a really close call for which one I prefer, but I think I have to give it to Anakin by just a tiny bit.
Adding a splash of vanilla almond milk to the Bolivia, the fudgy flavor is back and stronger, and most of the tartness is gone, although there's still a tiny bit in the background. It's definitely much improved. Going over to the Anakin, I thought the flavor would change more in comparison, but it really didn't change at all. The Bolivia is staying pretty good overall, too. The tartness is still hanging out, but it's not too bad, and I prefer this over the Anakin by a good bit.
Giving Anakin a little splash of almond milk, I'm surprised to find that it did not get the usual toasted marshmallow flavor right off the bat. It's less smoky and dark, but that's about it. Those are still the primary flavors dominating it. I gave it a minute or two without drinking anything else and came back to it, and now it's getting just a tiny bit of the toasty marshmallow to it, but still not as much as I normally experience. The Bolivia is still slightly tart, leathery, and fudgy. This is a super close call. They're both decent, but not great at the moment. This isn't what I was hoping for when comparing these two. I think I have to call this one a tie.
The Bolivia is starting off with a somewhat smoky and leathery flavor, and mildly tart. The aroma pretty much matches. It's also just a little on the meaty side at the moment, but it will be interesting to see what drinking it next to Shot in the Dark does. Shot in the Dark is very smoky and roasty, almost charred, and pretty bitter. That's pretty much all I can get out of the either flavor or the aroma. Going back to the Bolivia, the darkness of Shot in the Dark knocks out out the smoky flavor out of it, and so it's less in the "meaty" realm, but it's quite a bit more tart than it was at first. It's not Foglifter-level of tartness, but it's pretty up there. Between these two, I'm not sure if I have a preference of one over the other. I don't really like either one when compared like this.
Since it was a tie so far, I just added some vanilla almond milk to both at the same time. The Bolivia starts off a lot more chocolaty, and at the moment, is mostly lacking the leathery flavor. Shot in the Dark is still mostly just smoky, but most of the bitterness is gone. It's not as harsh as it is when it's plain, but there's still no real other flavors coming out. The Bolivia is actually keeping a pretty decent chocolate flavor to it and not getting tart or otherwise weird, and I actually like it quite a bit. Bolivia is definitely my winner here.
Starting with the Bolivia, it's a little bitter and has a fairly strong flavor of what reminds me of leather. It's also slightly tart, and I'm not sure that I'm getting much chocolate from it at the moment. Foglifter is mostly coming across as tartness with little else in the flavor. The aroma is a little bit like a brownie, but it's not coming through the flavor much. Going back to the Bolivia, it's still leathery, and even slightly meaty. (That's always just so weird to say.) If I give it a little bit of time going back and forth, Foglifter has more of a fudgy flavor to it, but it's still really tart. Honestly, I'm just not a big fan of either one here, and I think I'm calling this a tie.
I decided to just go with adding vanilla almond milk to both at the same time this time, and starting with a sip of Foglifter, it's much less tart on the first sip and a lot more chocolaty. The Bolivia still has that leathery or meaty flavor, but there's more chocolate in it now, too. I'm still not getting the "toasted marshmallow with a bigger kick of chocolate" that I got with it the first time I tried it. Oh wait... I just took a much bigger sip, and it seemed to get that just a little bit! Not much, and it's still a little on the leathery side, but it was there. Doing the same with Foglifter, the bigger sip yielded less tartness and more fudgy chocolate in the flavor. Huh. That's weird. I wonder why a bigger sip matters. Well, Foglifter is still a little tart. Both of these are much better with the almond milk, but I don't know that I can pick one over the other, mainly because of the attributes I don't like about each one. I think this is another tie, but just a better tie than before.