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 coming off this one is very fudgy, a little fruity, and a lot like brownies. The flavor kind of matches, too. It has a sharpness to it, but not quite pungent, and it is a little fruity tasting, although I can't exactly pick out how. It's good. Adding a little bit of vanilla almond milk to it, both the aroma and the flavor go way off into the chocolate deep end. It's really nice and chocolatey. Just from this one time, I think I could see having this one around long term.
General Thoughts:
General feeling about the roast
Starting with the Foglifter, even though I just did the comparison with Ghana Light about an hour ago, this batch has more of the tart flavor to it than that one did. I don't think I did anything differently, so I don't know why it does that. It's still good overall, and definitely has a very fudgy flavor and aroma, but the tartness is definitely more apparent. The Ecuador is coming out strong with that sharp sweet almost licorice-like flavor. It's less chocolaty than the Foglifter, but it's really good. Going back to Foglifter, now it's even more tart, and a lot of the chocolaty flavor is in the background behind it. The winner of this round is definitely the Ecuador.
Adding a little splash of vanilla almond milk to Foglifter, the tartness is still there, but the vanilla brings out more of the chocolaty and fudgy flavor. It's good overall, but yeah, that tartness is not something I'm fond of. The Ecuador doesn't really seem much different than before. The sweetness is still coming on strong, and there's still a bit of a chocolaty flavor to it. Even though Foglifter is improved, the tartness is still holding it back, and I still prefer the Ecuador over it.
With a little splash of almond milk in the Ecuador, it honestly hasn't changed much. It doesn't seem any sweeter or more chocolaty or anything. I kind of wonder if I didn't put in enough, but I don't want to overdo it. But it had an effect on Foglifter, because now going back to that, it's more tart again. I'm really starting to think that Foglifter is best enjoyed on its own, but also with a bit of time (days) between cups. It seems like when I'm gone from it for a while, the first cup of it when I come back is really good, but after that it gets tart fast. That being said, the Ecuador is still my preference.
Starting off with Foglifter, it's awesome in the first sip or two. It both smells and tastes like fresh brownies, minus the sweetness. This is how I want it to be all the time. It's just a super fudgy and really good. I wonder how much that will change. Going over to the Ghana, it's a very light and grainy flavor with very little chocolate in comparison. It's also really good. But now comes the moment of truthiness... Ok! Foglifter has not gone super tart like it has in the past. It's still fudgy and really good, with only just a tiny hint of tartness in the background. It's still really good overall. I really like both of these this morning, and the race is somewhat close, but I have to say for now, Foglifter is the winner!
Adding just a little splash of vanilla almond milk only to Foglifter first, it starts off with a surprisingly nutty flavor compared to what it was. But it's also still fudgy and chocolaty and reminds me just a tiny bit of cooked chocolate pudding in its flavor. Granted, it's been years since I've had that, but it's just the memory it tickles at the moment. In comparison, the Ghana tastes just a tiny bit sweeter than it did a moment ago. They're both really good, and the race is even closer than it was before, but I think I still prefer the more chocolaty flavor of Foglifter over the grainy cereal-like flavor of the Ghana.
With a tiny splash of almond milk in the Ghana, it's coming across even more as a sweeter cereal-like flavor now. The Foglifter is still it's fudgy and slightly nutty self, which considering previous comparisons resulted in it going super tart, I'm both really surprised and pleased about. They're both super good, and I think I have to call this one of the best ties ever. Yum!
I'm starting off with Foglifter first, and it's been a weirdly mixed bag this morning. First I compared it against Ghana Light and it never really got to that tart stage. Then I compared it against Ecuador Light, and even before I had tried the Ecuador, that new cup had a very tart flavor. Now I'm back with a third cup, and this one is back to the one in the Ghana comparison where it's milder, not very tart, and fairly fudgy overall. I have no idea what determines these changes when I'm measuring and brewing them all exactly the same each time. If I knew how to make it without the tartness each time, I would, because that would be awesome.
Anyway, kicking off, Foglifter is nice and fudgy and lacks most of the tartness that I've seen in it before. I've been thinking about the description from Chocolate Alchemy abut having "woody note undertones and hints of smoke", but I never seem to pick those out. But I'll take the strong freshly baked brownie flavor and aroma any day. The Nicaragua next to it is quite bitter and has a flavor that almost reminds me of the way leather smells. If anything, I'd call this one "woody note undertones". Going back to the Foglifter, it's still fairly fudgy and brownie like, but has a tiny bit more tartness to it now. But I still prefer it over the Nicaragua quite a bit.
It was hard to pick which one to add the vanilla almond milk to first, but I decided to go with the Nicaragua since I like it less. With the almond milk, it has a much stronger chocolate flavor, and while the bitterness is mostly gone, I can still pick out those leathery, woody, and almost rubbery flavors. It's definitely much improved. The Foglifter next to it is now much more tart than it was a moment ago. Even though I'm not a huge fan of the bitter flavors in the Nicaragua, the stronger chocolate flavor is good, and it wins out over the tartness in the Foglifter.
With almond milk in Foglifter now, the first sip shows a drastic reduction in the tartness. It's still there lingering in the background, but the fudgy flavor and overall chocolaty flavor are really good at the moment. The Nicaragua is still a little on the bitter side, and its chocolaty flavor is different than that of the Foglifter. Foglifter is definitely more brownie like, but Nicaragua is earthy and slightly more like a dark chocolate bar. Going back to the Foglifter, it's picked up more of the tart flavor again, but it's not nearly as strong, and a good bit of the fudgy flavor comes through. This may actually be a fairly close race due to the properties in each that I don't like rather than the ones I do like, but in the end, I think the fudgy brownie flavor of the Foglifter, along with the tartness not being quite so strong, comes out as the winner for me.
I'm kind of picking ones that have had tartness to them historically to compare against Foglifter in the hope that having two tart ones will cause the other flavors to pop out a bit more. Also, stupid side note, I accidentally poured these when I was supposed to swirl them. I caught it fairly quickly after, so I poured them back into the french presses to finish up, but there's a good chance that it may have caused issues with flavor or texture. We'll see.
Starting with Foglifter, it's been sitting here smelling like a brownie while it cools. Going in for a sip, the aroma gets a bit more tart, and the flavor is also a little tart, but there's a good bit of fudgy chocolate there. Going over to the Mexico, the aroma and flavor are both much more bitter with just a hint of tartness. Honestly there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of chocolate in the flavor at the moment. Going back over to Foglifter, it now seems just a little more tart, but not as strong as it's been in other comparisons. Also there's a bit of bready fermentation in the aroma. I'm not a fan of either one like this, but at the moment, but I think Foglifter actually eeks out a win.
I decided to start with the Mexico for adding vanilla almond milk. It did its usual thing of going very milk chocolaty right away, but there's still a hint of bitterness in the back. Foglifter is still tart, but is still keeping a good bit of fudgy brownie in its flavor and aroma. In fact, it even seems to have mostly dropped the bready and fermented flavors for now. But between these two, I definitely prefer the Mexico.
With almond milk in the Foglifter now, it's still just a tiny bit tart, but there's more of a chocolaty flavor, and it definitely still has the fudgy brownie quality. It actually brings out a stronger tartness and bitterness from the Mexico. There's still some chocolate, but it's not quite what it was. Back to the Foglifter, the fudgy brownie quality is mostly in the aroma, but the flavor is more of a mellow chocolate. Not milk chocolate, per se, but just not brownie like. There is still a decent amount of tartness, but it's not overwhelming, and with the bitterness that it's bringing out in the Mexico, I think I actually like Foglifter just a tiny bit more.
Since I've experienced both of these to be fairly chocolaty in their own way, I thought I'd pair them up and see how it goes. I will say that as they have been here cooling, the Foglifter is smelling absolutely fudgy! It really does smell like a warm brownie sitting on my desk. But it's hard to know which one to start with, because I know the flavor of one will affect the other. But considering that at this point I've only had Foglifter twice, but I've done my full comparison gamut with Nigeria, I'll go with the Foglifter.
The aroma really is heavenly. Just the aroma is slightly tart but has a great dark chocolate scent to it, too. Again, I'm not 100% sure what people mean when they say that a cocoa is "fruity", but this strikes me as something that would be fruity. The flavor does have a bit of tartness to it, but it's also very chocolaty. But not just chocolaty... like I said with the aroma, it's like a fudgy brownie. The tartness is a little strong, but it's otherwise great. The Nigeria, on the other hand, has a nutty flavor that is just the tiniest bit burnt. That's something I was picking up towards the end of my comparison streak with it, which seemed weird because it's the medium roast. The dark and french roasts were the ones that originally had strong "burnt" qualities to them, but I do pick it up in the medium a little bit. It's also a little bitter, and the chocolate flavor is very different. It's definitely not fudgy at all, but it's there, reminding me a tiny bit of a milk chocolate bar. Going back to the Foglifter, the tartness is powerful. It's the type of tartness you feel in your jowls by your years, and your mouth immediately waters, almost painfully. The very first sip had me thinking it was the definite winner, but going back to it after the Nigeria, unfortunately it's not. And actually, drinking them both black, this is one of those comparisons where I think they cause each other to highlight their worst traits. I prefer the Nigeria just a little bit over the Foglifter for now, so I'm calling it the winner, but I think if I weren't doing a comparison and drinking them separately, the Foglifter would be my preference.
I'm curious what a doctored version of the Nigeria will do to Foglifter, so I added vanilla almond milk only to the Nigeria first. It gets a lot more nutty and a lot more chocolaty, as in a nearly milk chocolate flavor, but there's still just the tiniest hint of the burnt nut flavor hanging out way in the background as a kind of bitterness. Trying the Foglifter again, oof... it didn't help it in this case. It's still super tart. The aroma is still very fudgy, and the flavor has it just a little bit, but it's so overpowered by the tartness that it's hard to pick it out. The Nigeria still wins.
Even after giving Foglifter a splash of almond milk, it's still super tart. The aroma is amazing, but it's really hard to drink because the tartness almost makes my cheeks ache. Even though the Nigeria has this weird flavor that reminds me "of the 1970s" (Wut!?) it still comes out as the winner.
Update: Even an hour later, I'm still feel like I'm feeling a little bit of the tartness from the Foglifter. It's to the point where I don't even think I can do a second comparison of anything today. :-(
The very first sip of Foglifter has a lot of the fudgy flavor and aroma, but also quite a bit of tartness to it. It's, at the moment, not as strongly tart as when I compared it against the Nigeria Medium yesterday, but it's still a lot. And it's getting stronger in subsequent sips. Oof. I really want to like it for the fudgy and brownie flavors, but that tartness is really making it hard. Next to it, Shot in the Dark is pretty much all smoke and roast. There's a tiny bit of tartness there, too, but it feels weirdly disembodied from the strong smoky flavor, almost like it has no business being there, and that it's only there because the Foglifter is bullying it into being tart. Going back to the Foglifter, the aroma now has a fermented breadiness to it, but it's also still super tart, and the fudgy brownie flavor has taken a back seat to it all. I'm just not a fan of either one, but given the circumstances, I think I have to say I actually prefer Shot in the Dark. Ouch.
Giving Shot in the Dark a splash of vanilla almond milk, it's still very smoky, but it's starting to take on some toasty marshmallow sweetness that I typically find in Anakin. It's definitely much improved. Foglifter is still super tart next to it, and it does still have a hint of the fermented breadiness, but some of the brownie flavor is back now. Going back to Shot in the Dark, the toasty marshmallow flavor has dissipated a little and it's mostly just smoky. But even then, I think I still slightly prefer Shot in the Dark over Foglifter.
I didn't get to do a comparison with almond milk in Foglifter.
This is the first comparison I've done with Foglifter, and I figured that the other heavy chocolate hitter known as Shadow's Silhouette would be the best place to start. As they're sitting here cooling, it just smells very chocolatey in here, like I have a little oven with fresh brownies baking while I'm also making fudge.
In tasting them, they are both very chocolatey, and it's nice to see that the Foglifter doesn't seem to be bringing out any tartness in the Shadow's Silhouette. Actually, that may be flipped. Shadow's Silhouette may be bringing out just a hair of tartness in the Foglifter. Either way, these are both really good... and they're actually quite close in flavor and aroma. Really close. As in, it's really hard to tell them apart. I'm really trying to pay attention to the differences, but there are hardly any. There might be just the absolute tiniest bit of the sharp sweetness that I pick up sometimes in the Ecuador roasts lurking in Shadow's Silhouette, but I'm not sure if my brain is just making that up. The only other difference is the little bit of extra tartness in Foglifter that I mentioned earlier. But even with those tiny differences, I think I have to call this a tie. I delicious tie.
With vanilla almond milk in both of them, Shadow's Silhouette is pure chocolate flavor, while Foglifter still has some tartness, and while it's all chocolate, it seems weaker than Shadow's Silhouette. They're both really good, but Shadow's Silhouette wins 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.