Grainy and smoky
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 recommended. Bitter.
General Thoughts:
General feeling about the roast
The Ecuador is pretty light and chocolatey with that little "ting" of sweetness to it. In comparison, the Ivory Coast has a smoky earthiness in the aroma and tastes very smoky, not very chocolatey, and is just overall harsher. Even though I like the Ivory Coast quite a bit, this comparison just makes it somewhat "meh", and the Ecuador is definitely my favorite of the two.
I blended the last couple of sips of each, and the aroma is just a tiny bit smoky and earthy but the flavor is pretty flat. It's a little chocolatey, but not much else comes out in the flavor.
True to the description, the Ivory Coast is both earthy and smoky. The Ecuador is smoky and sweetly pungent. They're both a little chocolatey, but in different ways. They're both really good, but I think I prefer the Ecuador over the Ivory Coast.
I blended the last little bit of each, and the result is unremarkable. The aroma has both the sweet pungency and the earthiness, but the flavor seems to have neither. It's kind of chocolatey, a little smoky, but kind of bitter. Not one of my favorites.
Wow, these two are amazingly similar. I thought at least with Choffy normally being the more roasty version, even with the same roast level, there would be a lot more difference and the roast level would really stand out, but not so much. They're both earthy and a little chocolatey, but while the Ivory Coast has a little bit of that smoky flavor, it's somewhat bitter, and the Ghana is slightly sweeter with a tart edge to it. They're pretty evenly matched, really. It's like the bitterness of the Ivory Coast and the tartness of the Ghana are holding them each back. I think I'm calling this one a tie.
As expected, these two are very similar, much like their lighter roast siblings. When smelling them right before taking a sip, the Ghana smells a little more earthy over the Ivory Coast, while the Ivory Coast smells just a tad sharper, which I think is the bitterness coming through. I think that I like the Ivory Coast just a tiny bit more than the Ghana, which is also how I felt with the lighter roast comparison in round 15.
One thing I will say is that I'm appreciating the descriptions from Choffy more than the ones from Crio Bru as they tend to be more descriptive and accurate. I think Crio Bru tries to come up with too many "thing 1 and thing 2" two-word descriptions that don't do the roast or blend justice.
Nicaragua may be "busted" for me this morning. I just finished comparing against Volta French, and in that comparison, it came across as very sour and bready and almost fermented. I say that because starting with Nicaragua for this one, I'm already picking up on the same things. It's like now that I've become aware of it, it's the only way my brain will perceive it now. It's like the time I got Choffy k-cups for work that had gone bad, and I had to wait a few days after before my Ivory Coast stuff here at home didn't taste the same way. I may have to take a break from Nicaragua for a little while for my brain and tastebuds to reset.
Anyway, after the Nicaragua, the Ivory Coast is very earthy and smoky, and a little chocolatey. I would even almost call it "dusty" in a way, almost as in a dusty old barn. Ok, what is going on today? I mean, it's not bad, it's just that the Nicaragua has things all jacked up. I may have to come back for a rematch later. But at this point, I'd say I prefer to the Ivory Coast.
I blended the last little bit of each, and the end result is still very Nicaragua heavy. I smell the sourness in the aroma, although it doesn't come across as strong in the flavor. I can still pick it out if I try, but the Ivory Coast definitely calmed it down. I'm not sure I'd call it a "good" blend, but it's better than the Nicaragua plain at this point.
My first reaction was "I'm not sure what it is about the Venezuela, it seems to be very close in flavor to a lot of different things!" But then I realized the last size-by-side I did with it was the Crio Bru Ghana roasts, so it kind of makes sense.
Taking the first sniff and swig of the Ivory Coast, I definitely pick up on the earthy flavor, but surprisingly less of the roasty flavor than I expected. Venezuela seems to be just a little bit more chocolatey in flavor comparatively, with a very light pungent note. It's funny, but when I immediately go back to the Ivory Coast, rather than earthy, the flavor becomes less earthy, more grainy and a tiny bit sweet. I feel like the Venezuela is what I'd consider to be a tiny bit more in the realm of "normal" for brewing cocoa. I have to be careful drinking them too close to one another, because they really do start to taste identical. This is another one where it's really hard to pick a favorite, but I think I like the grainy flavor of the Ivory Coast just the tiniest bit more than the full on chocolatey flavor of the Venezuela.
Sipping the Ivory Coast French first, I pick up the earthy and smoky flavors fine. Switching to the Uber Dark, it's just all roast and pretty much wipes out any lingering flavor of the Ivory Coast, and when I go back to the Ivory Coast, the strong roasty flavor of the Uber Dark wipes out the smoky flavor and I pick up the stronger earthy flavor of the Ivory Coast, along with a much stronger chocolate flavor. Between the two I definitely like the Ivory Coast better.
I was curious about what would happen if I blended them, so when I got down to the last few sips of each, I poured the Ivory Coast into the Uber Dark. The whole thing kind of gets muted in all sorts of directions. The roasty flavor of Uber Dark is way subdued, as is the earthy flavor of the Ivory Coast. Interestingly, I'm left with a slightly roasty and mostly chocolate flavor, but it has a long after taste of the Uber Dark's roast flavor. That's weird. It's decent, but it's weird. Although, now that I'm thinking about it and experiencing it, I'm not 100% sure if I'm getting it from the blend, or if it's actually left over from when I was tasting the two separately. I know Uber Dark's flavor tends to linger quite a bit. I may need to make a point of testing it blended from the get-go and see what it's like.
Starting off with the Ocumare, it has the usual bitter, deeply earthy, and chocolatey flavors. Going over to the Ivory Coast, I noticed quickly that the aroma was coming across as... sweet and dusty? I think that's the smoky aroma trying to come through. Taking a sip, I'm mostly getting smoky and earthy flavors with little to none of the sweetness I'm picking up in the aroma. I also wouldn't exactly call it chocolatey, either. Going from the Ivory Coast back to the Ocumare, the flavor of the Ocumare doesn't really change much. I thought at first maybe it seemed a little less bitter, but no, it's pretty much still all there. If there's one thing to say about the Ocumare flavors and aromas, they are tenacious in the face of comparison and blending. They don't move aside easily. Even in spite of that, there's a lot of similarity between these two, and I almost want to call this a tie. But that strong bitterness in the Ocumare is just something I don't think I'd want to drink every day, so I'm calling it slightly in favor of Ivory Coast.
Starting with the Mexico first, it has a good bit of tartness to it, and while there's a little bit of chocolate in the background, it seems that the more I drink it, the less that stands out. There's another roast that did something similar, and I think it was either Crio Bru's Nicaragua or their Ocumare. Anyway, the Ivory Coast is fairly smoky and somewhat earthy and almost kind of "dusty" in flavor. I don't know that I'd say that there's much chocolate to it, although ever since picking out the earthy flavors in the Godiva chocolate back in April, that kind of sticks in my head as "this IS the chocolate flavor." Going back and forth between the Mexico and the Ivory Coast, nothing is really changing, and I prefer the smoky earthiness of Ivory Coast over the tart pungency of Mexico.
Adding vanilla almond milk only to the Mexico for now, it goes fairly chocolaty and at the first sip, seems to lose most of the tartness and pungency. In comparison, it really makes the dusty smokiness and earthy flavor of the Ivory Coast stand out. When going back to the Mexico, some of the tartness is more apparent, but it's not nearly as strong as it was at first, and is staying fairly chocolaty. I prefer the Mexico overall here.
Adding the almond milk to the Ivory Coast, it's less smoky and dusty, but still has a pretty decent showing for earthy. It's good, and it's improved over what it was, but even with the light tartness in the Mexico, the Mexico still wins out due to the stronger chocolate flavor.
I started with the Ivory Coast this time, even though it's the darker of the two roasts. It's a little roasty and decently chocolatey. The Ecuador has the usual strong pungency, but this time in comparison, it's also a little something different. I wouldn't call it sweet or spicy, yet it feels a little like both. Would it be considered fruity? Maybe it kind of is against the Ivory Coast, but the end result is that it's pretty good. It's a closer race than I thought it would be. I really like the Ecuador in this comparison, but looking at it from the perspective of "which one could I get a big bag and drink for a while, along with lacking the chocolatey flavors of the Ivory Coast, I prefer the Ivory Coast over the Ecuador.
Sipping first from the Ivory Coast, I'm struck by how chocolatey it actually tastes. There's a slight earthiness and it's really good. Going over to the Ecuador, I'm really struck by the coffee-like flavor. The sharp pungency and in-your-face roast just really stand out over everything. Going back to the Ivory Coast, the earthy side really comes out even more, and the chocolatey flavor takes a back seat, although it still has a fairly chocolatey aroma. The Ivory Coast is the definite winner here.
Blending the last quarter of each cup, the result has a bit of the aroma of the Ivory Coast, earthy and a little smoky. The pungency of the Ecuador is pretty much wiped out, which is really interesting because it's such a strong aroma and flavor normally.
The medium roast is light and grainy in flavor, a bit earthy in aroma, and mostly missing any real chocolatey flavor. The french roast has a sharper and more roasted aroma with a hint of earthiness, and some smokiness and a little bit of chocolate in the flavor. I think that overall I like the french roast more.
I think the description for the Ivory Coast French roast is fairly accurate, especially when comparing it to the dark roast. The smell between the two is slightly different as well. The dark roast has that earthy smell to it, but it's almost like the french roast goes back to the nutty smell of the medium roast.
Overall the difference between the dark and french roasts of the Ivory Coast variety are much more subtle than the differences between the same roasts as the Volta variety. I still feel like I like the Ivory Coast better than the Volta overall, but I may need additional side-by-sides to compare Volta Dark to IC Dark and Volta French vs IC French.
This comparison was originally done before the brewing methods were evenly matched and I was brewing for a longer amount of time.
The dark roast has a little bit of that earthy flavor, but it's also decently chocolatey. As expected, the french roast is, well, more roasty. I feel like there might also be a tiny bit of something else leaning towards a tiny bit of almost "spicy", but that's not quite right. I guess it might just be the additional roast, or the "little smoky" that's in the description. It's good and I really like it.
I will say that I don't feel like I'm picking up a difference between "earthy" in the dark roast or "nutty" in the french roast anymore. That nutty/earthy quality now seems to be evened out that the brewing methods are better matched.
Between the two, I think I like the french roast just a little more. It's got a little extra something to to it that I really enjoy.
The Ivory Coast has a fairly smoky flavor, but it's still somewhat chocolaty and a decent amount of earthiness to it. There's also a little bit of the light grainy sweetness floating around in the background. The Nigeria has just a hint of fermentation in the aroma, but not in the flavor that I can tell so far. It's just decently chocolaty with just a hint of the nuttiness to it. There's also a sweetness to it, but it's different than the earthy version of the Ivory Coast. I think I like the aroma of the Ivory Coast just a tiny bit more, but the flavor of the Nigeria just a tiny bit more. I think I would say that I like the Nigeria more overall and could see that more as the longer term drink.
With a splash of vanilla almond milk in the Ivory Coast, it gets quite a bit more chocolaty, and the smokiness takes a back seat. It's still there just a tiny bit, but just barely. The earthy flavor is also there a little, too. Drinking the unaltered Nigeria against it, the Nigeria picks up a little bit of the fermentation in the aroma, and is still decently chocolaty, but the nuttiness is mostly gone, I think. Between these two, I think the Ivory Coast wins!
Adding a splash of almond milk to the Nigeria, it's now just more straight up chocolaty. The fermentation in the aroma is gone, and there's not really much in the way of nuttiness, either. The Ivory Coast still has a good bit of earthiness to it, and the chocolaty flavor seems more subdued against the Nigeria now. They're both really good, but the Nigeria wins.
The Nigeria is starting off pretty much as expected. It has a fairly strong burnt nut flavor, a little smoky, and the aroma has a just a hint of chocolate, but it's not really in the flavor. It's quite bitter today, actually. The Ivory Coast has kind of a dusty and earthy aroma, and the flavor mostly matches, although I feel like there's more chocolate in the flavor than I pick up on sometimes. The Ivory Coast is the winner.
With vanilla almond milk in the Nigeria, it's the usual story of the first sip is quite chocolaty compared to what it had been, with a fairly strong nutty component, and most of the burnt flavor is gone. In comparison, the Ivory Coast seems fairly smoky after tasting the doctored Nigeria. And the Nigeria isn't wavering in flavor as I go back and forth. The Nigeria wins this!
Adding the almond milk to the Ivory Coast, the smokiness goes away, and the vanilla brings out a decent chocolate flavor, but an earthy or dusty one. I like it, and it's an improvement over the base flavor of it, but the Nigeria is staying strong with a richer chocolate flavor combined with a bit of nuttiness. They're both really good, but I have to say that I think the Nigeria wins again!
The Volta is somewhat chocolatey and lightly bitter. The Ivory Coast has more of a roasty flavor, but is still chocolatey, and both the flavor and the aroma just kind of have more depth to it. I'm a little surprised that the Ivory Coast didn't come across with a stronger flavor. Both lean a bit earthy. Going back and forth to the Volta, the aroma isn't as nice. Towards the end I was noticing that buttered bread aroma to it that I've seen sometimes in the lighter roasts. I think the Ivory Coast is the winner for this round.
This is another where I'm doing only a half-cup comparison, and again, both roasts started out feeling very weak. It took a couple of sips of each for them to really get going. The Ivory Coast has that familiar earthy, chocolatey and lightly roasty flavor, but the Volta next to it almost tastes like nothing. Even after waiting a little bit and picking up with the Volta first, it's still pretty bland comparatively. Towards the end of it I could just barely pick out a little bit of earthy or chocolate flavor, but the Ivory Coast is stronger in all regards, and comes out the winner.
I've been curious about this one since I compared the Ivory Coast Dark to the Ivory Coast French. I know the difference between those were subtle, but I had a feeling this one wouldn't be. And for the most part I was right.
The Volta has that deep smoky flavor. Keep in mind that this is after a new batch of Choffy arrived, and this bag does not have that harsh campfire flavor that the first batch had, but it's still really smoky.
In contrast, next to the Volta, the Ivory Coast has the strong grainy and less smoky flavor. The combination is really good, and I like the Ivory Coast a lot more than the Volta.
I can't believe I haven't done this one before! I thought I had compared Anakin to pretty much all the Choffy french roasts, but I guess not.
The Ivory Coast starts out a little bitter and roasty and earthy, although I don't think I'd call it chocolatey. I'm not sure if the aroma of the Anakin was maybe messing with it. Anakin, as expected, brings its strong roast flavor, and going back to the Ivory Coast makes it less roasty and earthy and more chocolatey. Drinking them black, I like the Ivory Coast more.
Adding vanilla almond milk to the Anakin results in the usual toasted marshmallow flavor. The black Ivory Coast next to it is still less roasty and more chocolatey. It also has a tiny of that sweeter "tang" ice been picking up from the Ecuador roasts. Even with the doctored Anakin, I think I still like the Ivory Coast more! Now that was surprising!
I didn't have enough left to try almond milk in the Ivory Coast, but given prior experience, I assume it would have washed it out quite a bit.
The Shadow's Silhouette starts of a lightly tart, both in aroma and flavor, but has a decent chocolatey flavor. In comparison, the Ivory Coast has a real sweetness coming out of it, both in the aroma and the flavor. It reminds me of the sharp sweetness I get out of some of the Ecuador roasts, but it's not quite the same. But it's really good. I would almost call it a "dusty sweetness" because of the earthiness that's in it. The Ivory Coast is the clear winner.
Adding vanilla almond milk to both, the Shadow's Silhouette hits that super chocolatey flavor that is starting to become normal. The Ivory Coast gets a little more chocolatey, and that dusty sweetness is still in there, but when I go back to the Shadow's Silhouette, it has just a teensy bit of that tartness to it, which takes down the flavor just a hair. Also, going back to the Ivory Coast, there's just a hint of bitterness there. This is such a close race, but I think I have to go with the Shadow's Silhouette as the winner.