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:
Really good on cereal, possibly in yogurt, too.
General Thoughts:
The Choffy description is quite on point! It's definitely grainy, and very lightly chocolatey. It's one of my favorites so far.
Starting with the Ivory Coast, it has that familiar grainy and earthy flavor with little chocolate. The Ecuador is slightly sweet and sharp and definitely more chocolatey. There's something here that brings my brain back to when I first started this journey. Maybe it's the light flavor of the Ecuador, but being able to still pick it out as a match against the darker Ecuador roasts. Anyway, between these two, I prefer the Ecuador.
I blended the last few sips, and I can kind of pick out the earthiness in the aroma from the Ivory Coast, but when it comes to flavor, it's pretty flat and muddy. There's absolutely no standout from either roast, and at the same time, it doesn't come across as chocolatey either. It's a pretty "meh" blend.
The Ivory Coast is coming in strong this time, and the aroma is quite earthy. The flavor is both grainy and earthy, but unsurprisingly I'm not really picking up much chocolate. The Ecuador is smoky, pungent, and a little chocolatey, and also seems quite strong this time. (So I wonder if my senses are just extra sensitive today) Other than the strength of everything, there are no surprises here. I like the mildness of the Ivory Coast, but I also like the sweet pungency of the Ecuador. Even though the flavors are so different, the race is really close, but I think I'd have to go with the Ecuador for this one.
I blended the last few sips of each one, and this is one of those where all the flavors snap to the middle and there's nothing that stands out about it. It's ok, but there's nothing great about it.
My prediction from the end of the Ghana Light vs Nicaraguan Medium seems to be correct! The Ghana seems to be ever so slightly more chocolatey and the Ivory Coast seems slightly more grainy/nutty. I can especially pick it up in the smell. The Ghana is also just a twinge more bitter, both in taste and smell. They're really close, but not as close as I've found the Crio Bru Nicaraguan and Venezuelan varieties to be. I think I like the Ivory Coast just a tiny bit more than the Ghana.
These two are pretty similar. With Crio Bru's naturally lower roasting level, the Ghana French roast is more like a dark roast, so there's not as much difference between the two as I'd expect. I think the darker roast of the Ghana makes it just a little more chocolatey, but it's slightly more bitter than the Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast is pretty earthy in comparison. All that being said, I think I like the Ghana more.
I didn't have enough of either Crio Bru variety on their own to make a single serving, so I combined them since they taste the same anyway. Also, this is my first case of writing the review while I'm actively drinking the cocoa.
Upon opening the bag of the Choffy Ivory Coast Medium, I took a little sniff and it didn't have any of the "this might be coffee" smell to it that everything else has. Even the other medium roasts (Volta, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan) had that smell a bit. This one smelled... I don't know. Cleaner? I almost want to say "like wheat", but I think my brain is being influenced by the description on the front of the bag, which says, "light chocolate flavor with subtle grainy notes (great for non-coffee drinkers)".
The Choffy description is... quite on point! It's not bitter, or at least not as much as the Crio Bru, which still is only mildly bitter, but it is definitely a light chocolate flavor that tastes subtly like grain. Again, there are probably past descriptions I've seen of coffee or cocoa somewhere, but I'd almost describe it as even "slightly fruity", or maybe even woody, as if I can taste the tree it came from. I don't know. There's something else, too, but I can't quite pick it out. It's weird, but it's good.
I like it, and I like it better than the Crio Bru medium roasts. So far, if I were to pick a big bag to drink for a long haul, it may be this one.
Post test update: I've read on various websites that the cocoa grounds can be eaten and used in recipes, so every so often I'd take a taste of the grounds after brewing. Usually it's what I would expect: kind of burnt tasting chocolate. But in the case of the Ivory Coast Medium roast, they completely lacked that burnt flavor and I probably could have mixed them in with some cereal to eat, or even just eaten them straight from the french press with a spoon. They were kind of chocolatey and kind of nutty in flavor. Quite good, really!
The original comparison was done back when I thought the Venezuela and Nicaragua roasts tasted exactly the same, so they were blended and compared to Ivory Coast. I've already redone the comparison once to separate out Venezuela against Ivory Coast. Also, the first one was done back before I had my brewing methods evened out.
So, pretty much as I found with the previous comparison, the Ivory Coast is lighter with a grainy flavor, and not much chocolate. It's good, but it's no longer at the top of my list of long-haul drinks. The Nicaragua, on the other hand, is more chocolatey and more bitter, especially in the aroma. It has a little bit of a pungency to it, but it's a different one than what is in the Ecuador roasts. The Ecuadors can seem almost sweet if that flavor hits the right way, but this is a darker pungency (not darker in roast, though!) that has a decent amount of bitterness around it. So far, I think the Nicaragua is about the closest I've had to drinking a cup of "dark chocolate". It's good, and I think considering that the Ivory Coast just has no real chocolate flavor next to it, I'd go with the Nicaragua as the winner here.
I also have to say that something about the Nicaragua has kind of a nostalgic flavor to me. I think it may be one of the varieties that came across in its truest form compared to a lot of other roasts, even back when my brewing methods weren't great. So the flavor and aroma remind me very much of those early days of comparing, and the flavor and aroma is very much like what I thought all of them were like at the time.
I blended the last little bit of each mug, and the aroma and flavor of the Nicaragua are still pretty strong in the mix. I'm a little surprised since usually things flatten out so much. Yeah, there was pretty much no sign of the Ivory Coast in there at all.
I didn't have enough of either Crio Bru variety on their own to make a single serving, so I combined them since they taste the same anyway. Also, this is my first case of writing the review while I'm actively drinking the cocoa.
Upon opening the bag of the Choffy Ivory Coast Medium, I took a little sniff and it didn't have any of the "this might be coffee" smell to it that everything else has. Even the other medium roasts (Volta, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan) had that smell a bit. This one smelled... I don't know. Cleaner? I almost want to say "like wheat", but I think my brain is being influenced by the description on the front of the bag, which says, "light chocolate flavor with subtle grainy notes (great for non-coffee drinkers)".
The Choffy description is... quite on point! It's not bitter, or at least not as much as the Crio Bru, which still is only mildly bitter, but it is definitely a light chocolate flavor that tastes subtly like grain. Again, there are probably past descriptions I've seen of coffee or cocoa somewhere, but I'd almost describe it as even "slightly fruity", or maybe even woody, as if I can taste the tree it came from. I don't know. There's something else, too, but I can't quite pick it out. It's weird, but it's good.
I like it, and I like it better than the Crio Bru medium roasts. So far, if I were to pick a big bag to drink for a long haul, it may be this one.
Post test update: I've read on various websites that the cocoa grounds can be eaten and used in recipes, so every so often I'd take a taste of the grounds after brewing. Usually it's what I would expect: kind of burnt tasting chocolate. But in the case of the Ivory Coast Medium roast, they completely lacked that burnt flavor and I probably could have mixed them in with some cereal to eat, or even just eaten them straight from the french press with a spoon. They were kind of chocolatey and kind of nutty in flavor. Quite good, really!
I'm doing a rematch for two reasons. First, the initial comparison against Ivory Coast medium was done with a blend of Venezuela and Nicaragua roasts. Second, it was also done back when I was using my older tea infuser, which wasn't a fair match against a french press.
Taking in the aromas of each as they're cooling, the Venezuela is a little bitter smelling, with kind of a cross between earthy and pungent. The Ivory Coast, on the other hand, definitely smells more grainy, a little earthy, and a little sweeter.
In tasting, I don't know that I'd consider the Venezuela to be "rich" chocolate, but it's definitely chocolatey, with a little bit of the bitter, earthy, and pungent flavors I noted above. The Ivory Coast definitely has that grainy flavor, but the chocolate flavor really is very light. Also, in terms of flavor, I wouldn't say that it's sweeter than the Venezuela, but it lacks the little bit of bitter edge that the Venezuela has. If I were tasting the Ivory Coast not knowing what it was, I'm not sure that "chocolate" is what would come to mind. (Although, in a way, that's kind of true for a lot of the roasts. In my pre-"brewed cocoa" days, my chocolate palate was limited mostly to generic dark chocolate and milk chocolate, and brewed cocoa tastes very little like either one in most cases.)
I've been trying to place the earthy flavor in Ivory Coast because it has something that's slightly familiar in it, and it just hit me. It's almost like a hint of green beans. It doesn't taste like green beans per se, but they share a similar earthy note.
As far as picking a favorite between the two, it's hard. At one point I thought that the Ivory Coast medium was one of my absolute favorites over everything else and that Venezuela was one of my least favorites, but that's not the case anymore. They're both good, but for different reasons. I like the lightness of the Ivory Coast, but the dark chocolate bitterness of the Venezuela. I think that drinking them long term, I'd tend to go more with the Ivory Coast still, but it's not as clear cut as it once was.
This one starts out pretty much as expected. The Ivory Coast has that light grainy flavor, and the Uber Dark is super roasty and heavy. Going back to the Ivory Coast after the Uber Dark, I can pick out that little bit of a buttered bread note in it. Given that it's a common characteristic I'm seeing when comparing the light(er) roasts to something like Uber Dark, I'm wondering if what I'm getting isn't necessarily the actual flavor of the bean, but hints of the fermentation process that they go through before roasting. It would make sense that they all have that same note regardless of origin if that's the case. Anyway, it's no surprise, but I prefer the Ivory Coast over the Uber Dark.
Blending the last third of the mug of each, the aroma is still quite roasty, but the flavor doesn't back it up. This always baffles me, because I expect adding one to the other will combine the flavors somewhat additively, so things like the stronger roast or the grainy quality would stick out, but instead it's like everything cancels each other out.
I started off with the Ocumare and its earthy bitterness with a bit of chocolate. Switching over to the Ivory Coast, it's really a different flavor altogether. It doesn't come across as chocolatey at all, and it's light and grainy in flavor. Ever since I first had the Ivory Coast medium, I've noticed that it's not like the others, but this comparison really makes it stand out. Going back to the Ocumare, it really makes that one taste bitter, deeply earthy, and a bit more chocolatey. Between the two I'd go with the Ivory Coast even though it's just a different beast completely.
I blended the last few sips of each, and strangely, the bitterness of Ocumare is even more bitter now. Woof! But at the same time, I can also make out a little of the lighter grainy flavor of the Ivory Coast, which is really interesting. It's probably not a blend I'd make more of, though.
The Mexico is starting off with a strongly tart aroma with a bit of bitterness, but it doesn't seem to be translating over into the flavor at the moment. The flavor is only very lightly tart, but with more bitterness, and just a hint of chocolate in it. The Ivory Coast is coming across as strongly grainy in flavor and aroma, with only a hint of the underlying chocolate to it. I still think it's interesting that I'm picking up on the chocolate in this one now ever since having tasted a very similar flavor in some Godiva chocolate a few weeks back. Anyway, going back over to the Mexico, I'm not sure that the flavor or aroma seems altered by sipping the Ivory Coast soon before it. It's still a little tart, a little bitter, and a little chocolaty. I definitely prefer the Ivory Coast, even with the overall lack of chocolate flavor, over the Mexico.
Adding a splash of vanilla almond milk only to the Mexico for now, it has taken on a very strong chocolate flavor and aroma. That first sip was quite good. The Ivory Coast may have just a hint more earthiness to it now, but it's still very strongly in the "grainy" flavor range. They're both good, but the Mexico is holding strong with most of the tart and bitter flavors and aromas being wiped out, and I think it's my preference between the two.
Adding a splash of the almond milk to the Ivory Coast, I may have overdone it just a tiny bit. I feel like I taste the almond flavor quite a bit now. Feh. It's still good, and there's more of a chocolaty flavor there than before, but I think I definitely have to be careful doing that in the future. The Mexico is still strongly chocolaty, but there's just a hint of the bitterness coming back in. Going back to the Ivory Coast, I may take back what I said about overdoing it with the almond milk. Now it's quite grainy in flavor but still with the improved chocolate flavor. While the Mexico is more of a "pure" chocolate flavor, I think I actually prefer the grain-like version of the Ivory Coast here.
Starting with the Ivory Coast, it definitely has a light grainy flavor with just a little chocolate. It also has that slightly buttery flavor I've found in some of the lighter roasts. The Ecuador is just like it always is: pungent, roasty, and a little bitter. (Just like me!) Switching back over to the Ivory Coast, the buttery flavor is much stronger, and it's less grainy and chocolatey. At one time this was one of my favorites, but I'm not sure that's the case anymore. It's still really good, and I do like it better than the Ecuador, but as I'm getting to know the roasts quite a bit better, it's just kind of lacking in flavor and aroma. I feel like I prefer other roasts from the same region, like the Ivory Coast Dark, Volta Dark, or Crio Bru's Ghana, but I haven't done full comparisons of those yet, so I don't know for sure.
I blended the last third of each cup, and like with many other 50/50 blends, it kind of becomes nondescript. I may pick up just the tiniest bit of the Ecuador pungency or roast, and a tiny bit of the Ivory Coast earthiness in the aroma, but the flavor is actually a little bland on this one. Most other blends I describe as "good", but this one's kind of "meh". It's ok. It's not terrible, but it's not quite "good", either. If I guzzle it instead of sip it, it does pick up more of a chocolatey flavor, which is interesting. I only did so because I had to finish it quickly so it wouldn't get cold while I went to do something else.
Ivory Coast Medium was one of my favorites for a bit when I first discovered it because of the light and grainy flavor. It's still really good, but it just doesn't have a whole lot of a chocolatey flavor to it like the dark roast has. Next to it, the Ecuador is just so roasty and bitter and kind of hard to drink. Going back to the Ivory Coast right after, rather than tasting grainy, it's now leaning over into buttery with hints of grainy. Ivory Coast is far and away the winner here.
Blending the last third of a cup of each one, I'm surprised at how much the Ivory Coast comes out in the flavor and aroma. I'm still picking up a lot of the grainy flavor with just a little bit of the roast from the Ecuador. The flavor is still enigmatic and hard to define just like a lot of the other blends, but it's different than a number of them I've done before. This is a pretty good combo.
Like with the Ghana French roast, these two are very similar. The dark roast seems only slightly darker and leans a little more on the earthy side. The aroma is also slightly more chocolatey. The medium roast is a little lighter, brighter, and more on the grainy side, with less chocolate in the mix. They're both really good, and the flavors are very close overall. I'm almost inclined to call it a tie, but I think the medium is just the tiniest bit more enjoyable to drink in the long run, so I'm calling it in favor of the medium.
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.
Starting off with the Ivory Coast, it has the strong grainy flavor. Now when I encounter that flavor, I actually associate it with Godiva because I recently had some of their chocolate and went, "oh! This tastes like the Ivory Coast brewing cocoa!" And because of that, it now seems a little more chocolaty to me than it used to. Going over to the Nigeria, it has more of a smoky flavor and a little more chocolate to it, and a good bit of bitterness. Even after letting sit a bit longer and coming back to it, it's still the same. Going back over to the Ivory Coast, it still has the big grainy flavor, but the chocolate now seems more subdued and is more like I remember. Overall, the Ivory Coast wins.
Adding a little splash of vanilla almond milk to both, I started off with Ivory Coast again, and it really brings the chocolate flavor out quite a bit. I'm not sure if I've ever added almond milk to it before, but it's really good. The Nigeria still has a bit of bitterness to it. It's decent, but the Ivory Coast really wins out very strongly here.
Normally I start off with the one I'm currently testing against everything else, but in this case I'm starting with the Ivory Coast because I'm just not sure how the Nigeria is going to affect it, and I want to get in at least one good swig of it before the flavor is tainted by the comparison. The Ivory Coast is the usual grainy flavor with little to no chocolate overall. It's a little funny to me that it used to be one of my favorites. I mean, it's still really good, but it's just not at all representative of any of the rest of the brewing cocoa world, and sits pretty solidly near the middle of my preference list.
Going to the Nigeria after the Ivory Coast, it is the usual thing of being a little smoky, but leaning more towards the burnt nut flavor with just a little chocolate to it. Going back to the Ivory Coast right after the Nigeria really drives home the grainy flavor of it, but it's still very strongly the winner between these two.
Also, recently my normal thing has been to add vanilla almond milk to both roasts at the same time, but I have a feeling it's going to wash out the Ivory Coast quite a bit, so I'm actually starting with only adding it to the Nigeria first. There's still just a tiny bit of the burnt nut in the aroma, but the flavor is much more chocolaty, and really is mostly lacking the nutty flavor. Oh, no, wait... there it is. Haha! It took a second to show up. Comparing it to the black Ivory Coast, it's a close call, but I think I do prefer the Nigeria by just a hair.
Oh interesting! Adding the vanilla almond milk to the Ivory Coast now really brings out more of a nutty flavor than a grainy flavor. It's actually pretty good like this. Going back to the doctored Nigeria, it seems a little weaker in comparison, now missing a decent amount of both the chocolate and nutty flavors, but some of the smoky and burnt flavors are back. Yeah, the Ivory Coast has a pretty strong nutty flavor now. Not grainy, but truly nutty. It's actually really good, and the clear winner.
These two are somewhat similar. The Volta is a little more bitter and maybe a hair more earthy, and just a little more chocolatey. The Ivory Coast is lighter and more on the grainy flavor side, and a little less chocolatey. There are no surprises here. I think side-by-side, I prefer the Ivory Coast even though it's less representative of most brewing cocoas.
Starting with the Volta, it was a little smoky and chocolatey, but also kind of earthy and bitter. Going over to the Ivory Coast, it's sweeter, lighter, and grainy instead of earthy. I guess grainy would be the sweeter version of earthy. They're both good, and it's kind of a close call, but I think I prefer the Ivory Coast.
I blended the last couple of sips, and I guess these two were pretty close to begin with. I can kind of taste the bitterness from the Volta and the grainy flavor from the Ivory Coast, and there's a tiny bit of smoky there, and it's just a little chocolatey. It's a decent blend with more character than some of the others I've tried.
The Ivory Coast starts out with a little bit of that buttery flavor, but with a strong grainy quality to it. The Volta is very smoky, almost ashy, in comparison, and going back to the Ivory Coast right after it just makes that buttery or bready flavor stand out stronger, but it's very smooth. There's really not a lot to say about these. Ivory Coast is the big winner here.
Blending the last third of each cup, there's a little bit of the smoky flavor and aroma from the Volta, but also a little bit of the earthy flavor from the Ivory Coast. It's not a bad mix. I don't know that I'd necessarily describe it as chocolatey, but it's not as flat as some of the blends, so it's decent.
Drinking them black, the Anakin is super roasted, obviously, and the Ivory Coast is very earthy. Neither one really tastes chocolatey, and with the Ivory Coast next to such a strong roast, it's not great either. Is just earthy and not much else. It's actually hard to pick here. If I go with the lens of long term drinking black, I think I'd have to go with the Ivory Coast.
With almond milk in the Anakin, it's much more mild, but really good. The Ivory Coast just tastes weak next to it, but still primarily earthy, so Anakin wins.
Adding just a tiny bit of almond milk to the Ivory Coast, it still gets pretty washed out, but there is a little more of a chocolatey flavor to it, which I'm surprised about. It's much better than I thought it would be, actually. But that toasted flavor from the Anakin is just so much better. Anakin wins again.
Starting with the Ivory Coast, it starts off as fairly earthy in aroma and grainy in flavor. There's pretty much no chocolate flavor to be found. (Which is always such a weird thing to me!) The Shadow's Silhouette after it is... strange. In previous comparisons it had a brownie-like aroma and flavor, but I'm just not picking that up at the start. It's a little tart, a tiny bit bready, and somewhat chocolatey, but I have to really think about it to to match that up to the "baking brownies". Going back to the Ivory Coast, it's still a little earthy, but it's lighter and leaning a little more into the grainy side both in aroma and flavor. Drinking the Shadow's Silhouette too close to the Ivory Coast really brings out the tartness, so I have to be careful of that. Hmmm... even after giving a few minutes and coming back to it, that tartness is still pretty strong now. It's almost like it's "ruined" for me for the morning. :-( I guess based on that, I have to say that I like the Ivory Coast more than the Shadow's Silhouette.
I added just a tiny bit of vanilla almond milk to the Shadow's Silhouette, and WOW, that went SUPER chocolatey and really good! This is almost like "chocolate cereal bomb" level of chocolatey. It absolutely blows the Ivory Coast out of the water!