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
General Thoughts:
General feeling about the roast
After some of the differences that have cropped up due to new batches for the Ecuador French and Uber Dark roasts, I wanted to see if similar differences exist for the lighter roasts. For this one, there may be just the tiniest bit of a brighter flavor in the new one, but it's so close that I'm not sure if I'm imagining it or not. I wish the darker roasts had this sort of consistency.
Hmm. This one's a little tougher than I thought it would be. The french roast definitely has that roasty flavor, but it also has that sweet and sharp pungent flavor that comes through. The light roast replaces the roasty flavor with the buttery flavor, but still has that familiar Ecuador pungency. But which do I like more? I know if I added vanilla almond milk to them, the french roast would win out because that one almost turns into hot chocolate that way. But drinking them black, it's a much closer race. Both roasts are pleasant and nice to drink, and not overpowering like the Choffy version of the french roast. If I think about drinking them black long term, I thought at first the light roast would win out, but they're both really good. I think this one may be a tie!
Getting to the point where I'm rounding out the last dozen or two comparisons, this one is pretty much a no-brainer at this point. The pungent and chocolatey sweetness of the Ecuador wins out over the earthiness of the Ghana.
I wound up blending most of the rest of these two, and it's kind of like I expected. The earthy aroma of the Ghana comes through a little bit, but that's about it. It's otherwise somewhat chocolatey with nothing really standing out about it. It's good, just not special.
The Ecuador has that lighter kind of sweet pungency to it, and it's fairly chocolatey. The Ghana is more earthy and a little more roasty, but not overbearingly so. It also has a decent amount of chocolate flavor to it. But oddly, they also are really similar in a lot of ways, and I have to pay close attention to them to tell the differences. They're both really good, but I think the Ecuador eeks out a win due to the slighter sweeter and slightly more chocolatey flavor.
The Ecuador Light seems to actually have a somewhat accurate description, I think. I'm not exactly sure what "floral" means, but I will say that it lives up to being the lighter sibling to the Choffy Ecuador Dark. There's a little bit of that pungent flavor and scent coming through, but this leans a little more towards the grainy or fruity side. In comparison, the Nicaraguan Medium seems somewhat flat and bitter and a little darker, which makes sense considering that it's a Medium roast compared to the Light roast.
The Nicaraguan Medium may be growing on me, but the Ecuador Light wins this one. I'd be curious to see how it compares against the Choffy Ecuador Dark as well as the Choffy Ivory Coast Medium, as it seems to almost be a mix between the two.
Taking in the aroma of both of these before trying them, I'm struck by how similar they are! Even in flavor they are very similar. The Ecuador has a tiny bit of extra punch to it in the form of the ever so slightly cinnamon flavor to it, whereas the Venezuela is just slightly milder and "flatter" and slightly more earthy. They're both decently chocolatey, and I like them both quite a bit. It's another one that is a super close call. Even though the Crio Bru Ecuador French roast tied with Venezuela, in this pairing part of me likes the Ecuador light roast just a tiny bit more... but I'm so unsure that I think I'm going to have to call it another tie.
After my "drink all the Uber Dark first" comparison with Choffy's Ecuador Dark roast, I decided that's not really a good way to do it. While I'm fairly certain about the outcome of comparing the current batch of Uber Dark against most roasts, there are other subtleties that I'd wind up missing if I don't compare them properly.
Case in point, the strong darkness of Uber Dark against Crio Bru's Ecuador Light roast has some interesting points to note. When going from Ecuador to Uber Dark, the Uber Dark mostly tastes like char, though there may be a tiny bit of chocolate flavor in it. (it's not like my first batch of Choffy's Volta French roast) But when I switch and go the other way, what I expected was that the Ecuador Light roast would taste mostly chocolatey. And it does, but I was surprised to also taste in it was just a tiny bit of the "buttery bread" flavor that was really strong in Chocolate Alchemy's Big O blend. Luckily it's not so overpowering here, and it leans more chocolatey than bready and is pretty good.
Another thing that I'm a little surprised about is that I expected the lightness of the Ecuador roast to make the Uber Dark feel completely undrinkable since in previous comparisons, I had trouble finishing it without adding vanilla almond milk. But it actually turned out that I was able to drink it mostly fine.
As for the end result, it's exactly what I expected. I strongly prefer the Ecuador over the Uber Dark, but it will be interesting to see if future comparisons of the Ecuador Light roast against other things will yield that buttery bread flavor. If it does, I expect it mainly to happen on the darkest roasts.
The Ocumare leads in with being a little bitter, but for some reason not very chocolatey out of the gate. The Ecuador has that sharp sweetness to it, especially in the aroma. Going back to the Ocumare, it has a little more chocolatey flavor to it, but not much. The Ecuador, in comparison, really comes across as sweeter and more chocolatey. It's really good and easily wins out.
Adding vanilla almond milk only to the Ocumare, it gets way more chocolatey and less bitter, but it doesn't go away completely. The Ecuador still has that sharp sweetness in comparison and still wins out.
Adding the almond milk to the Ecuador weakens it quite a bit. It brings out a little of the chocolate flavor, and the sharp sweetness is still identifiable, but it isn't as good as without the almond milk, I think. The comparison is very close in terms of preference, but I think I'd still go with the Ecuador.
I accidentally started off with the Ecuador. Whoops. Anyway, it's pretty much as expected. It has the slight sweet flavor to it that I've come to expect from the lighter Ecuador roasts, and there's actually a decent amount of chocolate to it right now. There's also just the tiniest hint of a buttery aroma, but not in a fermented or bready way. The Mexico has a fairly sour aroma, and is a bit on the pungent side. The flavor is a bit tart and a bit chocolaty, and just a little bitter. Going back to the Ecuador, the chocolaty flavor I was picking up is now more in the background, and the sharp sweetness is a bit stronger, there's a light tartness to it, and the buttery flavor is stronger, leaning just a bit into bready territory. Even with the breadiness, I still prefer it over the Mexico.
I gave only the Mexico a splash of vanilla almond milk, and it now has that strong chocolaty flavor that's borderline milk chocolate. There's a hint of tartness, but not much. The Ecuador is still slightly bready with the stronger sharp sweetness. It hasn't really changed since the first comparison. The chocolaty flavor of the Mexico is really good, and I think that wins out over the Ecuador.
Giving the Ecuador a little splash of almond milk, in the first sip I was struck by a new flavor... banana! THAT is really weird, and it hasn't stuck around for subsequent sips. It's decently chocolaty and still has that sweetness hanging out. The Mexico is now taking on a bit more of a darker flavor. It's slightly bitter, and the chocolate seems a little more like dark chocolate now. It's good, though. These two paired are really close, but I think I like the lighter flavor of the Ecuador just a tiny bit more.
Starting with the light roast, it's chocolatey with hints towards the usual Ecuador pungency. The dark roast is, well, much darker and much more pungent, and going back to the light roast after highlights the buttery flavor of the light roast. I think I'd also describe the flavor of the light roast as "smoother", although I'm not 100% sure why. I almost want to say the dark roast almost has a "spicy" flavor, but "spicy" isn't the right word. It's definitely more of a punch to the buds, and the flavor is much stronger, but there's something to it I just can't quite describe. I think I'm missing some vocabulary to be able to describe it properly. Anyway, both roasts are good in their own way, but I think I prefer the light roast over the dark.
I blended the last third of each cup because I thought I'd get something kind of like a "medium" Ecuador roast. It's not quite that, though, but I'm not sure how to describe it. This has more of a chocolatey flavor than most blends have, and maybe even a kind of "sweetness" (sort of, but not really) but it also has a strange "dryness" to it. It's good, and I could see having this as a go-to for when I'm in an Ecuador mood but not in the mood for a really light or really dark roast.
While cooling, I noticed the light roast has a very chocolatey aroma. I started with that one when doing the comparison, and I found it also tasted quite chocolatey, with only just enough the Ecuador pungency to notice that it's the same origin. Drinking the french roast after the light roast is like a slap in the face with roast and near-coffee flavor. Going back to light roast after the french roast, I noticed it has that buttery flavor I've found in these dark/light roast comparisons previously. The light roast is the winner here.
I decided to add vanilla almond milk only to the french roast and try them again. The french roast gets very chocolatey when it gets thinned out and the vanilla flavor added, and most of the roast goes away, but oddly, the light roast still tastes buttery, but not quite as chocolatey in comparison. I think I actually like the french roast better here!
Adding the almond milk to the light roast, it gets very washed out quickly. When comparing it side-by-side with the doctored french roast, the french roast picks up some of that roasty and pungent flavor again, but just a little bit. I expected things to be more "even", but in the end I still like the doctored french roast better than the light roast, doctored or not.
I'm becoming convinced that I need a way to track when these doctored comparisons are used, and give them their own entries in the spreadsheet. If I'd drink it doctored and not black, then that needs to be noted and taken into account when ranking.
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.
I don't think there are any real surprises here. The Ivory Coast is earthy and a little chocolatey with maybe just a hint of roasty, and the Ecuador is bright, and chocolatey and a little buttery. Although I really like the Ivory Coast, I like that extra "zip" in the Ecuador more, and it's my preference between the two.
I blended the last couple of sips and found the end result to be extremely flat. Nothing about it stands out at all.
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.
Starting off with the Nigeria, it's fairly chocolaty this morning, with a little bit of nuttiness and only the tiniest hint of bitterness. Thee may even be an even tinier hint of sweetness in there. Going over to the Ecuador, it's actually coming across as just a tiny bit bready and fermented in both the aroma and the flavor this time. There's some of the usual Ecuador sweetness, too. Going back over to the Nigeria, the bitterness is now stronger and it seems less nutty and chocolaty than before. The Ecuador seems just a little flat compared to the Nigeria, but in the end, I think I like the Ecuador a little more.
I feel like adding vanilla almond milk to only one of these would result in the automatic preference of that one over the unaltered one, so I'm just jumping in and adding it to both straight away. The Nigeria now has a very chocolaty and nutty aroma with just a light kind of pungency to it. The flavor is mostly the same, minus the pungency. The Ecuador, oddly enough, is actually coming through as more bready and fermented now, both in flavor and aroma. There's a little bit of a stronger chocolate flavor, but the sharp sweetness seems to come and go between sips. They're both pretty good, but that kind of "stinky" pungency in the Nigeria is knocking it down a bit, so the Ecuador comes out on top in spite of the fermented flavor.
Starting with the Nigeria, there's absolutely nothing new to kick things off. It's smoky and has a burnt nut flavor, and there's just a hint of chocolate in the aroma. Sometimes it's a little overwhelming, but it's not at the moment, which is nice. For the Ecuador, I was expecting more of the sharp sweetness and decent chocolaty flavor I usually get, but I was surprised to find that it was actually leaning more towards the bready and fermented side this morning. It still has the sweetness and chocolate in the background, and it's good overall, but yeah, it definitely has more of the fermented thing going on today. Even with that being the case, I still like it better than the Nigeria.
Adding vanilla almond milk only to the Nigeria at first, it has the strong chocolate aroma and the nutty flavor with a hint of the burnt flavor in the background. I really wish the french roast version would vastly improve like the dark roast does. Sigh. Anywho, comparing it to the black version of the Ecuador, the Ecuador is still carrying around that strong fermented flavor and aroma with just the hint of chocolate and sweetness. Honestly, between the two, I think the Nigeria wins! I was not expecting that at all. I figured as I got to this point, the Ecuador winning in every case was a sure-fire thing.
With the almond milk in the Ecuador, it still has that hint of fermented or bready flavor, but it's much improved. There's some chocolate there, but honestly what I'm picking up the most is something that almost reminds me of cinnamon! It's not the spicy kind, but the warm and cozy kind like what you'd find in a good cinnamon roll. This is really good, and I like it a lot better than the Nigeria. I'm not sure I'd call it top-tier favorite when it has to compete against other things like the doctored versions of Shadow's Silhouette, Fogilifter, and Anakin, but holy moly this is good and unexpected.
The Volta is decently chocolatey and kind of mild, and the Ecuador has that sweeter "tang" to it, and the chocolatey flavor seems a bit stronger. There are no surprises and there's not really much to say here that I haven't said about either one in other comparisons except that I prefer the Ecuador over the Volta.
I did get the chance to blend the last couple of sips, and the end result is that weird bland no-man's land of flavor. The earthiness of the Volta and the sweet tang of the Ecuador are both gone and replaced by "meh".
I started with the Volta, and I was a little surprised that I could pick out the earthiness in the aroma right away, and it has a decently chocolatey flavor. The Ecuador has a sharp sweetness to it, as well as a little of that buttery flavor that comes with some of the light roasts. I'm not sure if I would call it chocolatey, but it's just really good. I prefer the Ecuador here.
Since I was having an easy time picking out a winner, I blended the last few sips of each. The result has the earthy aroma of the Volta, and a pretty strong chocolatey flavor. The identifying qualities of the Ecuador are gone, but I can kind of tell how they contribute to bringing out that stronger chocolate flavor. That's a pretty good blend!
The Ecuador is definitely light and a bit chocolatey. There's even a slighty "cinnamon" flavor to it, almost like the "not spicy but not warm" type that was in the Crio Bru Cinnamon roast. Next to it, the Volta really does almost taste like campfire ash, which is funny because it's been a while since I've really had that stand out like that. (except for the time I overbrewed it when comparing it to Ivory Coast dark.) It's really very smoky, and in comparison to the Ecuador, it doesn't seem to have much other flavor. Going back to the Ecuador, I get a strong hit of that buttery flavor. It's not quite "buttered bread" like the Chocolate Alchemy Big O was, but it's probably the closest it's been to that. The more I go back and forth between the two, the stronger that flavor gets in the Ecuador. Hmm. This particular pairing really seems to almost bring out the worst in both brews. When they're put together this way, neither one really makes me happy. I think between the two, I'd have to go with the Ecuador as the winner.
I blended the last third of each cup, really unsure what would happen here. The aroma is slightly earthy, which I didn't expect. I think that is mostly coming from the Volta. I can pick up the smoky flavor a little bit, too, but this has a really odd resemblance to the Crio Bru Cinnamon. That's really weird. I think it's just the combination of the smoky and buttery flavors coming together in a way that kind of clashes a little.
For some reason I had it in my head at first that Anakin was just a super roasted Ecuador. Weird. I have no idea where that came from, but it almost colored my review.
Anyway, the Ecuador has that sweet pungency to it, and Anakin is pretty much all roast with nothing else. Drinking them black, Ecuador is a pretty straight forward win.
With vanilla almond milk in Anakin, these two are much closer to being evenly matched. The Anakin almost had more of a chocolatey flavor in this comparison, and with the toasty flavor it's just so good, so I think it wins out over the light fruity chocolate flavor of Ecuador.
With vanilla almond milk in the Ecuador, it's MUCH more chocolatey! Oh, this is really good. The toasty marshmallow of the Anakin is super good, too. I almost want to call it a tie, but I think the Anakin just barely eeks out a win based on the depth of flavor.
While they were both sitting here cooling, I could just smell the chocolate coming off them. Yum. Although, in spite of that, the Shadow's Silhouette's aroma now has a stronger tartness to it. The Ecuador has a pretty strong sweetness to the aroma. It's feeling really familiar, but not just because it's shown up here before. It's more like I recognize it from somewhere else. It reminds me of some type of food... like a baked good or something. I'm trying to place it, but it's just not coming to me. Sigh.
As far as drinking them, they pretty much match their aromas. The Shadow's Silhouette is tart this time around, with only a little bit of chocolatey flavor to it, while the Ecuador has that sweetness to it that I've been finding more frequently. In this pairing, the Ecuador wins easily.
I decided to just start with adding the vanilla almond milk to the Shadow's Silhouette only and see how it compares against the undoctored Ecuador. As excpected, the Shadow's Silhouette now has a pure chocolate flavor while the Ecuador has the sweetness, but lacks the chocolate. While they're both great, the Shadow's Silhouette wins this one.
Now adding the almond milk to the Ecuador, there's a stronger chocolate flavor, but it's still paired up with that sweet flavor that I can't seem to place. They're both excellent, and which one I prefer this way may be down to just how I'm feeling in the moment. I'm calling this one a tie.
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.