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:
This is a periodic offering that has come back, so I thought I'd give it a try. The aroma is slightly bitter, a little earthy, and maybe even a tiny bit rubbery, but there's a decent amount chocolate there. The flavor is pretty good. Again, it's a little bitter, but chocolaty, ever so slightly tart, and actually reminds me a lot of a bar of dark chocolate minus the added sweetness. I can definitely see the fruitiness in the flavor, but I'm not sure what the "subtle spice" is supposed to mean. It doesn't feel spicy in the same way as the Maya variety does with the cayenne mixed in. Even with that being the case, I like it, and I'm looking forward to comparing it against other roasts.
With a little splash of vanilla almond milk in it, it's super chocolaty, and even a tiny bit nutty. It's not as nutty as Choffy's Nigeria, but it's delicious. I'm excited to test this against Chocolate Alchemy's Shadow's Silhouette and Foglifter blends.
General Thoughts:
General feeling about the roast
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.
The Mexico is starting off just a little on the bitter side this time, but has a good amount of a dark chocolate flavor and only a little bit of tartness. If I were just drinking it on its own this morning, it wouldn't be too bad. The Ecuador, though! That sweetness, and the chocolaty flavor. Wow, next to the Mexico, they're so strong! It also makes the Mexico a bit more tart than it was before. The Ecuador completely blows the Mexico out of the water.
Adding vanilla almond milk only to the Mexico first, it gets that super milk chocolaty flavor, and most of the bitterness and tartness are gone. It's so good like this. Comparing it against the black Ecuador, they're just so different. The rich chocolate of the Mexico and the lighter sweetness of the Ecuador... Mmm. I wish I knew how to describe that flavor better. Would someone else call it more of a licorice flavor? It's a strong flavor, but tough to describe. And in spite of them being so different, the race of preference is so close. I really love them both right now, but I think that the more chocolaty flavor of the Mexico is just barely eeking out a win.
Adding a splash of almond milk to the Ecuador, I'm realizing now that there was also a little bit of a smoky flavor in there before, but only because I notice it missing now. Now it's mostly just that sweetness. It's not that chocolaty, though, which is funny because I had gotten a big bag of it quite some time ago because I had considered it to be the most like hot chocolate when adding almond milk at the time. I don't feel that way anymore, for sure. But here, the flavors are still really different from one another, but honestly, not all that much different from a moment ago before I had added the almond milk to the Ecuador. But the race is much closer now. I think I would have to call it a tie.
Sometimes comparisons bring out the worst from each roast, but this is one of the times where I think they boost each other. I wonder what a 50/50 blend would be like.
The Mexico is starting off with its usual lightly bitter, somewhat tart, and somewhat chocolaty flavor. The Ghana has a light grainy sweetness, reminding me a bit of cereal. There's not really any chocolate flavor to it, but it's really good, and definitely my preference between the two.
With a splash of vanilla almond milk in the Mexico, it's more chocolaty, but still a tiny bit bitter and tart. It had gotten cold, though, because I got pulled into a meeting, so when I was done, I went and nuked it, and I was really surprised to find that a lot of the flavor was gone! The chocolate flavor, it's just straight up mostly missing. What in the world?? I wonder if it was something about the almond milk already being in it when I warmed it back up is the culprit, because the Ghana didn't seem to have the same issue. It still tastes fine. Even when the Mexico still had a stronger chocolate flavor, I still think that Ghana was still my favorite between the two.
I didn't add any almond milk to the Ghana because I figured it wouldn't change things all that much in terms of the comparison.
Strangely, the Mexico is starting out with a vaguely smoky flavor this time. Oh, well, I did, but it seems to be gone now. Weird. Now it's just the usual mix of tart, bitter, and chocolate. It's not as tart as it is sometimes, though, which is nice. The Ghana has a light grainy aroma and flavor with a bit of sweetness to it and a hint of smoke. Maybe I had picked up on that by accident since the mugs were sitting side by side. Anyway, I'm not sure that I'd call it chocolaty, but it's good. Going back to the Mexico, now it's much more tart. The Ghana is definitely my drink of preference between these two.
Giving the Mexico a splash of vanilla almond milk brings out the rich chocolaty flavor and sends most of the tart and bitter flavors to the background, at least for the first sip. And the second. The Ghana is still good, but the flavor is now coming across as a little more dusty, and the smoke of the roast is a little more apparent. The sweet aroma and flavor is fairly reminiscent of the similar sweetness I get out of the Ecuador roasts sometimes. This is a pretty close contest, actually, but I think I prefer the richer chocolate flavor of the Mexico here by just a little bit.
Giving the Ghana a splash of almond milk now, it mostly just tempers the tiny bit of smokiness that had been there, and maybe the dusty part of the flavor, but the light grainy flavor is still pretty strong, and I still wouldn't consider it very chocolaty in this context. Well... maybe I would, but just a little. It's kind of reminding me of the Godiva chocolate I had a few weeks ago that had the grainy flavors in it, too. This is a much closer race. So close, in fact, that I think I'm calling it a tie.
The Mexico is starting off quite a bit on the tart side, especially in the aroma. It's not too strong in the flavor at the moment, though. There's also a little bitterness and a bit of chocolate there. The Nicaragua is coming across as strongly fermented this time. It's not bready at all, and is somewhat bitter and a little sour, but yeah, that fermentation is through the roof this time around. It almost reminds me of a beer or cider this time around. Wow. That is a new one. Going back to the Mexico, now it's much more tart but also somewhat earthy. This whole thing is just weird. I don't think I can say that I prefer one over the other, and I'm really not a fan of either in this pairing. I'm calling it a tie.
This is one of those times where I'm pretty sure that whichever one I add vanilla almond milk to first is going to be the winner, so I'm just adding it to both this time around. From doing that, the aromas are both pretty chocolaty, but the Mexico one smells a little more like milk chocolate whereas the Nicaragua is a little more like dark chocolate. Sipping the Mexico first, its flavor pretty much matches the aroma: a tiny bit of tartness, but a lighter and sweeter chocolate flavor. I'm wondering if I should have sampled the Nicaragua first because now after drinking the Mexico, I'm still picking up a some of the fermentation flavor. It's milder and there is more chocolate to it, but I think if I had tried it first, the chocolate flavor would have been even stronger. But it really does remind me more of dark chocolate overall. The Mexico is continuing to retain a bit of the tartness, but keep its more "milk chocolate" flavor. I actually like them both quite a bit, but I wouldn't call them favorites. That, and they're really close preference wise. Honestly, I think it's another tie.
Wow, a tie for both! I didn't see that coming. This one was full of surprises, and that's why I love doing these comparisons, even after all this time.
The aromas of these are quite different. The Mexico definitely has the tartness in the aroma, but the Venezuela next to it is fairly earthy. Trying the Mexico first, it's the usual tartness with some bitterness and some chocolaty flavor. The Venezuela really is fairly earthy in comparison, but slightly in the grainy direction, and it almost has that "dusty" flavor that I get sometimes from the darker Ivory Coast roasts. But there's also a decent amount of dark chocolate there. The Mexico really is fairly tart next to it, but I prefer the Venezuela.
As a side note, I recently found out that Ocumare is a region of Venezuela, which I thought was interesting. So it surprises me that the Ocumare roast is so different from the Venezuela in most comparisons. Anyway...
Adding a splash of vanilla almond milk to the Mexico and giving it another go, the first sip has none of the tartness and the flavor is pure milk chocolate. The unaltered Venezuela next to it is still earthy and grainy, but also still decently chocolatey, but like I said, it's more of a dark chocolate flavor. Sometimes when I go back to the Mexico after sipping something else, the flavor gets more tart again, but that doesn't seem to be happening this time. It's just staying straight chocolatey. It's really good and easily the winner.
Giving the Venezuela a splash of almond milk, it's flavor and aroma are now more decidedly chocolaty, but there's still a hint of the dusty earthiness underneath it. Not much, but just enough that when thinking about it, I can pick it out. The Mexico is now starting to pick up just a tiny bit of the tartness again, but overall is still very chocolaty. These two are really close in terms of preference. I think the Venezuela is also coming across as just a hair sweeter than the tartness of the Mexico, and because of that, it eeks out a win.
I decided to just start with taking in the aroma of each one because I suspected that they may be very similar, and the aromas really are close. My first sip was of the Mexico. It's a little less tart this morning, and there's a hint of bitterness, but there's a good amount of chocolate in the flavor. If it was like this all the time, it wouldn't be so bad! Going over to the Ocumare, wow, the flavor and aroma is SO close to the Mexico! It's chocolaty, there's less tartness, and about the same level of bitterness. Like with the Mexico, if it were like this all the time, it wouldn't be so bad. I have no idea why these are better this morning than usual. Going back to the Mexico, the tartness is now stronger and getting back to what I'm used to in these comparisons. The Ocumare is just the milder and less tart version, and my preference between the two.
With just a little splash of vanilla almond milk in the Mexico only, it's still a little tart, but very chocolaty, and very good overall. The unaltered Ocumare is still pretty decent and hasn't really changed with the comparison. There's still a little bitterness and a decent amount of chocolate flavor. But it can't compare to the strong chocolate flavor of the Mexico, even with the little bit of tartness there. The Mexico wins.
Adding a little splash of almond milk to the Ocumare, I really thought it was going to get a lot more chocolaty like the Mexico does, but it didn't. The bitterness is pretty much gone and it's a lighter flavor overall, and it is a little more chocolaty and very good, but it's not super chocolaty like the Mexico. But even with that being the case, the tartness that's still hanging out in the Mexico is holding it back. They're really close, but I think I like the Ocumare just the tiniest bit more.
The Mexico roast is starting off fairly tart, but not as bitter this time, and with a decent amount of chocolate. Yeah, that tartness is pretty strong this time. *shudders* The Ecuador is fairly smoky, but not to the point of tasting burnt, and there's a hint of the sharp sweetness hanging out in the aroma, but not in the flavor. The flavor really is mostly smokiness and pungency. Going back over to the Mexico, it's a lot milder than the Ecuador, and after the Ecuador, the tartness isn't nearly as strong, though it's still there. But, in the end of things, I prefer it over the Ecuador.
I decided to go with adding vanilla almond milk only to the Ecuador first and see how it goes. I'm picking up more on the sharp sweetness in the aroma and flavor, but there's still a lot of smokiness there, and I'd hesitate to call it chocolaty. The Mexico next to it is very tart again, with little else. I think the Ecuador actually wins here.
Adding almond milk to the Mexico brings out the stronger chocolate flavor and tames the tartness a bit, but it's still hanging out in the background. I have a feeling after trying the Ecuador again and going back to the Mexico, it's going to come out stronger, but we'll see. The Ecuador still has a pretty smoky profile to it. I thought at first maybe I had overdone it with the almond milk, but I guess not. Going back to the Mexico, it actually didn't change as much as I thought it would. It's still just a hair tart, but it's decently chocolaty and has more flavor depth than the Ecuador, I think. I definitely prefer it over the Ecuador.
Starting off with the Mexico, it's a little tart in both flavor and aroma, leaning a bit towards pungency. There's also some chocolate there in the flavor, and a hair of bitterness. The Ecuador is super smoky and pungent. I thought I picked up just a hint of the sharp sweetness for a brief moment, but it was gone pretty quick. Going back to the Mexico, it's now leaning a tiny bit more towards the fermented side, and still somewhat tart. I'm not a huge fan of either one in this pairing, but the Mexico wins out by virtue of it not being the onslaught that the Ecuador brings to the table.
I added a splash of vanilla almond milk only to the Ecuador to start with, and it's a little more chocolaty, but still has a lot of the pungency and smoke going on. The tartness of the Mexico is coming out much stronger now, too. Going back and forth, neither one is what I'd call "good", and I'd say they're tied at the moment.
Adding almond milk to the Mexico, it's better and much more chocolaty, but there's still a good bit of the tartness and fermentation coming through. But the Ecuador is still such an assault on the senses. Going back and forth, the Mexico is calming down a bit and the tartness is mostly in the background now, and the fermented flavor is mostly gone. Between these two, Mexico is easily the winner.
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.
Overall, whenever I come back to Ivory Coast Dark, it's always a good experience. There's just a hair of smokiness, a little bit of earthiness, and a little bit of chocolate. It's just really nice overall. Next to it, the Mexico is a bit tart and bitter, and I feel like I'm picking up less chocolate in it than usual. Next to it, the Ivory Coast almost tastes sweet, and I prefer it over the Mexico.
With a splash of vanilla almond milk in the Mexico, it's now very chocolaty with just a hint of tartness to it. The Ivory Coast next to it now has more of a dusty and earthy flavor, but it's still good. Overall, though, I think I prefer the Mexico, but it's kind of close.
Adding almond milk to the Ivory Coast, it's now coming across as more nutty and chocolaty than earthy. There's no smokiness it in it at this point, either. And oddly, the tartness seems to be mostly gone from the Mexico now, and it's more just a pure chocolate flavor. Even though the Ivory Coast is really good like this, I think Mexico still wins!
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.
This is my first comparison with the Mexico Medium roast, so I decided to start with it since I feel like at this point I have a pretty good understanding of the Nigeria. The Mexico is a little bitter, a bit tart, and the aroma has a sharp version of earthiness to it. The flavor has some chocolate to it, but it's more in the background of everything else. For the Nigeria, I'm picking up the Ghana-like sweetness in the aroma and flavor, and a little bit of nuttiness and a decent amount of chocolate. There's also a hint of bitterness in the aroma, but not so much in the flavor. Going back over to the Mexico, it's definitely more bitter and leaning more into pungent territory than tart. Between these two, I prefer the Nigeria quite a bit.
With a splash of vanilla almond milk in the Nigeria only for now, it is actually starting out more bitter and has a bit of the burnt nut flavor coming out. It's still generally nutty and decently chocolaty, but yeah, that burnt flavor seems to come and go. Comparing it against the unaltered Mexico, Mexico is again tart, bitter, and earthy. I have to say in this pairing that I'm not a huge fan of it. The Nigeria, in spite of the burnt flavor coming out, is otherwise fairly sweet and mild and much nicer in comparison, so the Nigeria wins.
I added a splash of almond milk to the Mexico, and while there's still a bit of earthy, tart, and bitter flavors to it, it's subdued and the chocolate now comes out much stronger. It's definitely much improved, and there is some sort of sweetness coming out, but still doesn't feel quite as exciting as my first encounter with it. The Nigeria, while the aroma is pungent, the flavor is nutty, chocolaty, lightly sweet, and overall pretty good. Going back to the Mexico, it definitely has a bit of stronger bitterness to it, and it's not quite as chocolaty. In spite of the pungency in the aroma, I prefer the Nigeria over the Mexico.
I started off with the Mexico, and I think at this point I mostly "get it". It's a little tart with a hint of bitterness, and a bit of chocolate in the flavor. The aroma is more tart than anything. Nothing surprising there. The Nigeria has a much more smoky aroma that reminds me a little bit of Choffy's Ecuador French roast, but the flavor is a little more tame than that. I'm not picking up much chocolate in the flavor, but there is the slightly burnt nut flavor hanging out there. Now that I'm thinking about it, it's also in the aroma a bit. Going back to the Mexico, it now has a much more tart and fermented flavor and aroma, leading slightly into bready territory. I'm not a fan of either one, but I think if I were to drink either like this long term, I'd have to go with the Mexico. But I wouldn't be happy about it. :-p
I decided to add vanilla almond milk only to the Nigeria to start off with. I know that it's likely that I'd prefer whichever one that I add the almond milk to first, but I'm more curious about how it affects the flavor of the unaltered Mexico. The Nigeria gets a little bit more of a chocolate flavor, and a little bit more nuttiness, but it still has the burnt taste to it. The unaltered Mexico still has the strong tartness and fermented flavors going on. I don't like the burnt nut flavor of the Nigeria, but I think I still prefer that over the flavors going on in the Mexico.
With a splash of almond milk now in the Mexico, the tartness is somewhat tamed, but still there and obvious. But it definitely has a much more chocolaty flavor than before. The Nigeria, in comparison, mostly just has the burnt nut flavor now. Overall this isn't a great pairing and I'm not terribly happy with either one, but I think I prefer the Mexico over the Nigeria when they're both altered.
The Mexico is starting off with some tartness and chocolate, but there's a good bit of bitterness in there this time around. It reminded me of something else for a brief moment, but now it seems to be eluding me. The Volta is slightly earthy, but more on the lighter and grainy side this time. It's also just the slightest bit buttery, almost like a freshly baked croissant, and there's a decent amount of chocolate flavor to it this time. Going back to the Mexico, the tartness is stronger, but the chocolate and bitter are a little diminished. I prefer the Volta quite a bit over the Mexico.
Adding vanilla almond milk to just the Mexico for now, it comes out as strongly chocolaty on the first sip, but there's also a slight tartness that is leaning more into what I'd call sour. The Volta actually seems a little more chocolaty than it did at first, too, even though I haven't added anything yet. The "croissant" flavor is gone, but it still has the grainy flavor and a good bit of chocolate. Going back to the Mexico, surprisingly it doesn't seem to be affected by the Volta right now. It's still very chocolaty, and if anything, the tartness has gone away. The Mexico is the winner for this one.
Adding a splash of almond milk to the Volta, the flavor is now a little lighter and leaning even more into a sweet grainy flavor, but I'm a little surprised to find that the chocolate flavor seems to be diminished. Going back to the Mexico, there's a tiny hint of the tartness coming back, but it's still very chocolaty. Huh. Between the sweeter grainy flavor of the Volta and the stronger chocolate flavor of the Mexico, these are really close as far as preference. The tartness hurts the Mexico, and the lack of chocolate hurts the Volta. I think I have to consider this one a tie!
Also, it's worth noting, I had walked away from my desk for an extended period, and the last sip of each had gotten cold, and... blech. I'm not a fan at all.
As has been the trend so far, Mexico is starting off on the tart side with a bit of chocolate and a hint of bitterness. The Volta, in comparison, has a fairly strong grainy or earthy aroma and flavor, and even leads a bit on the "dusty" side. There's a little bit of chocolate there, too. I was going to say that the chocolate flavor isn't as strong as what's coming out of the Mexico, but when going back to the Mexico, now the tartness is much stronger and the chocolate flavor is diminished. (into the West) I prefer the Volta between the two.
Adding vanilla almond milk only to the Mexico at first, it now comes across as very chocolaty, and the first sip has lost most of the tartness that was hanging out there. The Volta is still earthy and a little dusty, but it seems to have a bit of extra sweetness in there now, too. Going back to the Mexico, it's still very chocolaty, but the tartness is starting to come back just a little. It's still very good, though, and I prefer it over the unaltered Volta.
Adding almond milk to the Volta honestly didn't change the flavor much. It's maybe just a little lighter, but it's still on the grainy side and a bit dusty. It didn't seem to bring out the chocolate flavor at all, which I'm a little surprised about. The Mexico, on the other hand, is still very richly chocolaty and very good. The tartness has even pretty much gone away now. While they're both good, I would have to say I still prefer the Mexico, even with a hint of tartness in the aroma, over the Volta by a decent amount.
Starting off with the Mexico, there's a decent amount of chocolate there. There's also a little tartness, but that's mainly in the aroma, which is a bit on the sharp side. Part of me wants to say it's also earthy, but I can't tell for sure. Going over to the Volta, it's very smoky and earthy, and there's very little in the way of chocolate anywhere at the moment. Going back over to the Mexico, I'm picking up more of a fermented aroma and flavor. After the strong earthiness and smokiness of the Volta, it almost seems to have knocked a lot of the chocolate flavor out of it, too. It's now more bitter and tart. As far as picking a preference between the two, while I'm not a fan of either one in this context, I could see reaching for the Mexico more if I were drinking it on its own, so I guess it wins by a little bit.
I added a splash of vanilla almond milk to both because I really figured that if I added it to just one, that one would automatically be the winner. The Mexico gets a much more chocolaty flavor, although I'm still picking up hints of the tartness in the aroma and flavor. The Volta still has a strong smoky component, but there's more of an earthy chocolate flavor hanging out there, too. Going back and forth between the two, the Mexico is coming out as more tart and pungent. The chocolate is still there, but it's more in the background. Again, this is a really close call. They're both improved, but I think in the end I'm going with the Volta by a hair because right now I'm preferring the smoky flavor over the tartness of the Mexico.
I'm thinking this one should be somewhat interesting, especially in how they may affect one another.
Starting off with the Mexico, it's lightly bitter, lightly tart, and somewhat chocolaty. I'm not sure if I mentioned it elsewhere in another Mexico comparison, but I could see how someone would call this "fruity". I'm not sure if those attributes are exactly what they'd mean, but it seems to fit to me, at least. But it's decent on its own. Just taking a whiff of Anakin's aroma, it's smoky and almost sour. The flavor is also fairly smoky, but once again it almost has a "meaty" flavor to it. I've never really been a fan of drinking it black, but this isn't too bad. Going back to the Mexico, the aroma is now a little on the fermented side, and the flavor has a lot of tartness, but still some chocolate to it. In this state, I prefer the Mexico over the Anakin, but that doesn't mean I particularly like either one like this.
It was hard to pick which one to add a splash of vanilla almond milk to first, but I decided to go with the Anakin since I liked it less. As per the usual, with the almond milk in it, it's a lot milder, the meaty flavor is gone, and the bit of smokiness that continues to hang out and combine with the vanilla gives it that toasted marshmallow flavor. The unaltered Mexico is still just as tart as before, but I feel like the chocolate flavor may be just a hair stronger. It's interesting to note that going back to the Anakin after the Mexico, the nuttiness of the almond milk actually stands out just a little. In spite of that, the Anakin is definitely the winner between the two.
With almond milk in the Mexico, surprisingly, it's still just a little tart, but the chocolate is really coming out and much stronger. The Anakin is still just as marshmallow toasty as always, and now that things are milder on both sides, the nuttiness of the almond milk is gone again. It's actually kind of a close race. I really like the toasty flavors of Anakin, but the lack of chocolate holds it back just a little. I also really like the chocolate flavor of the Mexico, but the lingering tartness is holding that one back. But in terms of which one I'd prefer to drink for the long haul, I'd have to say it's Anakin.
I meant to start with the Mexico, but forgot and started with Shot in the Dark instead. Sigh. Well, Shot in the Dark is, as expected, very smoky and roasted. That's pretty much all I can taste in the flavor. No chocolate or earthiness or pungency or anything else. This is probably the closest to the "campfire ash" that I've had since my first batch of Choffy's Volta French roast. Next to it, not only is Mexico mostly tart and bitter, but it's even a little on the fermented and slightly bready side. I'm picking up maybe just a little bit of chocolate in it if I really think hard about it, but it's mostly not there at the moment. The flavors aren't really changing as I go back and forth, either. But in the end, I still prefer the Mexico over Shot in the Dark, even if I don't really like either one.
With a splash of vanilla almond milk in Shot in the Dark, it's actually taking on a bit of the toasty marshmallow flavor of Anakin, but in a more smoky way. It's more like an overdone marshmallow, I guess. But it's really much improved for the moment. The Mexico next to it is still very tart, bitter, and bready. Again, going back and forth between the two, the flavors aren't changing at all. Surprisingly, in this case, I prefer Shot in the Dark over the Mexico.
A splash of almond milk in the Mexico brings out the strong chocolate flavor. There's still a hint of tartness there, but it's mostly in the background. The Shot in the Dark now has a somewhat sour aroma, but it doesn't seem to carry through to the flavor. It's still smoky, but still has the toasted marshmallow hanging out there. It's a stubborn one! That flavor really isn't budging no matter how I change up the Mexico around it. The Mexico, on the other hand, seems to be wavering back and forth between tart and chocolaty. It's a close race, actually. Like with other similar pairings, they both have good sides and bad sides, and I'm having a bit of trouble picking out which one I'd drink long term. In the end, I think the smokiness of Shot in the Dark is just too smoky, even with the almond milk in it, so this round goes to the Mexico.
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.