Cherizena Turquino Montanes
Country: | Cuba |
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Region: | Sierra Maestra |
Brand: | Cherizena |
Rating: |
I came across Cherizena at this year's Abergavenny Food Festival; it's hard to resist a stall laden with heavenly smelling coffee beans, so I ended up coming home with a bagful of things to try.
This is their Rare Cuban Turquino Montanes coffee, from their higher priced speciality range. Produced in small quantities, it's described as being "as great a coffee as Pure Jamaican Blue Mountain".
(apologies, by the way, for the unusually terrible picture – it seems impossible to get into the packet without almost entirely rendering it illegible!)
The grounds have a gentle roasted aroma with hint of cherry fruit and a sugar-sweet background, but overall it's a fairly mild smelling coffee.
Brewing loses the sweetness, and brings out a harsher, slightly bitter aroma although there's still that hint of fruit to the nose.
Medium bodied, the flavour has a coffee richness that is nicely balanced by a gentle bitterness. There's the barest hint of the sweetness from the aroma, which helps to add to the body and contributes to an impressive overall smoothness.
While I'm not sure I'd use the term "great", this is a very smooth, easy drinking and tasty coffee that earns 3 stars.
This review was originally published 10th December, 2012. It was last updated 1st June, 2023.