Tuck In – Pair Cupworks

Tuck In from Pair Cupworks is a fermented coffee from the farm Finca Cordillera del Fuego in Costa Rica. Anaerobic coffees have become some of my favorite to explore this year since they can vary so wildly in the coffee’s profile and can have such intense flavor notes. Some of the favorites I’ve had fall into either the intense tropical fruit notes or robust baking spices; Tuck In was very much the latter.

The coffee began with complex notes of apple cinnamon, sweet strawberry and baking spices. The flavor tasted like Autumn in a cup with notes of apple pie, cinnamon, raisins and other baking spices (nutmeg, allspice, etc.) all mixed together. It was an incredible combination of flavors that reminded me of Fall foods (apple pie, pumpkin spice, etc.) more than any coffee I’ve had before (except potentially Alt. 4915 from Julius Coffee, which had a very similar profile). The brightness was a bit more muted, but very balanced. The coffee was surprisingly sweet with a brown sugar and raisin sweetness that balanced the baking spice notes quite nicely. The coffee was incredibly complex, with layered flavor notes that I continued to uncover even as I approached the end of the bag.

The Bottom Line

The coffee was a bit harder to dial in than others and ultimately required a lower coffee to water ratio to not seem weak. The extra effort to perfect the brew was well worth it though because the end result was one of the tastiest and most unique cups of coffee I’ve had recently. Pair Cupworks kills it again with this coffee and has quickly risen in the ranks to be one of my favorite roasters.