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Who Makes The
BEST COFFEE
Victoria, our coffee reviewer
Coffee with Victoria

Denargo

TRADITIONAL PROCESSOur reviewPurchased by us
TagsnullCocoaCaramelArabicaBlendVarious producersNovo CoffeeIndependentOur reviewPurchased by usSmallholder collective lotVariety undisclosed

Our review of Denargo by Novo Coffee in Denver: an easy chocolate and caramel espresso blend with a soft berry note. 4.7 stars, earned with a smile.

Our rating
4.7 out of Five Stars
4.7/5 on our star rating scale
Brand
Novo Coffee
Roaster website
Visit website
Country
—
Region
Not specified
Town
Not specified
Farm / Station
Not specified
Farmer / Producer
Various producers
Species
Arabica
Type
Blend
Grade
Not specified
Variety
null
Process
—
Roast
—
Tasting notes
Chocolate, Cocoa, Berry, Caramel
Fermentation
Not specified
Drying
Not specified
Product page
Roaster's site
Date reviewed
Oct 25, 2026
Why some details are blank
  • farmNovo lists various producers and does not disclose the component farms or stations behind this blend.
  • producerNo individual producer is named for this blend; it combines lots from various producers.
  • varietyThe bag and Novo's product page say washed and sun dried varieties without naming the component varieties.
  • roast levelNeither the bag nor Novo's product page states a roast level for Denargo.
Editorial disclosure: Purchased by us
Spotted an error? Report a correction →
The transparency chain

FROM THE BAG
BACK TO THE LAND.

Every link we could verify, traced in one place. Follow the chain as far as it goes — when the industry doesn't disclose a link, we say so instead of guessing.

  1. 01
    The name on the bag
    Denargo
  2. 02
    The brand
    Novo Coffee
  3. 03
    The roaster
    Not disclosed
  4. 04
    The variety
    null
  5. 05
    The farm
    Not specified
  6. 06
    The farmer
    Various producers
  7. 07
    The region
    Not specified
  8. 08
    The country
    Not disclosed
From the producer

The coffee is sourced from a variety of producers located across Ethiopia and The Americas.

From the roaster

A nod to our origins at 808 Denargo Market, where Novo dove headfirst into the coffee world in 2002. We started in an 850-square-foot warehouse condo within the market, which opened in 1939 and was Denver's largest produce market until a 1971 fire destroyed most of it.

Why this coffee is noteworthy

Denargo is the blend that carries Novo Coffee's own story: the company helped shape Denver's specialty coffee culture from a tiny warehouse condo at the historic Denargo Market, a site famous enough that Jack Kerouac wrote On The Road while working there in 1951. Formerly called Espresso Novo, it remains one of Novo's best selling coffees.

The honest process breakdown

WHAT DID THEY ACTUALLY
DO TO THIS COFFEE?

01
Lots sourced from Ethiopia and the Americas

Novo blends washed and sun dried lots from various producers across Ethiopia and the Americas rather than a single named farm.

02
Washed and sun dried processing

The components are processed traditionally: fully washed and dried in the sun, with no fermentation experiments behind the blend.

03
Blended and roasted in Denver

The components are combined and roasted at Novo's Denver roastery, tuned originally for espresso.

What was added?

Nothing. No flavorings or infusion of any kind.

What wasn't added?

Nothing after roasting. The chocolate, berry and caramel notes come from the coffee itself.

Why it matters

House blends like this are where a roaster's daily craft lives. Every component has to earn its place, and the blend has to taste the same every time you come back. Novo has been roasting since 2002 and this blend is the everyday proof of that consistency.

What you might taste

An easy cocoa sweetness up front, caramel through the middle, and a soft berry lift that keeps the cup from getting heavy. Medium body, smooth finish.

Sources for these process claims
  • · https://novocoffee.com/product/denargo/
Our review

The full tasting

The first sip

Denargo opens the way a good house blend should: with chocolate. Not dark, brooding chocolate, just an easy cocoa sweetness that shows up in the aroma before the water even finishes going through. The first cup tastes like caramel with a soft berry note drifting in around the edges. It is a medium body coffee, smooth all the way down, and it never asks you to work hard to enjoy it. That is the whole point of this bag.

What we tasted

The bag says chocolate, berry, caramel and the cup agreed with every word. Caramel carries the sweetness. The berry note is the fun part: it keeps the chocolate from getting heavy and gives the cup a little lift in the middle. We brewed it as drip and as espresso and both cups told the same story. Side by side with a single origin you give up some detail, but you gain something better for a daily coffee: a blend that behaves itself every single morning.

The story in the bag

Novo Coffee has been roasting in Denver since 2002, and Denargo is named for the 808 Denargo Market, the historic produce market where the company started in an 850 square foot warehouse condo. The blend used to be called Espresso Novo and it is still one of their best sellers. We like that the name points at the building where it all began and not at a marketing angle. What we cannot tell you is who grew each lot. Novo lists various producers across Ethiopia and the Americas and does not publish the component farms, so we marked those details as undisclosed rather than guess.

Who this is for

Anyone who wants one dependable bag in the rotation. It flatters people new to good coffee and it does not bore the coffee nerds either. It is not a fruit bomb and it is not a trophy coffee, and honestly that is why we kept reaching for it all week. 4.7 stars, earned.

How we'd brew it

Novo built this blend for espresso and we agree it shines there. If you are pulling shots, start at a 1 to 2 ratio in about 30 seconds and adjust from there. It also makes a very good drip cup and a smooth cold brew, so do not feel locked into the espresso machine.

Denargo — supplied coffee image 1
Bag — front
Denargo — supplied coffee image 2
Bag — back
Editorial sacred-geometry artwork for Denargo; not a documentary photograph

Editorial illustration

Editorial sacred-geometry artwork for Denargo; not a documentary photograph

Editorial illustration

The internet pulse

What the internet is saying about this coffee

Research complete — no qualifying reviews yet

Our research pipeline scanned public reviews, videos, forums and discussions for this coffee (last pass 2026-10-25) and found no independent review of this exact release that meets our verification standards. When qualifying sources appear, they'll be published here.

What we found

Novo's current product page verifies the blend and current listing. A June 8, 2016 independent review covers the predecessor name Espresso Novo; because it is historical and may not represent the current release, it was not counted or scored.

Until then, meet the people behind it:

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