XX1 - Gildardo Lopez

XX1 - Gildardo Lopez

Regular price$25.00
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Aviary was neither the original nor intended buyer of this coffee. This is a wildcard release—unplanned, unsequenced, a result of the chaos of the universe. This is a coffee that is as unpredictable in the cup as it is beguiling—an ultralight roast that changes with each brew but presents with articulate citric acidity and tones of blueberry.

From Christopher: "It started with a sample representing a 30kg lot of Pink Bourbon from Gildardo Lopez that was milled by a local exporter of unknown repute; its rejection upon arrival via air shipment; and the ensuing fallout. Gildardo was never paid for the coffee he sent. To make him whole, 100% of Aviary's profits from this release will be paid directly to Gildardo Lopez.

You should expect that this coffee will lack uniformity and will not present the distinctive character signature to Gildardo's Pink Bourbon presented in AVIARY#003. In fact, I suspect this lot is likely only partially Pink Bourbon. This is a coffee you should buy because of the story, the intrigue, the mystery—and because it offers the producer a better chance to make a good price for the coffee they sent.

Over 250g of cuppings, this coffee presented differently in each cup; it always presented, though, with clean, bright, citrus-forward acidity and caramel sweetness. Some cups presented vegetal; some did not. We've modulated our roast approach to bring out a blueberry tone from this coffee that found its way to Aviary."

Read the blog post to put this coffee into context.

This coffee was roasted on June 11, 2024

TASTING NOTES: In various cuppings, this coffee always presented with a bright, lemon-like acidity and caramel sweetness. The production roast was refined to bring out a subtle blueberry character. In some sample roasts, it showed with a bit of herbality and a vegetal quality.
ROAST:
This coffee is roasted in an ultralight style—lighter than Aviary's typical roast and flirting with under-development—so as to clean up the vegetal/herbal character of the cup, find a resonant blueberry note and present a laser-like, articulate citric acidity.
ACIDITY: Bright, laser-like citric/lemon acidity that grows as the cup cools.
FUNK: If you're sensitive, it can be a tiny bit funky/guava-like because of the herbal character; Espresso may intensify this. Overall, the extremely light roast should clean up any funk.
FOR FANS OF: Comeback stories, card games with jokers in the deck, mysteries, and clean, acid-forward washed coffees with hints of berries

FARMGATE PRICE: We'll update when we know
FOB PRICE: We'll update when we know
LANDED PRICE: We'll update when we know

Gildardo's lot was sent to the U.S. without payment via air freight and rejected upon arrival by another roaster. As a result, he was never paid. The original shipped lot was 30kg in whole; I received the 50 pounds that remained.

For that 50 pounds, $6 per pound was paid to the original roaster to cover their costs incurred in shipping the coffee from Colombia via DHL as well as repackaging it.

100% of the profits from the sale of AVIARY#XX1 will be paid to Gildardo Lopez for this coffee. We estimate that this total will end up around $27-30 per pound, green.

As far as we know:
Pink Bourbon grown at 2,000 masl BY Gildardo Lopez Hoyos at El Calamar in El Carmen, Paicol, Huila, Colombia; selectively hand-picked, sorted and floated in October 2023; fermented for 30 hours in cherry; pulped and sorted; fermented dry for 48 hours; dried on raised beds for 20-25 days under shade; exported and imported by Osito

I recommend resting this coffee for 3-5 weeks from its roasted date filter brewing and 5-6 weeks for espresso-style preparation (though you may wish to try it earlier to enjoy how the coffee changes and opens over time). If the cup presents with dominant flavors of grain or corn, it requires more rest.

As filter, I prefer a ratio of 1:17 using low-agitation methods of extraction resulting in 22-23% EY.