XX2 - Pranoy Thipaiah
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This is a pre-order: We expect that this coffee will be roasted the week of October 6, 2024. You will receive a notification when your order ships.
This wildcard release comes to us from Pranoy Thipaiah of Kerehaklu plantation in India; all profits from the sale of this coffee will be returned to Pranoy and Kerehaklu. This 800g nanolot is the result of Pranoy's relentless experimentation in pursuit of improvements in both quality and efficiency, and was fermented using Aspergillus luchuensis—koji traditionally used to make shochu and sake—and a refined version of the "Koji Supernatural" protocol I devised for Vergel Estate and Kaapo Paavolainen in 2021. This coffee is atypical for Aviary stylistically, blurring the lines between fruity and funky with a round mouthfeel and notes of strawberry, blackberry wine and shiro miso.
From Christopher: "Pranoy and I connected some years ago via Instagram, where I admired from afar the way he applied his education in biology to improve the health and biodiversity of his family's farm and process engineer the farm's postharvest practices. Kerehaklu looks more like a nature preserve than a farm—with giant Malabar squirrels and bison living in the agroforestry habitat. Pranoy was curious about the koji protocol I'd written and we began to exchange ideas about how to improve the results and predictability of the process.
"One of the challenges Pranoy wanted to solve was how to create complexity in the cup from cherries at the beginning of harvest, which had a shorter maturation period and which may ripen unevenly. He hypothesized that Luchuensis, a species of fungi that shares the title of "national fungi" with Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus sojae and Aspergillus kawachii, with its ability to produce citric acid during the fermentation process, could improve the cup's complexity and the presentation of acidity.
"Using spores obtained from Europe, Pranoy processed Selection 9 Arabica—a cultivar descended from an Ethiopian variety, Tafarikela, crossed with Hibrido de Timor—and produced this 800g experimental nanolot, which he shipped via DHL for evaluation."
Revisit this blog post from 2021 to put this coffee into context.
Kerehaklu and Pranoy photos by Alia Romagnoli
This coffee will be roasted the week of October 6, 2024.
TASTING NOTES: Strawberry, blackberry wine, shiro miso
ROAST: This coffee is roasted quite light on the Roest L100 Plus in a style designed to present the coffee with high resolution showcasing all of its qualities.
ACIDITY: Bright, laser-like citric/lemon acidity that grows as the cup cools.
FUNK: This is the funkiest coffee Aviary has roasted to date, but also incredibly bursting with fruit. If you're sensitive to funk, you might want to stick with filter brewing.
FOR FANS OF: Poker with jokers in the deck, funkyfruits, ecologically responsible coffee cultivation, innovators
FARMGATE PRICE: See pricing context
FOB PRICE: This coffee was provided by Pranoy at no cost to Aviary
LANDED PRICE: n/a
As suggested by the size of this lot (800g), it was produced as an experimental lot by Pranoy and not intended for commercialization. He provided it at no cost to Aviary, sending it to the U.S. via DHL.
However, per the tradition of this series, all profits from the sale of this coffee will be returned to Pranoy and Kerehaklu.
Selection 9 coffee grown at 1150 meters at Kerehaklu under dense shade of orange and lime trees in the understory and cluster figs and Indian redcedar in canopy; selectively hand-picked and sorted for ripeness; ozonated to knock back the wild microbial population; inoculated with Luchuensis; fermented in aerobic conditions for 66 hours in trays covered aluminium foil, regularly monitored for temperature and culturing; dried for 24 days on raised beds in a polyhouse with overhead shade between 12 noon and 3pm, with raking by hand every 30 minutes.
To mitigate funkiness, I'd recommend brewing this one young—as soon as 14 days off roast.
As filter, I prefer a ratio of 1:17 using low-agitation methods of extraction resulting in 22-23% EY.