R006: 

Farm/Producer: Nestor Lasso

Region: Colombia, Huila

Process: Anaerobic Natural

Altitude: 1870 masl

Variety: Aji

Cup Profile: Orange Blossom, Peach, Apricot, English Toffee

Background info: 

We are back with another special release, queue in our second lot from the Lasso Brothers. This time we explore a new Cultivar here at Cedar known as Aji.

Aji is quite a new cultivar being grown in Huila as it's actually a 100% Ethiopian Landrace that is usually grown in Ethiopia. This becomes clear once you start brewing this coffee with very familiar Ethiopian notes, think floral aroma and stonefruits. Fun fact: this year's World Barista Champion (2024) used the same Aji Cultivar from El Diviso to win.

Let's dive into how this particular lot gets processed:

• Only ripe berries are chosen which then undergoes an 18 hour oxidation at an average room temperature of 25°c
•  The cherries then undergoes an anaerobic fermentation for 30 hours at an average temperature of 16 to 18°C.
• It then gets transfered to tanks and oxidizes for 28 hours reaching a maximum temperature of 42°C.
• Then gets transferred into another container to start another anaerobic fermentation for 30 hours at a temperature of 16 to 20°C.
• The cherries in the tanks are then submerged in water at 45 degrees C, adding leachate/mossto from a previous harvest, and recirculating the leachate for 18 hours.
• It then gets placed in canopies to begin the drying process.
• Once the coffee reaches a humidity level of 18% it is transferred to black bags in a dark warehouse space, letting it rest for 60 hours to then continue with drying, until obtaining 11% moisture levels.

All of this contributes to the final cup on the table. This coffee feels elegant with an orange blossom aroma. This is not a coffee to punch you in the face with full flavour. Instead as it lingers you will find a complexity of flavour. 

A light mouthfeel on filter with notes of stonefruit think peach the one with the orange flesh inside.The espresso has definitely been the highlight as you concentrating a lot of delicate notes you first picked up on filter. Stonefruit notes such as peach but also apricot can be found. On Milk we picked up notes of English Toffee frozen yoghurt similar to what you would get at Marcels.