La Soledad #9 Ají [25/26] - Colombia

Traditional Washed, Ají, Lightest Roaster Influence -Best for Filter/Pourover/Turbo Espresso
3 key notes: [Raspberry, Rhubarb, Honeycomb]

Our second time featuring La Soledad after last year's excellent trad washed Ombligon/Caturrón lot. This Aji cupped blind like a Kenyan coffee for us, a bit of an amuse-bouche for the upcoming season of East African coffees.

Mario Fernando Gómez operates La Soledad, a farm that the Gomez family has owned since the 1960s and which achieved recognition as a Cup of Excellence finalist in 2009. Spanning 22 hectares and showcasing contemporary Colombian agronomy, Mario maintains an extensive collection of varieties including Yellow and Red Geisha, Sidra, Pink Bourbon, Orange Bourbon, Yellow Etiope, Aji, Striped Bourbon, Caturrón, and Chiroso.

Mario has branched out into producing a lot of the modern high intervention style of coffees - a bit of a microcosm of the wider Colombian industry, with the shift from commercial production, to rare variety planting, to now offering a diverse set of processes. We've sourced this one through Nordic, who naturally gravitate towards the lower intervention techniques. 

We’re tasting: 
Rich red-fruit aromatics - we're finding plum, raspberry, cherry & grapefruit zest. In the cup it's dense & syrupy, reminding us of Kenyan coffee - rhubarb, redcurrant and ripe persimmon while warm, with a honeycomb sweetness and sparkling acidity. As it cools we get a sweet ruby grapefruit note with brown sugar, black tea & hibiscus.