026 - Lino Rodriguez
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The fifth coffee of our 2026 season is an Aviary-exclusive—a stunning honey-processed Gesha from three-time Aviary-featured and six-time Cup of Excellence awarded producer Lino Rodriguez in Colombia presenting in the cup with brilliant, vibrant notes of yuzu, blood orange, mango, passionfruit and red currant.
From Christopher: "Last year, I sent Lino a message on Whatsapp to ask him how the harvest was going and when he thought he might have samples ready. His reply was the usual one: 'Que cafés estás buscando?' What coffees are you looking for?
"It's a question I've gotten used to from Lino—at this point, I've been buying coffee from him for almost ten years—since before he won the Cup of Excellence or built the reputation he has today. Back then, at the beginning of our collaboration, I was paired with Lino by Salomé Puentes, then of Caravela Coffee (now of Teco Coffee in Guatemala) to conduct processing experimentation in an effort to improve the cup characteristics of the Castillo on his family farm through controlled fermentation.
"Lino is a quality-driven producer who studied agriculture in university; he manages his family's farm and processing methodically and with an openness to new practices. It's not a surprise that his care and intentionality paved his way to way to wins and top-placements in the Cup of Excellence in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
"I've cupped with Lino enough to trust his understanding of my preferences, and we have a lighthearted rapport, so I responded with a playful request: 'Para mi? Solo lo mejor, jajaja.' He responded, affirmatively, 'Listo.'
"A week or two later, a tranche of samples arrived at my door—samples that, it turns out, came from lots that Lino had set aside to enter into the 2026 Tierra de Diversidad Competition. As a gesture of our years of working together, Lino let me have first pick.
"I was torn between two lots—a Pink Bourbon that rivaled any I've had from him before, including AVIARY#004—and a honey processed Gesha that exceeded the high bar Lino set last year with AVIARY#011. This year, Lino told me, the changing climate meant heavier rains during the year; those rains made the cherry reach maturity faster without concentrating sugars in the seed or fruit. As a result, for the Honey-processed Gesha, Lino fermented the coffee 24 hours longer in order to express additional fruit acidity.
"I wanted to showcase Lino's brilliance as a process engineer and his adaptability to the unpredictable weather of Huila—and the the resulting cup settled my decision: explosively bright and vibrant, with blood orange sweetness and tropical notes of mango, yuzu, and passionfruit layered with red currant."
We anticipate this coffee will be roasted the week of May 4, 2026.
TASTING NOTES: Mango, yuzu, passionfruit, red currant, blood orange
ROAST: Light, to accentuate the structured acidity of this coffee and present its fruited character as ripe and juicy
ACIDITY: Tangy, syrupy acidity that is like tangerine. Well-integrated and bright.
FUNK: This is a clean, bright fermented honey with a tropical, citrus fruit quality with only a trace amount of pulp flavor in the cool cup, particularly at lower extraction levels. Tropical notes of mango and passionfruit might trigger a Five Funk Alarm for some, but those notes are clean and citric in the cup. We didn't detect measurable funkiness in this one; it's less pulpy than either AVIARY#004 or AVIARY#011
FOR FANS OF: Vibrant expressions of Geshas that are laden with tropical fruit and citrus as well as dense, vibrant, zingy acidity; smallholder success stories; Cup of Excellence winning producers
FARMGATE PRICE:
FOB PRICE: $12.26 per lb
LANDED PRICE: $13.41 per lb
