Brewing in Color: Francy Castillo & Anayibe Ortiz

For our final Elevated Series release of the year, we asked Reily, Madcap’s Coffee Quality Control Specialist, to explore Francy Castillo and Anayibe Ortiz’s coffees through the lens of tasting and brewing. Below, she shares what makes each coffee distinct, along with her brew guides for bringing those qualities forward in your own cup.

Understanding how to go about tasting a coffee is one of my great projects in life. Tasting, by that I mean understanding and describing what you are tasting—is a harder skill to master than it seems on paper. Without referring to other dishes, we actually only have five words to describe taste. Using these, no one would be able to build a diagram that would accurately depict the flavor profile of a coffee. On bags of coffee, we use tasting notes to try and capture the overall acidity level, acidity type, sweetness level, sweetness type, texture, finish, etc. Some coffees are easier to capture and understand than others, and some people taste different notes and profiles better than others. Even among the nuances that come with describing coffee, at the base level, I like to think of the main color or colors of the fruits that jump to mind. For the In Pursuit coffees for this Elevated release, both coffees capture a distinct yet all-encompassing color profile.

For me, Francy Castillo tastes overwhelmingly pink. With immediate notes of pink lemonade, Pink Starburst, cherry Laffy Taffy, strawberry fruit snacks, and Twizzlers, this coffee jumped out as having developed sugar sweetness. Which we find with candy and refined sugar, along with some softer yet present citrus tones. I’ve personally found that the Sibarist filters that I’ve been brewing with generally highlight and enhance clarity in a significant way, so I brewed this coffee closer to a medium-medium coarse than I did to coarse. By going only slightly coarser than medium, the brew captures some more of the nuanced acidity, but not at the expense of the candy-like sweetness that goes hand-in-hand with this Pink Bourbon. These cups were best at a 1:17 ratio. Look for cups that capture tropicality, florality, and complex sugar sweetness to fully unlock the potential of this high-elevation Pink Bourbon.

In tandem, Anayibe Ortiz has cultivated a Bourbon Ají that fully captures and highlights a deep red profile. This relatively new variety has been named Bourbon Ají to highlight the spicy smell and slight taste that comes from the mucilage. While technically genetic testing proves that it’s actually a descendant of an Ethiopian landrace variety, it joins the ranks of varieties like Geisha, Sidra, Chiroso, and the aforementioned Pink Bourbon. That being said, this variety has quickly become a personal favorite of mine. In reference to its genetic roots, this variety captures a lovely citrus zest-like quality, one that in some way is a representation of that spicy quality. Anayibe Ortiz is not only no exception; she captures that variety’s expression on her farm, El Roble. We’ve had Pink Bourbon from her husband, Alirio Muñoz Ortega, so it’s already from a farm with a terroir expression we like.

Her Bourbon Ají is very red in flavor profile. Cherry Now and Later, prickly pear, blood orange, dragon fruit, and fruit punch. This coffee captures a deeply tangy yet clean profile. With this coffee, I aim for a coarse grind size with a high-agitation brew (think like the Tetsu Kasuya 10-pour recipe). The coarse grounds offer a lot of room for acidity expression, while the high agitation allows for the cup to end up balanced and sweet. This coffee was best suited to a 1:16 ratio with these coarse grind sizes to balance out extraction.
Both of these coffees have such clear expression. Given the quality of these coffees paired with the clarity of Sibarist filters and the joy of sharing two producers that I 100% stand behind, this round of the Elevated Series will round out the year perfectly and showcase the fruits of labor: the labor of Francy and Anayibe and the work that went into moving these coffees from them to us, and finally, from us to you. Look to brew the cups that inspire you and, in tandem, would inspire others.

Stay curious, stay in pursuit, happy brewing.
Download Brew Guide Francy Castillo | Anayibe Ortiz

Preorders are live | Fulfillment September 4
Each preorder set includes a Sibarist CONE sample pack for brewers, featuring FAST and B3 filter technology designed to enhance clarity, sweetness, and extraction consistency.