Quickfang• Raptor• Stealth

Speed is clarity. And clarity cuts.

The faster side of the barrel

I first tasted this coffee on a cupping table in Santuario, Colombia, before I knew who had produced it or how it had been processed. I was tasting blind, moving through coffees from the region, following the cups that felt like they had something Roastersaurus could build a world around.

Two coffees pulled me in for completely different reasons. One was bright, juicy, sweet, and immediately Raptor-like. The other had more depth, more cola sweetness, and something heavier in the way it sat in the cup. I chose them both because they each had their own energy, and only afterwards did I find out they were from the same producer, Avelino Mena, from the same small farm, and through the same remonta washed process.

The difference between them was time.

That is what makes this pair so interesting. They are not opposites from different worlds. They are two expressions of the same starting point: same producer, same farm, same process, but one fermentation timeline stopped earlier and the other continued longer.

This is the faster side of the barrel. The 10 day expression became the Raptor because it carried brightness as movement. Raspberry, cherry, jazz apple, umeshu, blood orange, and fresh apricot all push forward in the cup, while the fermentation adds sweetness and lift without taking over the clarity.

Speed is clarity. And clarity cuts. That is the Quickfang line, and it fits here because this coffee does not feel energetic in a chaotic way. It feels clean, precise, and alive. The Raptor moves quickly, but it does not rush.

The Art

The artwork builds on the idea of two possible timelines. The Raptor stands beside one of Avelino’s blue fermentation barrels, close to the process that shaped the coffee. That barrel is not just background decoration. It is the shared starting point: the place where the same coffee, from the same farm and producer, begins to split into two different expressions.

Beside the Raptor is a mirror, and inside that mirror is the T-Rex. That detail is the key to the whole pair. The T-Rex is not a random hidden creature. It is the longer fermentation possibility inside the same process. The mirror makes the card playful, but also a little psychological. You are looking at one version of the coffee while seeing what else it could have become.

The 10 day collapses into Raptor: bright, agile, juicy, alive. But through the mirror, the longer timeline is still there, gathering weight. A tiny fermentation multiverse, held inside two cards.

The Producer

Avelino Mena works at Finca El Guadual in Vereda La Linda, Santuario, in Colombia’s Risaralda region. His farm is small, around one hectare, and he grows Colombia, Caturra, and Supremo.

He picks and selects the coffee himself, building each lot from small daily collections as the cherry reaches the right level of maturation. That is part of what makes this coffee feel so personal. This is not a large production lot created from distance. It is the result of close, repeated work: watching what is ripe, collecting what is ready, and moving it through a process Avelino has learned to control through experience.

The full story of visiting his farm, seeing the barrels, the roof drying, the weather shifting around Santuario, and meeting Chiki the dog will unfold more fully in the blog. But the card begins here, with Avelino, one hectare, and a process that turns small daily decisions into something clear in the cup.

10 Day Remonta Washed Fermentation

This coffee begins with a 12 to 24 hour in-cherry fermentation, depending on the maturation of the cherry. After that, the coffee is pulped and placed into sealed blue barrels for anaerobic remonta fermentation. Every 24 hours, the barrels are rotated, moving the coffee’s own mucilage-rich fermenting juices back through the lot as it develops.

For the 10 day expression, fermentation reaches 10 days. After fermentation, the coffee is dried on the roof for around 8 days.

The result is bright, juicy, and clean. The fermentation adds sweetness, roundness, and motion, but the cup remains fresh rather than funky. This is not an anaerobic built on noise. It is a washed coffee with a fast fruit current running through it.

Cup Character

Fresh. Pressed. Juice.

Raspberry and cherry appear first, bright and direct, followed by jazz apple and umeshu. Blood orange gives the cup lift, while fresh apricot softens the edges.

The fruit stays lively and alert. The sweetness is present but not heavy, and the fermentation gives the cup a sense of motion without thickening it. It is clean, vivid, and agile.

Fresh fruit with claws.

Stat Breakdown

Special Skill: Ten Day Rush

Some creatures build their strength slowly, but the Raptor moves first.

Ten Day Rush captures the way this coffee uses the shorter fermentation timeline to keep its energy high. It opens with bright fruit, clean lift, and a lively tactile edge before deeper fermentation tones can take over.

In the game, the skill lets this card ignore +1 Armour during the attack. If it strikes first, it gains +1 Bite, but loses 1 Armour next turn. That fits the coffee beautifully: quick impact, sharp fruit movement, and a little less protection once it has thrown itself forward.

In the cup, it feels like fresh juice with claws.

The Mirror Pair

This card is one half of a pair. The Raptor and T-Rex are not separate stories. They are two reflections of the same origin: same producer, same farm, same remonta washed process, different time.

On the Raptor card, the T-Rex appears in the mirror as the longer fermentation timeline waiting inside the same blue barrel process. It is not an enemy, or even an opposite. It is another possible self.

That is the fun of the mirror. Look at one coffee and you start to see what else it could have become. The 10 day collapses into Raptor: bright, agile, juicy, alive. But through the mirror, the longer timeline is still there, gathering weight.

A tiny fermentation multiverse, held inside two cards.

Collect both to see the full reflection.

Collect & Discover

Each pack of Avelino Mena 10 Day Remonta Washed includes its Illustrated Limited Edition Roastersaurus Raptor Avelino 10 card.

Roastersaurus coffees are released once for each harvest and moment in time. Every card reflects the character of the coffee it represents, translating flavour, structure, and movement into creature form.

This release is part of a paired Colombia drop from Avelino Mena: one Raptor, one T-Rex, one mirror between them.