Slipwing • Archaeopteryx • Stomp

Shatter the frame. Rewrite the rules.

The Archaeopteryx at El Fénix

The bright fruit, texture and long passionfruit finish are what made this Sidra an Archaeopteryx for me. It has the movement of a Slipwing, with enough weight behind it to land as a Stomp, and this time the feathers have a little extra shine. Our first shiny Archaeopteryx begins at El Fénix in Calarcá, Quindío, with Miguel’s decision to plant Sidra in a lot that used to grow Geisha.

Full shiny El Fénix Sidra card: Slipwing Archaeopteryx, Stomp, Tropical. Rose. Afterglow., with stats and the ATTACK special skill

Before I arrived at El Fénix, I knew it through coffees I had cupped and through Mat North, who had spoken so much about Miguel Fajardo Mendoza. We stayed there for three days during my Colombia trip, after Santuario, and I finally got to spend time with someone whose name had been part of my coffee world long before we met.

El Fénix is part of Raw Material’s work in Colombia, with a rare-variety coffee forest, a community wet mill and a post-harvest lab, and training that brings producers and roasters together. Miguel describes the farm as agroforest. There is a lot to get excited about there, but when Miguel explained this Sidra, what caught my attention was how practical the choice had been. He wanted a variety that could taste beautiful and produce well on this farm.

View from El Fénix across the coffee-growing hills of Quindío
A selfie beside the El Fénix entrance sign

A Different Direction

The Sidra came through a swap between friends: Miguel had Wush Wush seed at El Fénix, his friend had Sidra seed brought from Ecuador, and they exchanged some of their planting material. Miguel had seen good productivity and a very interesting cup profile in Sidra, so he decided to try it on the farm.

The choice to replace Geisha was deliberate. Miguel explained that growing it came with a difficult benchmark, because the coffee would always be compared with Panamanian Geisha, while El Fénix had different conditions and resources. He wanted to find a variety with its own flavour identity, something suited to this environment that could also give him a better yield.

That is the part I love: the interesting cup has to work for the farmer too. Miguel says he will keep replacing some varieties with that in mind, looking for coffees that can give him both an interesting profile and good production.

Sidra, With a Few Questions Attached

Sidra has a family tree people are still trying to untangle. It is closely associated with Ecuador and often introduced as a Bourbon and Typica cross, although genetic research points towards Ethiopian landrace connections. Miguel was careful when he sent me its story: Ecuador was his understanding too, but he wanted to find firmer information before saying more about its history.

The sweetness, vivid fruit and florals have certainly given Sidra a following, and this cup had plenty to keep us talking. With the processing, Miguel was clear about what he wanted to do: keep the acidity delicate and let the variety show itself.

Under the Water Pillow

He calls it anoxic, or the water pillow technique, and the name is quite literal. The coffee ferments with its mucilage beneath a plastic sheet, with a layer of water about 15 to 20 centimetres deep sitting above it. The water acts as a heat sink, helping stabilise temperature during fermentation, while the setup reduces the air around the coffee and lets fermentation gases escape. Miguel describes the environment as almost anaerobic.

Water above the plastic sheet covering coffee in a fermentation tank at El Fénix

The fermentation juices also drain away instead of collecting at the bottom of the stationary tank. Miguel connects that drainage with balance in the cup, and describes the method as a way of encouraging brighter but delicate acidity while bringing more of the variety’s traits through.

I like hearing him talk about what makes it repeatable. A cement tank or a plastic vessel can both work, and he has tried the method in Rwanda, Burundi and Timor-Leste. With so much of El Fénix’s work connected to training, there is something valuable in a process another producer can take away and use too.

Coffee being lifted from a fermentation tank labelled Sidra at El Fénix
A coffee drying bed labelled Sidra at El Fénix

Cup Character

Tropical. Rose. Afterglow.

At one point, the tasting notes simply said passionfruit party, which gives you a fairly good idea of the mood. Across the tastings, the fruit moved between raspberry, lychee and flat peach, with lemon balm and lemongrass around the florals and cane sugar underneath. Rose lassi came up too, catching something about that perfumed sweetness and texture.

There was real weight to the cup alongside the brightness, and that passionfruit kept going into a long aftertaste. I wanted the Archaeopteryx to carry all of it: the lively movement, the body, and the finish that refuses to leave quietly. Stomp gives that weight a place on the card, while the afterglow finds its way into the skill.

The First Shiny Archaeopteryx

Every so often, I will give an especially rare and distinctive coffee the shiny treatment within its own class. This Sidra gets our first-ever shiny Archaeopteryx, with its Slipwing identity still coming from the cup. Each 200g pack includes the card, so this is one you can keep in the collection once the coffee itself has disappeared.

The Art

Shiny blue and rose-pink Archaeopteryx with spread wings above green hills, beside coffee blossom and cherries

Caitlin’s Archaeopteryx has its wings spread above the green hills, with coffee blossom and red cherries on the branch in front of it. I love how the blue and rose-pink feathers give Tropical. Rose. Afterglow. somewhere to live, and how the pale, prismatic tips carry that little extra shine into the creature itself. There is plenty of movement here, but look at the feet: the claws are out, and this Slipwing has not forgotten its Stomp.

Stat Breakdown

  • Agility 9: Bright acidity and lifted fruit give the cup lively movement.
  • Power 9: The weight and texture give it substantial presence alongside that brightness.
  • Bite 8: Juicy fruit and tactile energy keep it lively in the mouth.
  • Stamina 9: A long aftertaste, with passionfruit carrying through the finish.
  • Charm 7: Cane-sugar sweetness, lychee and perfumed florals give the cup its inviting pull.
  • Armour 5: A composed structure that holds the fruit, body and aromatics together.

Special Skill: Attack

The skill came from that long passionfruit finish. I wanted something of it to stay in the match after the Archaeopteryx had attacked, affecting the opponent’s next response. That is a good place for a Slipwing to work: the main impact has happened, and there is still something to deal with afterwards.

ATTACK: After your attack resolves, your opponent’s next attack has -2 BITE. Lose 1 ARMOUR next turn.

The opponent comes back with less Bite, but you have given up some protection on your next turn. That makes timing part of the move: when is softening their response worth leaving the Archaeopteryx more exposed?

Through the Card

If you arrived here through your card, welcome. That shiny Archaeopteryx belongs to a Sidra grown at El Fénix, and I wanted the story behind it to stay close: Miguel exchanging seed, deciding what to plant, and finding a way to let the variety show itself.

Keep it as your collection grows. Once the coffee is gone, the card is still a way back to this place, this cup, and the person whose choices made it possible.