Ecuador
Eladio Chamba

Eladio and Francisca switched to coffee production in 2002 after a successful trial with 100 trees. This cup is bright and crisp, with notes of strawberry, raspberry, and red apple.

Washed process Bourbon

Flavour: strawberry, red apple, raspberry

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

The southern province of Loja (Ecuador) has a mountainous region named Gonzanama. In these hills, Eladio and his wife have a 10-hectare farm, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, where they live with their youngest son, Roberto. They have four more children: Lorena, Maria Fernanda, Maria Isabel and Carlos (who is a coffee roaster!).

He bought the farm in 1997 and, alongside his wife, started a pig farm. In 2002, they discussed the option of starting to grow coffee. He built a nursery with 100 trees of Caturra, which eventually were planted and thrived—they decided to switch entirely to coffee production. Today, they also grow sugar cane and citrus trees.

Eladio, Roberto and Francisca

He initially processed his coffee through natural process (known in Ecuador as “bola” coffee) and sold it at local markets. But, in 2015, he decided to try washed process after it was recommended by neighbouring producers. The higher quality of his coffee allowed him to sell to the global specialty market, so he never looked back and stayed focus on high quality varieties and processing.

Eladio has introduced better farm managing processes to preserve the environment and achieve organic production (though they don’t hold any official certification yet). The biggest challenge is the drought periods during summer; when it doesn’t rain enough, he has to buy water to run the washed process.

The process

Eladio begins the coffee process by manually selecting and picking the ripe cherries. Then, they go into the wet mill, where they are sorted and floated to remove the defective ones and any small branches. Later, the cherries are pulped with some water and placed inside airtight plastic containers for 30 hours (without water).

Then, the coffee is washed 3 times and taken to the covered drying beds, where it will take from 25 to 30 days to reach its ideal moisture percentage. During that time, the coffee is moved several times daily for even drying.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

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Our packaging

Producer: Eladio Gonzalo Chamba Herrera
Farm/Coop: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
Country: Ecuador
Region: Loja
Altitude: 2055m above sea level
Variety: Bourbon
Process: washed
Harvested: October 2023
Importer: Caravela
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Strawberry, red apple, raspberry
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Variety

Bourbon variety

A natural mutation of the Typica varietal, Bourbon is named after Reunion Island (then known as Il Bourbon) where the French cultivated the Typica plants which naturally mutated.

The location

Coffee from Ecuador

For a long time most of Ecuador’s coffee production was for commodity grade export or the production of soluble coffees (freeze dried coffee). Only in the last few years has the potential of the country’s coffee production been really explored. We’re very excited about the potential Ecuador and have some truly exceptional coffees

The Loja region of Ecuador

Mountainous southern region with conditions suited perfectly to high quality coffee production

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.