We’re back to Ecuador for this week’s coffee, from the Palmito Pamba region.

Finca La Fortaleza is a four hectare farm run by Carmen Gagnay. The majority of the farm is devoted to growing coffee, with around three hectares planted primarily with the Bourbon varietal.

They also tend to a smaller crop of the less common Sidra varietal, which is what you’re enjoying in this delivery.

Among the coffee trees there are also other plants, such as yuca, beans, corn, and sugar cane. The coffee is picked for around four months of the year. Like all coffee harvests, it’s a manual process of picking coffee cherries only when ripe, which are then de-pulped the same day, then fermented dry for at least 15 hours.

The coffee is then washed until the mucilage is completely removed, and dried on a combination of raised beds and under canopies. Drying takes about ten days, depending on weather conditions.

After a long history of lower-grade beans used for freeze-dried coffee, it’s only in the last few years that the potential of Ecuador specialty coffee production been really explored. We think the country has great potential and are pleased to be able introduce you to some exceptional coffees, such as this one.