STAT SHEET:

Region: Pichincha, Ecuador

Producer: Finca Cruz Loma - siblings Galo and Grace Morales

Varieties: 100% Caturra

Process: Honey

Making a comeback. This was one of my personal favorite coffees we’ve ever had, and our first ever from Ecuador! Bright fruit notes reminiscent of strawberries and lemons and juicy crisp apples. The brightness and fruit notes aren’t overpowering and it’s balanced out well with a smooth vanilla cream sweetness.

This coffee is produced by a family team and siblings Galo and Grace Morales and their coffees have won several high-ranking awards the past several years. For this honey processed coffee, after picking, the cherries arrive at the wet-mil and are floated in water to remove over/underripe cherries. Afterwards, the coffee seed is left to ferment inside cherry between 24-26 hours. Finally, the coffee is then de-pulped and left to dry on raised beds for 25-30 days. At the end, each and every lot is individually cupped again and only the best makes the final export lot.

Extra interesting info behind the farmers:

The plan for coffee between the Morales family started about 4-5 years ago, when they planted approximately 8 Ha of coffee. However, because lack of experience, poor management, being busy with their other full-time jobs, etc., they lost most of it and only remained with approximately 2 Ha of coffee! However, from the 2 Ha of coffee that remained, they knew they had quality because they were scoring high in various competitions. From there, they decided to revamp the plan and put more focus into the coffee. Initially, it was Galo who was focused on coffee. But with all of the issues initially, he decided to then involve his sister Grace, an agronomist by trade. While she is still focused mostly on corn, she is currently the manager of the farm and oversees the coffee production. This partnership has paid off, as well as Grace’s nutrition plan; their focus in fertilization is not only for production, but also for uniform maturity of the cherries. This makes it easier for the pickers and will naturally offer a better quality coffee on the cupping table.

10oz | 340g