About This Coffee
Juan Pena's operation at Hacienda La Papaya is one of notoriety and excellence. Starting out as a rose farmer, Juan Pena began planting coffee trees and diversifying his crops after a particularly disastrous harvest. Now, 16 years after the first coffee trees were planted at La Papaya, Juan has won many awards, and is a familiar name in Barista Competitions around the world. Growing mostly Mejorado, Sidra, and Gesha between 1900-2100masl at his farm in Saraguro, the systems in place at La Papaya are highly organized and carefully engineered to pursue consistently high quality at scale. A state of the art drip irrigation system runs across all 28 acres, with a seedling nursery constantly iterating upon the current varietals and ensuring quality year over year. On top of this, there are automated soil management sensors that detect levels of different nutrients in each plot. Calling back to its roots, when processed as a natural in a controlled environment, Mejorado often reminds us of the best that Ethiopian nats have to offer. This absolute stunner from La Papaya holds very true to that notion, having been picked at peak ripeness with great sorting, then left to dry slowly and evenly on raised beds for 20-30 days. In the cup, we find loud jammy fruit notes like mulberry jam, tropical notes like pineapple and mango, and a syrupy, sticky sweet apricot through the center. In stark contrast to the more delicate washed, this coffee has incredible intensity and lightning acidity. An aromatic heavy citric tone jumps out as the cup cools, reminding us of lemon oil and finger limes. In the final sips, lovely floral tones of hibiscus and cherry blossoms simmer to the surface, not at all hindered by the processing method.
Flavor Profile
Coffee Details
- Type
- Single Origin
- Process
- Natural
- Roast Level
- Light
- Origin
- 🇪🇨 Saraguro, Ecuador
- Varieties
- Typica Mejorado
- Altitude
- 1,900-2,100m