Hacienda La Papaya is owned and operated by Juan Peña, one of Ecuador's most famous specialty coffee producers. He has been recognized for many top producer awards in Ecuador and throughout the World. His coffee has also been utilized in many Barista Competitions. Juan grows many varieties of coffee at Hacienda La Papaya, most notably Typica, Sidra, Gesha, with others also in production. He is actively engaged with processing experiments and tries to find the next best practice or method to make improvements to the coffee he produces. With the support of lead, Segundo Cartuche, the team leader for wet processing and coffee drying, Hacienda La Papaya is able to introduce scientific, refined practices and measurements into their production. Juan is an active member of his community, allowing neighbours to utilize his facilities, such as the nursery and the micro-mill, to help the overall sector of La Papaya grow and develop. Segundo Cartuche is an example of this, with his own plot of land and his own production, via the support of Hacienda La Papaya. The coffees produced at Hacienda La Papaya are the result of the meticulous integral process, beginning with the genetics of the seeds in the nursery and knowing the mother plants. Every year the farm experiments with various controlled fermentation and drying, creating exquisite flavors in the cup. After being harvested, selected and cleaned, the cherries in this lot go to polyethylene tanks to be fermented for a time between 100, 120 and up to 240 hours. The anaerobic process is carried out without oxygen, in the shade and temperatures during fermentation are not allowed to exceed 24 ° C .After being fermented, the whole cherries are transferred to the drying rooms for approximately 30 days.