Cost per 250mL serving - $1.75
Ever since we first connected with Juan Pena over a year ago, we have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of his coffees, and we couldn’t be more enthusiastic about beginning our relationship with Hacienda La Papaya this season. The lot that we chose to feature as our first release from him is his washed mejorada, which represents everything one would want a top-tier Ecuadorian coffee to be, and more. In the cup, we find bright, slightly herbal satsuma mandarin, deep and perfumed lavender, and sweet, smooth maple syrup. This is truly a beautifully well-balanced cup, if we’ve ever tasted one.
Located at 2.200 masl in the Andean highlands of Loja, Ecuador, sits Juan Pena’s most lauded and awarded farm, Hacienda La Papaya. The farm experiences seasonal rainfall, with generally drier weather for a tropical region. Thanks to its altitude, La Papaya receives nearly 12 hours of equatorial daylight most of the year, which contributes to a healthy and productive rhythm for the trees photosynthesis, and consequently, sugar accumulation and sequestration within the cherry.
The origins of mejorada, also known as typica mejorada/o, aren’t certain, but at present it is believed to be the product of a Nestle coffee research lab in Pinchincha, Ecuador. A technician at this facility named Don Olger Rogel was the first to identify two unique F1 hybrid varieties which presented unusually high potential for quality in the cup, namely, sidra and mejorada. Mejorada seeds from this project were then shared with Pepe Jijon, who in 2010 became the first producer to plant the variety, which he planted on his farm, Finca Soledad, in Imbabura, Ecuador. Despite often being referred to as ‘typica mejorada/o’, mejorada is in fact not a descendent of typica at all, instead being a bourbon descendent; this name is believed to be a reference to its similarity with typica in flavor profile, rather than its genetic composition. For this reason, we simply refer to it as ‘mejorada’. Today, mejorada cultivation remains largely exclusive to Ecuador, although every year we discover new origins, such as Colombia and Costa Rica, which are beginning to grow it.
All coffee is sold whole-bean to reduce oxidation, and increase the longevity of volatile organic compounds.
Cost per 250mL serving - $1.75
Ever since we first connected with Juan Pena over a year ago, we have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of his coffees, and we couldn’t be more enthusiastic about beginning our relationship with Hacienda La Papaya this season. The lot that we chose to feature as our first release from him is his washed mejorada, which represents everything one would want a top-tier Ecuadorian coffee to be, and more. In the cup, we find bright, slightly herbal satsuma mandarin, deep and perfumed lavender, and sweet, smooth maple syrup. This is truly a beautifully well-balanced cup, if we’ve ever tasted one.
Located at 2.200 masl in the Andean highlands of Loja, Ecuador, sits Juan Pena’s most lauded and awarded farm, Hacienda La Papaya. The farm experiences seasonal rainfall, with generally drier weather for a tropical region. Thanks to its altitude, La Papaya receives nearly 12 hours of equatorial daylight most of the year, which contributes to a healthy and productive rhythm for the trees photosynthesis, and consequently, sugar accumulation and sequestration within the cherry.
The origins of mejorada, also known as typica mejorada/o, aren’t certain, but at present it is believed to be the product of a Nestle coffee research lab in Pinchincha, Ecuador. A technician at this facility named Don Olger Rogel was the first to identify two unique F1 hybrid varieties which presented unusually high potential for quality in the cup, namely, sidra and mejorada. Mejorada seeds from this project were then shared with Pepe Jijon, who in 2010 became the first producer to plant the variety, which he planted on his farm, Finca Soledad, in Imbabura, Ecuador. Despite often being referred to as ‘typica mejorada/o’, mejorada is in fact not a descendent of typica at all, instead being a bourbon descendent; this name is believed to be a reference to its similarity with typica in flavor profile, rather than its genetic composition. For this reason, we simply refer to it as ‘mejorada’. Today, mejorada cultivation remains largely exclusive to Ecuador, although every year we discover new origins, such as Colombia and Costa Rica, which are beginning to grow it.
All coffee is sold whole-bean to reduce oxidation, and increase the longevity of volatile organic compounds.
