Finca Soledad Sydra Wave

Ecuador — Pepe Jijon Finca Soledad Sidra (Wave Honey)

Tastes Like — 🍓 Strawberry • 🍎 Red Apple • 🌺 Hibiscus

DETAILS

• Producer: Pepe Jijon
• Farm: Finca Soledad
• Region: Intag Valley, Ecuador
• Varietal: Sidra
• Process: Wave Honey (2-Day Fermentation + 56-Day Dark Room Drying)
• Altitude: 1,515 MASL
• Size: 100g

INTRO

From Pepe Jijon at Finca Soledad in Ecuador's Intag Valley — a Wave Honey Sidra that is as extraordinary in concept as it is in the cup. Pepe has essentially slowed down natural fermentation to its most patient extreme: after a 2-day fermentation and maceration period, the coffee is transferred to a temperature-controlled dark room and dried for 56 days, allowing the flavours of the cherry to mature slowly and completely into the bean. The result is vivid, deeply expressive, and unlike almost anything else. In the cup: strawberry, red apple, and hibiscus.

THE PRODUCER

Pepe Jijon is, by any measure, one of the most remarkable people in coffee. The first Latin American to solo-climb the seven summits, he brings the same singular focus and adventurous spirit to Finca Soledad — a 120-hectare cloud forest in the Intag Valley with just 4 hectares dedicated to coffee, growing Gesha, Sidra, and Typica Mejorado. Together with his family, Pepe farms with a deep commitment to giving back to the natural environment — the cloud forest that surrounds the coffee plots is cultivated and protected with the same care he dedicates to the coffee itself.

Bluebird first discovered Pepe's work in 2022 while searching for competition coffees, and have followed the relationship closely since. His Wave process — a deliberate and radical slowing of fermentation and drying — is a genuine innovation in post-harvest technique, producing coffees of extraordinary aromatic depth and maturity that command both the price and the attention they receive.

Sidra is a variety grown primarily in Colombia and Ecuador, genetically identified as Ethiopian Landrace. Celebrated for its vivid fruit and floral complexity, it responds particularly well to extended processing — and in Pepe's Wave Honey protocol, its inherent strawberry and floral character is given 56 days to develop into something truly exceptional.

THE PROCESS

The Wave Honey process at Finca Soledad involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Sidra cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 🔧 Depulping — Outer skin removed while the full mucilage layer is retained on the bean 🧪 2-day fermentation & maceration — Coffee fermented and macerated for two days before drying begins 🌑 56-day temperature-controlled dark room drying — Transferred to a temperature-controlled dark room where the coffee dries at a deliberately slow pace for 56 days, allowing the flavours of the cherry to mature completely into the bean over an extended period

The 56-day dark room drying is the defining step — by slowing drying to its most patient extreme in a controlled temperature and light environment, Pepe allows the cherry's aromatic compounds to integrate fully and gradually into the bean over nearly two months, producing the extraordinary depth, fruit maturity, and complexity that define the Wave Honey profile and set it entirely apart from conventional processing.

THE CUP

A rare and deeply expressive Wave Honey from one of Ecuador's most visionary and adventurous producers — fresh strawberry sweetness, crisp red apple brightness, and a vivid hibiscus florality in a cup that rewards the 56 days of patience that went into making it. Finca Soledad at its most exceptional.

Flavour Notes

🍓 Strawberry 🍎 Red Apple 🌺 Hibiscus