Ecuador — Pepe Jijón Finca Soledad Sidra, Lot 22/32 (Wave Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍇 Grapes • 🥝 Kiwi • 🍑 Nectarine • 🌼 Honeysuckle

DETAILS

• Producer: Pepe Jijón
• Farm: Finca Soledad (founded 2010)
• Region: Intag Valley, Imbabura, Ecuador
• Varietal: Sidra
• Process: Wave Washed
• Elevation: 1,515 masl
• Lot: 22/32

INTRO
Finca Soledad sits at 1,515 metres in the Intag Valley, inside the Imbabura UNESCO Global Geopark in northern Ecuador. Lot 22/32 stood out among the season's Sidra lots when cupped at the farm. In the cup: grapes, kiwi, nectarine, and honeysuckle.

THE PRODUCER
Pepe Jijón founded Finca Soledad in 2010. Most of its 120 hectares are protected or replanted cloud forest, with coffee growing on only a few of them. The lot number is a tracking label from the farm's records, and it's also how this coffee was chosen.

Sidra is an Ecuadorian selection long described as a cross of Red Bourbon and Typica from a Nestlé breeding station in Pichincha. Genetic work now places it within the core Ethiopian genetic group, consistent with a selected Ethiopian landrace. Its cup is known for florals and bright citrus, with a tea-like clarity in washed lots. The plant grows tall, and its coffee is long and narrow.

THE PROCESS
Wave is Pepe's name for his fermentation style and a way of life: respecting the coffee, letting it guide you through the process, and revealing the best outcome based on how fermentation responds. It is warm in the fermentation tanks and cool in the drying rooms, and every change is made gradually.

The Wave Washed process for this lot involves:

🍒 Same-day processing — cherries picked and depulped the same day
🛢️ Tank fermentation — fermented in tanks
💧 Spring water — washed in fresh spring water
❄️ Slow drying — about 30 days on covered raised beds, mostly in a dark, air-conditioned room

Moving the coffee gently through each stage is the whole intention of the method. It shows in a cup that is clean and clear throughout.

THE CUP
Grapes open the cup, sweet and juicy, with kiwi following in a bright green acidity that keeps the sweetness lively. Nectarine fills the middle with ripe stone-fruit weight, and as it cools, honeysuckle rises in the aroma. The texture is silky, and the finish is long and clean.

Flavour Notes
🍇 Grapes 🥝 Kiwi 🍑 Nectarine 🌼 Honeysuckle