Ecuador — Miguel Dota Saraguro Sidra (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🌹 Rose Hips • 🍺 Hops • 🍓 Ripe Strawberries

DETAILS

• Producer: Miguel Dota
• Farm/Region: Saraguro, Ecuador
• Varietal: Sidra
• Process: Washed
• Elevation: 1,950 masl

INTRO From Miguel Dota in Saraguro — SEY's second release from this project, and a compelling case for what this emerging Ecuadorian region can produce. Grown in a small sub-hectare Sidra garden, this lot is bright and distinctive, with rose hips and hop-like character layered over ripe strawberry sweetness. In the cup: rose hips, hops, and ripe strawberries.

THE PRODUCER The Dota family farms in Saraguro, a region where coffee growing faces real headwinds — fewer farmers choosing to plant coffee, and rising costs year over year. Despite that, this area continues to produce some of SEY's favourite coffees, and the Dota family has become a key partner in a new project aimed at developing more distinctive micro lots from the region.

Sidra, the varietal grown here, is an Ethiopian landrace whose exact identity isn't precisely known — one of the many Ethiopian-origin varieties whose path to the Americas remains part of ongoing research and debate. Ethiopia's coffee biodiversity, with over 60 distinct DNA-confirmed varieties, continues to be the wellspring for varieties like this one.

THE PROCESS The Washed process for this lot involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — cherries harvested at peak ripeness 💧 Floating — floated to remove low-density defects 🌱 De-pulping — cherries de-pulped shortly after harvest ⏱️ Dry fermentation — fermented dry for 24 hours 🚿 Washing — washed clean after fermentation ☀️ Raised-bed drying — dried on raised beds for 15 days

The dry fermentation is the defining step — 24 hours without added water builds structure and complexity ahead of washing, giving the Sidra varietal room to express its rose hip and hop-like character rather than a purely clean, neutral cup.

THE CUP Bright and distinctive — rose hips and a subtle hop-like bitterness up front, giving way to ripe strawberry sweetness underneath. A compelling early showing for Saraguro as a region to watch.

Flavour Notes 🌹 Rose Hips 🍺 Hops 🍓 Ripe Strawberries