Ecuador — Pepe & Jose Jijón and Francisco Vintimilla Putushio Mejorado (Washed, 2nd Harvest)

Tastes Like — 🌸 Orange Blossom • 🍊 Mandarin • 🍐 Cooked Pear

DETAILS

• Producers: Pepe & Jose Jijón, Francisco Vintimilla
• Farms: Surya & San Pedro, Putushio
• Region: Loja, Ecuador
• Varietal: Mejorado
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 2,200 masl
• Harvest: June 2026 (2nd pass)

INTRO Pepe and Jose created this special lot after cupping through many selections to assemble the best of what Putushio produced this year. Orange blossom leads, with mandarin brightness and a cooked pear sweetness. In the cup: orange blossom, mandarin, and cooked pear.

THE PRODUCER Fincas del Putushio is a collaborative project between the Jijón family and Francisco Vintimilla, producers deeply committed to quality and community. Located in the Equinoctial Andes, the Surya and San Pedro farms sit at high elevation in a dry, rugged landscape well suited to exceptional coffee. Francisco — known locally as "Red Horse" — was the first to plant coffee in the area, working tirelessly to support his community by building roads, improving water access, and fostering unity. Pepe, whose biodynamic Finca Soledad is known for its biodiversity and social impact, brings years of experience cultivating high-quality varieties and refining processing. Together with their families, they grow Typica Mejorado and other promising varieties, using classic washed processing and slow drying to showcase this remarkable terroir.

Mejorado is a very unique variety mainly grown in Ecuador. Though colloquially known as Typica Mejorado, genetic testing by World Coffee Research has confirmed it's actually a Bourbon variety cross-pollinated with an Ethiopian Landrace variety.

THE PROCESS Cherries are hand-picked at peak ripeness, then held in-cherry for two days. After de-pulping, the coffee dry-ferments overnight, is washed, and dries on raised beds.

The two-day in-cherry hold ahead of de-pulping is the defining step — it's what builds the layered orange blossom and cooked pear sweetness that define this careful, jointly-assembled selection.

THE CUP Bright and delicate — orange blossom florality up front, mandarin brightness through the middle, and a cooked pear sweetness on the finish. A thoughtfully curated best-of selection from this remarkable, dry, high-elevation terroir.

Flavour Notes 🌸 Orange Blossom 🍊 Mandarin 🍐 Cooked Pear