What it do May, what it do!?

I’m super excited to release our first Ecuadorian coffee of the year by way of The Coffee Quest. I had a real clear idea of the cup profiles that I was looking for to represent Enjoy x Ecuador early this year and I somehow came away with three distinct, and absolutely incredible coffees from the homie Stephen and The Coffee Quest. Let’s dig into our May drop!

Father and son duo, Vicente and Miguel Japon own and operate their farm Finca Los Alisos which sits at 1950 MASL and is located in Quilanga, in the Loja Province of Ecuador. Finca Los Alisos is about 3 hectares in size and has about 5000 coffee trees in production of the Typica, Yellow Bourbon and San Salvador varieties. Vicente Japon is of the older generation of Ecuadorian coffee farmers, having produced coffee for many years and selling it as low-grade naturals, or “bola” as they call it in Spanish. A fact that blew my mind is that washed coffees were not even produced in Southern Ecuador 20 years ago and there are still some producers who don’t have de-pulpers! You learn something new everyday…

With prices so low during the past decade, many of his children decided to not focus on coffee and instead look for other lines of work that offered better pay. However, his youngest Miguel, had noticed the trend towards specialty coffee and the better prices that come with it. A couple of years ago, he invested in a de-pulper and started to investigate specialty with other producers in the region. He also accepted technical assistance offered by the government to understand the process of producing specialty coffee. Since then, the team has focused exclusively on specialty, producing stunning Washed lots year over year.

Our release here is a washed process field blend of the three varieties Vicente and Miguel grow on their farm (Typica, Yellow Bourbon and San Salvador). The process starts by picking the ripest cherries, floating them to sort out any over/under ripe cherries and letting them ferment in cherry for 24 hours. Then the cherries are de-pulped and left to ferment in mucilage for an additional 48 hours before being washed. The coffee then is dried between 12-15 days, depending on the weather.

While cupping out samples from The Coffee Quest, this Field Blend kept me coming back to it and cupped out just as well as a few of the more ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ single variety lots that we brought in and couldn’t be more excited by the cup profile. This coffee is one of those that I think literally everyone is going to dig. The sweetness is next level, the complexity is everything a washed-coffee-lover dreams of and then we have the actual flavors that jump out of the cup. One of the more unique profiles of tart tartaric acidity, round fruits while maintaining a florality (not sure if that’s a word) and a delicate vibe…

At first you’ll get hit with some some notes of malt and blues on the nose that immediately translate to a crisp and sweet grapeade note that only becomes more lively as the cup cools. Punchy citrus notes a la meyer lemon, and jasmine peek out to add to the party all while the medium, slick body just adds to the juice. This coffee is a lot of fun and will make you go ‘damn…’ in the best way.

Grab a bag and Enjoy ✌️