Ecuador Loja Protected Designation of Origin

This Ecuadorian coffee comes from Loja, in the far south of the country, not far from the border with Peru.  The Loja region is right near the equator, and it is known for having the best coffee in Ecuacor.  Loja is grown high in the Andes, and is now a protected designation of origin, rather like Champagne in France.

According to our broker, “Jose Luis Eguiguren, a Q grader who works for an export company called Hacienda Santa Gertrudis, has helped 80 producers work together to improve the quality of their coffee. The model of collaboration produces a traceable community blend with a vibrant regional profile. This lot comes from small farms where each producer has their own micro-mill to carefully harvest cherries, depulp, ferment, wash and gently dry the parchment on raised beds (see here).”

The region is mountainous, and getting the coffee to market is a challenge.  All that effort is worth it, and we think that this is special coffee.  In the cup it has beautiful citrus flavors, along with notes of sweet honeydew and caramel.