Juan Peña produces some of the most exciting coffees we have tasted from Ecuador, a wide variety of expressions, mainly focussed on the Typica varietal.
During our visit in November 2021, we were captivated, both by the beauty of the region, but also by Juan’s exacting approach to quality coffee production. From varietal selection, plant nutrition and disease prevention, to fermentation, drying and sorting, each step is approached with intention and dedication. Through CafExporto, Juan has been able to assist nearby producers in increasing their quality using his methods, resulting in the Chito community project. We hope you enjoy both the floral and sweet Washed Typica and the wild and aromatic Yeast Fermented Typica this month.
We’re excited to continue our collaboration with Juan Peña, owner of Hacienda La Papaya and CafExporto.
Since meeting in Aarhus in 2015, we have purchased many small experimental lots, continuing a conversation through high quality coffee. Over the past three years, Juan has expanded his work, exporting more Hacienda La Papaya coffee to Europe together with us, and starting the CafExporto project, working with farms across Ecuador. We are more than excited to expand our collaboration with Juan, and to share his excellent work with a wider audience. We were able to visit Juan and his team in November 2021, both at the Hacienda and at CafExporto’s base in the nearby city of Cuenca, towards the very end of harvest.
Through CafExporto, Juan has been able to assist nearby producers in increasing their quality using his methods, resulting in the Chito community project, and neighbour farms like that of Juan Carlos Velez.
Typica Mejorado
Juan’s hard work and innovation is clear when tasting his coffees; top-quality micro-lots, with wildly varying flavour profiles and expressions. Juan mainly works with Typica ‘Mejorado’, the enhanced version of the varietal, first grown on Nestle’s experimental farms in the north of Ecuador.
Juan puts much of his success down to the combination of high yield and incredible cup quality that these Mejorado plants provide. Juan has started to distribute these Mejorado seeds to other members of the CafExporto project, alongside sharing his expertise in each stage of coffee production.
The Chito Community
CafExporto have expanded their operation to include coffees from talented producers across Ecuador, those who have great potential to produce high-end speciality lots, but haven’t had access to the market for them. During their travels in Ecuador, the CafExporto team were surprised by the incredible quality of lots they found being sold into the internal market, losing transparency and denying the producer any chance of adding value to their work. The coffees they tasted in the Chito community were one such revelation. Clean and floral cups, with character formed by their healthy soils, careful processing, and mainly Typica varietal stock. The farmers of Chito also grow other varietals, mainly Catucai and Caturra, but CafExporto are assisting each producer with seedlings of Typica Mejorado, Sidra and Geisha, alongside agronomic advice. This is a very rural part of the country; with a majority of the population stemming from native Ecuadoreans, one hears a mix of Spanish and native dialects here.
The Chito sub-region lies in the far south of Ecuador, bordered by Peru in the East, and the Mayo River in the West. The town itself sits in the bottom of a valley, surrounded by fertile farming lands in the hills. The farms are very small, averaging less than a hectare, so individual lots would be too small to export alone. For this reason, CafExporto selected the highest quality lots and created a community lot, consisting of the work of 55 producers across the Chito sub-region.
This lot is made up of washed Typica, composed of seeds distributed by Juan Peña at the start of the Chito project 5 years ago. This varietal has inherent floral notes and a sweet and round structure in the cup, as we have tasted from the Chito lots we have purchased over the years. This year, CafExporto’s support to the Chito community in processing has led to increased quality and longevity, with clean and floral aromatics followed by green tea and citrus in the cup.
This year, following on from our experimentation together last year, a small lot of 100% Typica cherries from the Chito community was fermented with yeast from Canadian LalCafé. This has resulted in a similar profile to the experimental lot we purchased last year from Hacienda La Papaya, with LalCafé’s ‘Intenso’ yeast combined with the drying in cherry leading to a fruity richness in the cup. This creates a character reminiscent of dried fruit, in a way that brings to mind Juan’s oak barrel process coffees. This lot is exclusive to our North American subscribers.
It’s a privilege to work with producers like Juan Peña, and build a shared understanding of quality and taste.
Juan’s work in Ecuador is impressive, intentional and considered to a level we haven’t seen often on our travels in the coffee belt. The consistent quality of the coffees that Juan and his team produce is testament to this, and we look forward to expanding our relationship in the years to come.