DISCOVERY

Hacienda La Papaya

This month’s subscription signals the return of Ecuadorean coffee to our line up. 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 farm, 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.

Ecuador

CafExporto

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 two 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.

Loja

Hacienda La Papaya

Hacienda La Papaya is located just outside the town of Saraguro, in the Loja region of Southern Ecuador. The Hacienda has been in Juan’s family since the end of colonial rule, and is a place that holds great importance for the whole family, having spent their summers there since they were children. Juan began to experiment with coffee here in 2010, and moved to work in coffee full time in 2014 after his rose crop was wiped out by a violent storm in Cuenca. Over the intervening years he has thrown himself into the pursuit of high quality coffee, with a meticulous and scientific approach.

"Juan’s work in each of these fields is truly some of the most meticulous and effective we have seen.."

This approach, shaped by Juan’s experience in roses and his training as an agricultural engineer, has led to an astronomic rise to high quality and international recognition, over just 7 years. His obsessive experimentation and need for scientific evidence is a cornerstone of his work at each stage, from carefully applied and monitored fertilisation, constant measurement of brix and cherry weight during harvest, innovation in careful fermentation, to the exacting drying process. Juan’s work in each of these fields is truly some of the most meticulous and effective we have seen in our years of travelling for coffee, and we left the Hacienda in awe.

Coffees this month:

Anaerobic Typica

Natural Typica

Typica Mejorado

This hard work and innovation is also clear when tasting Juan’s coffees; top-quality micro-lots, with wildly varying flavour profiles and expressions. Juan mainly grows 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. The Hacienda is also home to plots of Mejorado’s Nestle sibling Sidra, and a very limited amount of Geisha, while a small plot of Pacamara near the top of the farm is awaiting its first big harvest.

Fruity & acidic

Anaerobic Typica

This lot is from Juan’s Typica Mejorado trees, fermented in plastic tanks without oxygen for 5 days, or 120 hours. These plastic tanks are kept very clean, but fermentation juices are added from previous anaerobic batches, in a similar concept to a sourdough starter, in order to kickstart the fermentation with an existing culture of bacteria and yeast, pushing in the desired direction and leading to greater consistency. This 120 hour fermentation lot enhances the mouthfeel and acidity of the Typica, while maintaining an incredibly clean and juicy expression. A testament to Juan’s meticulous work throughout the production process.

Floral & rich

Natural Typica

This lot is a traditional natural Typica, dried in Juan’s plastic-covered drying ‘rooms’. Here, humidity and temperature are measured constantly, with windows opened and fans started by farm manager Segundo when values start to creep up. The overall drying process takes 20-30 days, and creates a very clean representation of the Typica varietal, with florals shining through more typical natural process notes of stone fruit and a creamy milk chocolate like mouthfeel.

Brew Guide

When brewing very expressive coffees, like these two lots from Hacienda La Papaya, I like to use a simple recipe, allowing the coffee to fully express itself using clean water and a low agitation extraction. This straightforward V60 recipe really suits this month’s two Typica lots.

DATA:
15g Coffee
250g Water @ 30-50 PPM 96°C
Medium-fine grind

METHOD:
0:00 add 60g of water
0:45 pour up to 120g slowly, over about 10 seconds
Continue to pour in the centre of the brewer at a very slow speed, trying to match the flow out of the brewer. The target of 250g should be reached at around 2:00.
Total brew time: 2:30-3:00

DISCOVERY

Juan Peña and Hacienda La Papaya

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.