Manhattan – La Soledad 125g | Ecuador

La Soledad is a new Typica lot from Pepe Jijón, and an elegant one. Expect lychee, apple compote and melon in the cup, carried by a smooth, round mouthfeel and a vibrant character.

The coffee is grown at Finca Soledad, Pepe's four-hectare farm in Imbabura, Ecuador, at 1,515 metres above sea level. The farm sits on a mountainside looking out over a valley with the Intag River running through it. Pepe bought the land in 2010, as he was stepping back from a life of mountaineering and exploring and looking for somewhere to slow down and reconnect with the land. Coffee came later: once he was introduced to it he fell for it, and producing specialty coffee became his new life.

The hillsides around the farm had suffered from deforestation, so a large part of the work at Soledad has been putting trees back. Pepe and his team have replanted around 25,000 so far, and the land is gradually returning to the lush, peaceful place he set out to find. Typica mejorada and sidra make up most of the planting, with smaller patches of Ethiopian and Panamanian geisha alongside caturra and castillo.

This lot is Wave Washed, a method developed by Pepe and his team. Experimenting is part of how the farm works: his Lot JJ, for example, adds a double fermentation stage to bring out more of the trees' natural flavour. It hasn't always been easy, but step by step Finca Soledad has become more sustainable, and a place of calm for the people who work it. Pepe now roasts his own beans in the evenings too, completing the journey from soil to cup himself. In his words: "this is my life, this is where I find peace."

La Soledad is a very limited lot, roasted for filter only.

Freshly roasted by Manhattan Coffee Roasters in Rotterdam and imported to the UK by ROAST EDIT Co.