ICON 16 – Soledad Washed Gesha

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We couldn’t resist buying Pepe’s killer washed Gesha again and this harvest's lot is still a shining example of what we love about the variety. Super elegant, floral and citrusy, this lot tastes like home-made lemonade with heady aromas of jasmine, violet and honeysuckle and a candy-like sweetness.

PRODUCER: Jose Ignacio Jijón
CULTIVAR: Gesha
PREPARATION Washed
LOCATION: Finca Soledad, Intag, Inbabura, Ecuador
ALTITUDE: 1,515 masl
BAG SIZE: 150g

Finca Soledad is a stunning farm owned by Jose Ignacio Jijón, also known as Pepe. Located 50 km north-west of Quito on the Andean slopes that form the Intag valley, it’s surrounded by high mountains, dense biodiversity and the powerful river Intag. Pepe has been producing coffee here since 2010 and grows high quality varieties like Typica Mejorado, Sidra and Gesha.

The climate in the area is warm and humid and has a lot of rainfall in the rainy season. Most of the plantation grows partially shaded by tall trees, which keep the plants cool in the dry season and in the wet season allow plenty of air flow, preventing the humidity damaging the plants.

This particular lot is one of Pepe's favourites due to its elegant cup profile. Its one he keeps a reserve stock of for his own consumption! The variety is an Ethiopian Gesha and this is the fifth harvest the trees have yielded for Soledad. After being pulped, the seeds are fermented with their sticky fruit mucilage for 16-18 hours before being washed and then slowly sun-dried.

Before becoming a coffee farmer, Pepe was an experienced mountaineer and was the first Latin American to complete the ‘7 Summits Challenge’, which entails in climbing the highest peak in every continent. He also went on treacherous expeditions to Greenland, the North Pole and South Pole, and climbed the highest peaks in Ecuador multiple times as a mountain guide. He then decided to settle in Intag where he was introduced to coffee farming by the local coffee Cooperative. Since then his main focus has been producing high quality coffee. Pepe transmits his adventurous character through coffee, he loves experimenting with different processes and every time he does it, he puts in all of his passion.