This is Jose’s first time producing coffee at Finca Soledad using a processing method entirely of his own design. He named this lot Zero, marking the beginning of a new series of processing experiments. In the cup we find blackcurrant jam, pomegranate, and a lingering floral finish reminiscent of high-mountain oolong.
Mejorado
Imbabura
1,515 masl
March 2026
Hand-picked at peak ripeness. Held in-cherry in open crates in a climate-controlled darkroom for three days. De-pulped in the cold morning. Fermented underwater in GrainPro in the river for four days. Dried in a climate-controlled darkroom for 15 days.
Jose Jijon, son of producer Pepe Jijon, is a young producer whose approach to coffee is rooted in observation rather than intervention. He calls this philosophy Rhapsody—a process designed with the intention of preserving and revealing what is already expressed by the land, the terroir, and the coffee itself. We look forward to seeing how his work continues to evolve.
Mejorado is a very unique variety mainly grown in Ecuador. Though it is colloquially known as Typica Mejorado, we now know—thanks to genetic testing by World Coffee Research—that it is actually a Bourbon variety cross-pollinated with an Ethiopian Landrace variety.
The cost of getting a coffee from cherry to beverage varies enormously depending on its place of origin and the location of its consumption. The inclusion of price transparency is a starting point to inform broader conversation around the true costs of production and the sustainability of specialty coffee as a whole.