About the Coffee
Los Japoneses is a coffee produced by father and son, Vicente and Miguel Japon. Produced at Finca Los Alisos, the farm is located in Quilanga, Loja, Ecuador and sits at an elevation of 1,950 m.a.s.I. In total, the farm is 3 Ha, with 5,000 trees currently in production: a mix of San Salvador, Yellow Bourbon, and Typica (traditional). In addition, they've planted another 1,500 trees in San Salvador that entered production in 2023. Their coffee is shade-grown, primarily underneath Alder trees, and in addition to coffee, they grow bananas, yuca, and corn. This lot is a blend of varieties and their harvest period is between May and August.
Vicente Japon is of the older generation, having produced coffee for many years and selling it as low-grade naturals, or "bola" as they call it in Spanish. In fact, washed coffees were not even produced in Southern Ecuador 20 years ago and there are still some producers who don't have de-pulpers! With prices so low during the past decade, many of his children decided to not focus on coffee and instead look for other lines of work that offered better pay. However, his youngest Miguel, had noticed the trend towards specialty coffee and the better prices that come with it. This year, he invested in a de-pulper and started to investigate with other producers in the region, as well as accepted technical assistance offered by the government; he wanted to understand what the process would be to produce specialty coffee.
With this investment (both time and money), he convinced his father to produce washed lots…. at least a part of the harvest! And with that green light, he followed the recommendations he had received: only ripe cherries, fermented 24 hours in cherry, de-pulped, and then fermented an additional 48 hours without the pulp. Upon washing, the coffee was dried between 12-15 days, depending on the weather.
This is our second year working with Vicente and Miguel and we look forward to future harvests!
