Ecuador La Noria

Producer Chocovilcamundo
Farm La Noria
Province Loja
Canton Loja

Sun Exposure Shade trees; 12hr sunlight all year
Farm Size 80,000 trees
Altitude 2020-2100m
Latitude -3.996270
Longitude -79.215052

Variety Typica Mejorada
Process Washed
Fermentation Anaerobic; sequential. 48hr in bags before pulping; 48hr after pulping
Drying Raised beds in greenhouses

Harvest Year 2023

Flavor Brown Sugar, Grape, Tangerine, Floral, Fig
Descriptors Juicy, Sweet, Perfumey

About this coffee The La Noria Coffee Farm located in Loja, Ecuador has had a short and bright history. Founded in 2017, one of it’s coffees has placed in the top spots of the Cup of Excellence program since it launched in Ecuador in 2021. The farm is managed by Bernie Uhe and CVM, an Ecuadorian agricultural company owned by Bernard Uhe and his coffee growing family from Colombia. The families experience in coffee production spans generations in Ibague, Colombia. Together with the Ecuadorians who know the land, they together grow some of Ecuadors most esteemed coffees.

La Noria has really, really high, elevation and receives 12hr of sunlight year round. The coffee trees at the farm are protected by tall shade trees and fed by water from a mineral rich spring. The soil is kept healthy by their use of neem and “worm tea” to increase vitality of plants and all this in turn some particularly amazing cherries.

There is only one plot of Typica Mejorada at La Noria and as the coffee is harvested it follows the tradition of being sorted, cleaned and floated before being placed into bags for fermentation for 48hrs, turning the bags every 12hrs to help ensure a level of consistency across the batch. The coffee is then pulped and placed back into bags for another 48hrs, again turning the bags every 12hrs. Mucilage loose and coffee seeds packed with flavor, they’re finally washed clean and moved to the drying beds where they’re turned every 8hrs for approximately 10 days to 9.5-11%. The dried parchment is placed in 45kg bags into a climatized area until ready for export which is handled by Rafaela Iturralde and Small Batch.

We were very lucky to receive the introduction to Bernie from our friend Darrin Daniels, who was the long time Executive Director of Alliance for Coffee Excellence. Darrin has been a huge proponent in our education and understanding of the industry over the years. It has done Idle Hands well to trust the introductions folks have made us. Bernie and CVM and Rafaela and Small Batch are no exception!