Ecuador Adriana Cifuentes

Producer Adriana Cifuentes
Association APCI
Area Apuela, Intag Valley
Canton Cotacachi Canton
Province Imbabura

Sun Exposure Cloud Forest
Farm Size 1ha
Altitude 1,800masl
Latitude 0.357792
Longitude -78.512034

Variety Bourbon Sidra
Process Natural
Fermentation 48hr anaerobic
Drying 45 days on raised beds

Harvest 2025/26

Flavor Caramel, Berries, Lychee, Pineapple, Citrus
Descriptors Juicy, Bubbly, Syrupy Mouthfeel

About this coffee Adriana Emperatriz Cifuentes Castro is a coffee producer and community leader from Apuela in the Intag Valley of Imbabura Province, northern Ecuador. Currently, Adri serves as president of APCI (Asociación de Productores de Café Íntag), a cooperative founded in 2007 and formally legalized in 2008 to give smallholder coffee farmers an independent alternative to the region’s previously monopolized coffee buying system. Under her leadership, APCI has grown to more than 100 members, the majority of whom are women, representing producers from all seven rural parishes of the Intag region.

Adri’s coffee is rooted in the family-farm tradition that is typical of Intag, where coffee is grown on small mountain plots and processed at the farm level. The association emphasizes careful cherry selection, flotation, depulping, overnight fermentation, washing, and solar drying, practices that Adriana has described as essential for improving both quality and farm income. For many Intag families, including those in APCI, coffee is not a luxury crop but a weekly source of household income and economic stability.

This small 50kg lot was part of a successful experiment in extending her fermentation and drying times. Harvested cherries were taken to the nearby wet mill at APCI and sealed in bags for 48 hours before a lengthy 45 day drying phase in a solar dryer. The drying time was extended by increased cherry layer depth on the beds, and the cool climate of the cloud forest. Once the coffee had dried to 12%, it was rested before milled and shared with us by Rafaela and Small Batch.