COUNTRY: Ecuador REGION: Pallatanga, Chimborazo Province FARM: Finca Lugmapata FARMER/GROWER: Hermanos Merino VARIETIES: Typica Mejorado PROCESSING: Anaerobic washed ALTITUDE: 1700-2000 m.a.s.l. GRADE: Superior HARVEST DATE: November 2024 ARRIVAL DATE: July 2025
DESCRIPTION: Finca Lugmapata is near the town of Pallatanga, in the Chimborazo province. The farm is owned by the Merino siblings, Enrique and his sister, who have built a reputation for exceptional quality by winning major competitions, including multiple top 10 Cup Of Excellence positions and winning 1st place in 2022 at COE. Finca Lugmapata is situated in high altitude terrain that provides a great microclimate for growing coffee. A nearby river also provides water for irrigating the plants. One of the Merino family’s key goals is environmental sustainability. They carefully choose the inputs they use and apply sustainable practices at the farm, such as treating the coffee pulp to recycle it as compost. The farm grows 10 hectares of coffee on the larger 70 hectare farm. They focus on cultivating Typica Mejorado, Sidra and L1 “Lugmapata” varieties. The Lugmapata (L1) variety is a unique variety that appeared naturally at Finca Lugmapata (hence the name). The exact genetic background is still unknown, but the high cup quality was officially recognized by winning 6th place at the 2023 Cup Of Excellence competition. This particular coffee was fermented in an anaerobic environment in cherry for 7 days before being depulped, washed, and dried on raised beds.
