Arnaud Causse | Ecuador

Lifted and nuanced, with great transparency and structure. Apricot delight, peach jube and soft caramel, with a tea-like body.

In the late 1980s, Arnaud discovered Ecuador after studying agronomy and volunteering in Costa Rica, Congo and Gabon. He was invited to set up coffee plantations in Ecuador, but prices collapsed due to the US withdrawal from the International Coffee Agreement. Instead, he started flower production before moving to Africa for development projects in Guinea-Conakry. In El Salvador, he helped set up the Association of Special Coffees and later founded the La Palma cooperative and eventually moved to Ecuador to setup Finca Las Tolas and Finca Terrazas del Pisque - two farms 30kms away from each other with very different growing conditions.

When he arrived, there was no coffee. He started by planting different varieties in both farms to understand which varieties would produce the best results. After a few years, he realised that some varieties are indeed more suited to particular farms.

Type varieties from Ethiopia, such as Heirloom or Bourbon, are more at home in dry conditions and do well in Terrazas del Pisque. Geshas have a harder time, as they are more adapted to wet conditions. He also planted Java, which has taken some time to bear the quality you're tasting in this lot, but is now doing really well at Las Tolas.

This is a washed processed Java from Finca Las Tolas in Ecuador. The Java seed stock of this coffee was brought over by Arnaud from El Salvador. He has been cultivating coffee in Gualea Ecuador for over two decades now and his experience and attention to detail shows through in this unique cup profile. It's not something you would immediately expect from the area, but his dedication is proving otherwise.

Responsibly sourced by the excellent team at Cafe Imports.