Ecuador Cruz Loma Typica Mejorado Filter 250G

Finca Cruz Loma is a family-run farm located in San Jose de Minas, Pichincha, Ecuador. Managed by siblings Galo and Grace Morales, the farm is approximately 300 Ha in total and each sibling has land, growing different crops. In the case of Galo, he also grows sugar cane, cacao and trees for lumber and Grace also grows corn (which is her main crop). Coffee is produced on a total of 6 Ha (with 4 Ha currently in production) and 1,450 m.a.s.l., where they grow Typica Mejorado, Sidra, Caturra, Tabi and a small amount of Geisha (in a mixed lot).

For the Morales family, the plan for coffee started about 4-5 years ago, when they planted approximately 8 Ha of coffee. However, due to lack of experience, poor management, being busy with their other full-time jobs, etc., they lost most of it and only remained with approximately 2 Ha of coffee! But from the 2 Ha of coffee that remained, they knew they had quality because they were scoring high in various competitions. From there, they decided to revamp the plan and put more focus into the coffee. Initially, it was Galo taking the responsibility, but with all of those learning curves, he decided to then involve his sister Grace, an agronomist by trade.

Whilst she is still focused mostly on corn, she is currently the manager of the farm and oversees the coffee production. This partnership has paid off, as well as Grace’s nutrition plan; their focus in fertilization is not only for production, but also for uniform maturity of the cherries. This makes it easier for the pickers and therefore, will naturally offer a better quality coffee on the cupping table.

Typica Mejorado is a very unique variety mainly grown in Ecuador. Though it is colloquially known as Typica Mejorado, we now know — due to genetic testing by World Coffee Reseach — that it is actually a Bourbon variety cross-pollinated with an Ethiopian Landrace variety.