a cup of the Ecuador Finca Maputo surrounded by ganache, cream, plum, and grape jelly (flavor notes)

Ecuador Finca Maputo Cup of Excellence Black Label

ganache • cream • plum • grape jelly
$63.97
/
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Bag Size
Grind Level
  • roasted & shipped the same day
  • In stock, ready to ship
  • Inventory on the way
Grind Levels Explained

Proper coffee extraction is critical for achieving that perfect cup at home. Grind size is one of the few ways to be able to directly affect that extraction rate.

In addition to whole coffee beans, we currently offer 3 different coffee grind levels:

Coarse (Think sugar in the raw, maybe more coarse)
Recommended for

  • Chemex Brewer
  • French Press
  • Cold Brew

Medium (Slightly coarser than table salt)
Recommended for

  • Any flat bottom brewer
  • Kalitta wave
  • Cloth filters

Fine (Slightly finer than table salt)
Recommended for

  • V60 pour overs
  • Typical cone filter coffee pots
  • Aeropress

If you're interested in ground for Espresso, choose fine and mention something in the order comments.

If at all possible, we recommend grinding at home. We prefer Baratza coffee grinders and offer several of their models for sale. Click here to shop for one of their brewers.

Region:
La Perla

Process:
honey

Altitude:
1350m

Producer:
Henry Gaibor

Flavor Notes:
ganache • cream • plum • grape jelly

Roast Level:
city plus • medium

Variety:
typica

Recommended Brew Method:
aeropress • pour over

Farm:
Finca Maputo

Body:
complex

In the Cup:

The majority of our black labels are black labels on the basis of exclusivity, which typically entails a unique process, an extremely dynamic variety, a high altitude, or a combination of the three. What ironically makes this Ecuador coffee so unique is its ability to stand out as an incredible cup without any of these typical “black label” badges of honor. This coffee stands proud as a typica variety processed with a traditional honey process and harvested at an altitude of 1300m. None of these facts should automatically produce a cup of excellence finalist bean, yet the incredible care of the farmers, the meticulous picking of the harvesters, and the craft of the producers helped accentuate what a classic coffee bean could become. It is the most quintessential “traditional” cup of coffee you will ever drink. None of the fancy acidity that an anaerobic fermentation brings, none of the potent floral notes of the famed geisha variety, this Ecuador stands modest amongst its peers, yet still manages to hit as heavy as them.

We’ve cupped this coffee multiple times. The first tasting revealed just an obvious smoothness that established this Ecuador as possibly the smoothest coffee we’ve ever cupped. The texture of the brew sits on the palate so comfortably. The second time we cupped this coffee, we brewed our typical pour-over for flavor notes and enjoyed it together as a staff (a cup of excellence coffee we only have 8 pounds of is a pretty big deal). What came to light is something we didn’t notice during our first cupping which was a fruity undertone that brought a ton of depth to the flavor profile. The extreme smoothness and classic flavor profile of chocolate tones and sugar sweetness were still there, but the plum-like undertones made it even tastier than the first time we tried it.

Finca Maputo

Finca Maputo is a farm and mill owned by Henry Gaibor. Henry and his brother José's late father was named Emilio Gaibor, and this farm is named in his honor. José is an infant heart surgeon, so he lives in town during the week, while Henry and his wife, Verena, oversee the daily operations of Rancho Tio Emilio, as well as their own land at Maputo and Hakuna Matata.

The couple has a very interesting, somewhat dramatic backstory, also having to do with medicine: They met in Bujumbura, Burundi, in 1996 when they were both volunteering for Doctors Without Borders: Henry is a veteran war-trauma surgeon from Ecuador, and Verena is a war nurse from Switzerland, and they met in the field during a humanitarian crisis in Burundi. In 1998, the two of them returned to Henry's home country of Ecuador, where they managed a clinic in Quito for 13 years before deciding to devote their time, energy, and resources to another passion—coffee. Henry is extremely methodical and just as dedicated to his coffee production as he used to be about his medical profession, and Verena's management skills clearly show her training and efficiency as a nurse under extreme pressure.

An extremely selective harvest is made of only the ripest cherries and they are promptly floated to remove defects and placed in a container to ferment in-cherry for a period of 24 hours. After this, the coffee is depulped and placed on raised beds with all of the mucilage still on the parchment to be dried as a Honey. For the first day, the coffee is spread out in a thin layer and set to rest for 24 hours. After this, the coffee is moved every 45 minutes for the next 2 days. From the 3rd day on, the coffee is moved every 2 hours until a moisture content of 16% is achieved across the lot. From this point, this coffee was placed in a mechanical dryer to finish at 38 degrees celsius until an average of 11% moisture content is achieved. Once fully-dried, the coffee is set to cool and rest for 1 day and promptly placed inside GrainPro bags, then inside burlap bags for storage in a cool, dark room until it is ready for milling and exportation.