Ecuador Don Vallejito: Sample Coffee Roasters

Ecuador
Don Vallejito

For Ricardo, specialty coffee means taking extra care and constantly improving the infrastructure. This results in a big, fruit forward cup, with notes of raspberry, pineapple, and lemon sherbet.

Body Acidity

Roasted omni for filter and espresso

Crisp and sparkly, this Ecuadorian washed Caturra is surely going to become a crowd favourite.

Along the highlands that surround Ecuador’s main city of Quito, you can find some quality-minded coffee growers. One such producer is Ricardo Vargas with his farm Vallejito. Ricardo’s journey in coffee started several years back when he was working as a food engineer in the private sector. He was always asked by his father-in-law to help with the processing and tree plantation of his coffee farm. This, along with his father-in-law’s ideals of creating jobs in rural areas through coffee and recognizing the potential of specialty coffee, ignited Ricardo’s passion and desire to have his own farm.

Seven years ago, Ricardo decided to start his own farm with his wife and named it in memory of his late father-in-law. Since its inception, Ricardo has been committed to specialty coffee and meticulous attention to detail. For example, when processing coffee, he keeps records of temperature and brix grades to achieve the right fermentation, and subsequently dries the coffee for 3 to 4 weeks for slow drying that allows the flavors to develop. For Ricardo, specialty coffee means taking extra care and constantly improving the infrastructure, such as drying stations and wet mill, and carefully selecting the right trees for shade. This attention to detail has resulted in increased income and a better quality of life for his family.

Ricardo takes great pride in what he has built with his family and the recognition his coffee has gained worldwide. His current challenge is to maintain profitability and quality while striving to increase the area of coffee cultivation, plant some sidra variety, and renew 30% of the crop.

All the images and information about this coffee and its producers have been kindly shared by the importer, Caravela, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise).

Resting your beans inside the sealed bag helps develop peak flavours and acidity.

Learn how long and why you should wait on our brewing window recommendations guide.

Try our step-by-step recipes and videos.

Our recipes are easy to follow and designed to bring the best out of our coffee. Find your favourite method on our brew guides collection or test a new one—and if you have any questions, ask us anytime at [email protected].

Sourcing and ingredients

100% Caturra coffee beans, provided by Caravela and roasted by us on Gadigal land / Sydney.

Country grade: Unknown ?

Packaging

Bag: ABA Certified home compostable
Label: Recyclable
Valve (on bags larger than 250g): General waste
Coffee ordered online is shipped in a recyclable cardboard box

Brewing this coffee

We recommend brewing this coffee 15–49 days post-roast. If pre-ground, brew as soon as possible. Our advice on storing coffee.

1:3
dose:yield
ratio

To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.

g dose

g yield

View the how to brew espresso (single origin) guide.

1:16.7
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:14.3
beans:water
ratio

To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:12
beans:water
ratio

To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Producer: Ricardo Vargas & Miriam Vallejo
Country: Ecuador
Region: Quito
Altitude: 1523m above sea level
Varietals: Caturra
Process: Washed
Harvested: December 2023
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Raspberry, pineapple, lemon sherbet
Roast style: Omni

Varietals

Caturra varietal

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon that was originally discovered in Brazil in 1937, considered to be the first naturally occurring mutation ever discovered.

The location

Coffee from Ecuador

For a long time most of Ecuador’s coffee production was for commodity grade export or the production of soluble coffees (freeze dried coffee). Only in the last few years has the potential of the country’s coffee production been really explored. We’re very excited about the potential Ecuador and have some truly exceptional coffees

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.