A milestone release for DOCR, this exceptional natural-process coffee comes from one of Ecuador's most celebrated producers — Juan Peña of Hacienda La Papaya.
Every once in a while, a coffee arrives that feels like a milestone.
For us, Hacienda La Papaya is exactly that.
This partnership has been years in the making, and we're incredibly proud to finally welcome Juan Peña's coffee to our menu. Hacienda La Papaya is one of Ecuador's most renowned coffee farms, producing coffees sought after by some of the world's most respected roasters. It's a farm recognized not only for exceptional quality, but for helping redefine what Ecuadorian coffee can be on the world stage.
This release feels like the beginning of something special.
A Vision Rooted in Precision
Juan Peña is an agronomist, producer, and one of the driving forces behind Ecuador's rise in specialty coffee. Through Hacienda La Papaya, he has built a reputation for meticulous farming, groundbreaking innovation, and coffees that regularly appear on competition stages and the menus of world-class roasters.
Every coffee leaving Hacienda La Papaya is "Juan Peña Certified," a philosophy that reflects complete stewardship of the coffee from seed to export. From maintaining their own genetic bank to implementing some of the world's most advanced soil enrichment practices, every step is carefully measured and refined. Harvesting, processing, and milling are approached with the same level of precision, resulting in coffees that consistently showcase remarkable clarity and consistency.
Rather than leaving quality to chance, Juan has built systems that allow every stage of production to work in harmony, ensuring each coffee expresses both its variety and its terroir to the fullest.
Ecuador's Signature Variety
This release features Typica Mejorado, a variety that has become synonymous with Ecuador's specialty coffee identity.
Believed to combine the classic structure of Typica with Ethiopian landrace genetics, Typica Mejorado is celebrated for its remarkable balance. It carries the sweetness and elegance of traditional Typica while introducing the vivid florals and layered fruit character often associated with Ethiopia's heirloom varieties.
In many ways, Typica Mejorado has become Ecuador's defining coffee variety. Much like Geisha has come to represent Panama, this cultivar showcases the country's unique growing conditions with extraordinary clarity.
At Hacienda La Papaya, twelve hours of equatorial sunlight, cool Andean nights, and nutrient-rich volcanic soils allow cherries to ripen slowly, developing concentrated sugars and remarkable complexity before harvest.
Engineering the Perfect Process
Coffee at Hacienda La Papaya is grown with an extraordinary level of precision.
Using Juan Peña's proprietary Integrated Coffee Pulse monitoring system, the farm continuously measures soil nutrition, moisture, temperature, and environmental conditions throughout cultivation and processing. This data-driven approach creates exceptional consistency from tree to tree, producing dense, uniform coffee that allows every roast to highlight the coffee's natural complexity.
For this release, ripe cherries are selectively handpicked before undergoing a carefully controlled natural process. The fruit is slowly dried over the course of several weeks, with temperature, humidity, and airflow constantly monitored to create stable drying conditions while avoiding unwanted fermentation.
The result is a coffee that captures all of the sweetness and fruit character of a natural process while maintaining exceptional clarity and elegance.
In the Cup
This natural-process Typica Mejorado is expressive from the very first sip.
Expect vibrant notes of ripe plum and cherry cordial layered with lush dark fruit, delicate tropical acidity, and a lingering honeysuckle finish. Despite its complexity, the cup remains remarkably composed — sweet, floral, and structured in a way that feels both dynamic and refined.
It's the kind of coffee that continues to reveal something new as it cools, and one we're genuinely honored to share.
A coffee years in the making, and one we're incredibly proud to finally welcome to DOCR.
Available by the bag in-store or online, or come by one of our DOCR cafes and try it as a pour over soon!
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About the writer: Amelia Eramya is the Graphic Design + Marketing Lead at Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters. If you've seen any branded designs or read any written content on DOCR's website or socials (aside from Emma's wonderfully written blogs that Amelia helps edit), it's likely she's behind it. You can find her doing a variety of activities all over the city — bowling, shooting pool, or dancing to good house and techno. If you're a local business or entrepreneur and want to partner with DOCR on any creative projects or events, get in touch with her at design@dessertoasiscoffee.com.