Producer: Fausto Romo
Farm: Finca Carolina
Region: Quito, Pichincha
Altitude: 1,300 masl
Varietal: Sidra
Process: Washed
Roast: Light-Medium
Notes: Yellow Apple, Peach Cobbler, Cocoa Powder

Harvest in the region lasts from August to December. Fausto typically has about six pickers throughout the harvest season with nearly 20 during the peak.

Processing begins with 48 hours of aerobic fermentation in barrels. The coffee is then depulped and given another 24 hours of aerobic fermentation before being fully washed. Because the area is humid, cool, and cloudy, the drying process can take up to 30 days on raised beds.

We visited Fausto Romo and his wife, Nancy, at their farm Finca Carolina in August 2024. It's located across the Rio Alambi north of Nanegal in Pichincha, where signs for La Perla start to appear. La Perla is famous for being the site of Nestle’s experimental coffee plantation in Ecuador where the Bourbon Sidra varietal is believed to have originated.

Fausto purchased land in 2000 that was at the time planted with beans and sugar cane. He started Finca Carolina with dairy cows, but the price bottomed out in the 2000s and his uncle suggested that he try growing coffee. At first, Fausto didn’t like the results. About ten years ago he turned over most of the farm to Sidra because of the higher cup quality and price neighbors were receiving for it. He now has five hectares planted almost entirely with Sidra—a small amount of Gesha makes up the rest.