"Ecuador" from the Canadian roaster September Coffee in Ottawa is a filter coffee that tastes smooth, clean, and surprisingly complex. The flavor profile blends sweet apricots, delicate floral notes, black tea, and crisp red apples. The coffee has a light body and a lively finish, so despite its highly experimental processing, it doesn’t feel heavy or overly fermented. Fruity sweetness alternates with tea-like elegance, and the coffee remains beautifully distinct even as it cools. It’s a distinctive Sidra, but not in a way that’s overbearing. Rather, it gradually reveals new layers and delights with its combination of purity, freshness, and a truly unconventional processing method.
The coffee comes from the Imbabura region of Ecuador and from the Finca Soledad farm, run by Pepe Jijón and his family. The farm is located at an elevation of 1,515 meters and is a small-scale project with limited production, growing only the Typica Mejorada, Geisha, and Sidra varieties. This lot consists specifically of Sidra. In addition to coffee, Finca Soledad has a strong community focus and creates job opportunities for single mothers in the surrounding area. Pepe Jijón has long been dedicated to precise processing and experiments with fermentation, combining his methods with knowledge gained from professional training in post-harvest processes. For September, this marks the fifth harvest from this collaboration.
Rainbow Wave is a multi-stage process that combines elements of dry, honey, anaerobic, and washed processing. After harvest, the whole cherries spend eight days undergoing slow dehydration in a cooled, dark room. The skin and part of the pulp are then removed, and the coffee undergoes further drying. This is followed by four days of fermentation in sealed bags, again in a cool, dark environment. Finally, the parchment is briefly washed and dried. The long and highly controlled processing enhances the complexity, but thanks to precise management, the resulting profile remains clean, light, and elegant. That is precisely why, alongside sweet apricots and apples, black tea and delicate floral aromas stand out so well.