**LIMITED ROAST** Ecuador Coffee, Finca Hakuna Matata Typica
**LIMITED ROAST** Ecuador Coffee, Finca Hakuna Matata Typica
TASTING NOTES
Sugarcane, smooth cocoa, mild stone fruit
THE UNIQUE STORY
Returned after two years and much anticipation, we are thrilled to bring back Hakuna Matata! Rich with sugarcane sweetness, acidity of lovely stone fruit, and bitterness of a high-quality, smooth chocolate, ‘Hakuna Matata’ will temporarily help you ‘forget your worries’ (Hakuna Matata literally means ‘no worries’). This special lot is 100% Typica varietal, which is highly regarded for its outstanding balance and sweetness.
LIMITED ROAST
This special coffee will be roasted biweekly or unless enough is ordered to warrant a full roast sooner. If other coffees are included in the same order, all your coffees will ship at the same time. All orders are roasted to order.
PRODUCER
Henry & Verena Gaibor
FARM
Maputo & Hakuna Matata
REGION
La Perla, Nanegal, Pichincha, Ecuador
ELEVATION
1350m
VARIETAL
Typica
HARVEST
May 2024
PROCESS
Mechanically Washed, Dried on Raised Beds
SOURCING PARTNERS
Café Imports, Piero Cristiani
ORIGIN SUSTAINABILITY BONUS
(Relative to Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide low point)
263%
ROAST LOSS
~12% at 9.5min
VISUAL
Light Roast
ACIDITY
Complex
BODY
Slick
BAG DESIGN ARTIST
Laney Vollmar
ORIGINAL WORK
Crayon
ADDITIONAL INFO
The Hakuna Matata farm is owned by Henry Gaibor and his wife, Verena. They operate a micromill and control their own wet-milling and drying to ensure their farm is represented well.
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.
Together, they are doing everything right when it comes to picking, processing, and drying coffees. Cafe Import’s senior green-coffee buyer, Piero Cristiani says the Gaibors are producing "some of the best coffees I have ever tasted." The Gaibors grow several different varieties, which are clearly divided and marked on their properties. In addition to this remarkable Typica, they grow Bourbon, SL-28, Sidra, Kaffa, and Caturra.
Henry and Verena produce their coffee in La Perla, Nanegal, which is in the province of Pichincha, relatively close to the border of Colombia. The area where the farm is located has a specific microclimate: Even though it's relatively low altitude for Ecuador around 1350 meters, humidity is high and a visitor often sees mist hovering over the coffee fields in the afternoons, known as cloud forests. This climate provides coffee with comfortability during the day, while the cool nights slightly stress the coffee into producing more sugars per cherry.