Apex quality coffees express rare characters resulting from the ideal match of variety, terroir, process, & attuned intention.

This especially rings true for Ecuadorian Seven Summiteer and Finca Soledad founder and farmer, Jose "Pepe" Jijon, whom we’re extremely thankful to now have the honor of calling an Archers producing partner.

In the early 2000s, Pepe solo cimbed the highest peak in each of the seven continents — conquering Mount Everest as the 7th summit — as a tribute to his homeland, Ecuador, and in homage to the majesty of mother nature, aiming to inspire their youth to make their country proud through worthwhile pursuits.

These days, and for the last 15 years, he’s been working toward the same aim through the famed Finca Soledad in the remote Intag Valley of the northerly Imbabura province. It’s his family’s artisanal farm where all intentions and energies focus on producing the purest possible expressions of terroir and rare coffee varieties, Typica Mejorado and Sidra, both indigenous to Ecuador, and suitably acclimatized Geisha — in ways most respectful of the environment and rewarding for the people involved in cultivating and processing.

Then, as now, Pepe is resolute about demonstrating the human spirit's capacity to triumph over extreme adversity with perseverance and determination, alongside reverence for the natural world.  In receiving the Sprudge 2023 Notable Coffee Producer Sprudgie Award, he highlighted how coffee “has been harder than climbing than Mount Everest.” 

Let’s keep harnessing our passions while making a positive impact, as we enjoy the exuberant diversity of the multi-layered and distinctive cups of Typica Mejorado Wave Natural, Sidra Wave Washed, and Geisha Wave Washed from Finca Soledad.

Find them here in our Curated Selection as a set of three 80 gram jars, and individually in 200 gram bags in our Competition Series — or when you let your happy faces light up our roastery in Sharjah soon!