Gallo De La Peña Coffee
Our Story
Gallo de la Peña Coffee
Why the interesting name? We call our coffee “Gallo de la Peña” after the elusive bird of the Andean cloud forest. With its striking and exotic plumage, it’s a frequent visitor to our secluded plantation and has been chosen as our emblem.
Gallo De La Peña coffee is grown on La Palmera ranch which occupies a unique location in Rio Negro, canton Baños de Agua Santa in the province of Tungurahua, Ecuador.
La Palmera is located at an altitude of 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) above sea level with a sub-tropical humid climate and an average temperature of 21º C (69.8º F).
Vegetation
In the primary and secondary cloud forests of La Palmera many species of plants and flowers can be seen, e.g. orchids, heliconia, and exotic mosses.
Wildlife
Among the species that frequent La Palmera is: Spectacled (or Andean) bear, Machon monkey, tapir, jaguar, puma, porcupine, wild boar, anteater, squirrels, various species of hummingbird, Gallo De La Peña fishes, and several varieties of amphibians and reptiles.
How we Started in Coffee
In December 2015 we started by planting seeds of Arabica coffee of the Catuai and Topaizo varieties, which we grow in the nursery until they have three pairs of green leaves, then they are planted in the soil.
The following pictures are our very first batch of beans from seedlings to pre-packaging.
Seedlings in the nursery.
How the trees were re-planted in their permanent site.
Plants at one year of growth
Flowering and formation of the first coffee beans at two years of growth.
Selected harvest of the reddest fruits at their optimum ripeness.
Drying and roasting of the coffee ready for packaging.