This coffee is produced by Augusto Ortega at Finca Asturias in San Agustín, Colombia, at an altitude of 1640–1670 meters. It is a single-variety lot of SL-28. The coffee undergoes a process involving cherry flotation, depulping, 36-hour dry fermentation in oak tanks, rinsing, and 20 days of shade drying on raised beds. The flavor profile features notes of limeade, tropical red fruits, and navel orange, characterized by a mouthwatering, lingering acidity.
Rebecca Grossman and Lucas Smith founded Ilse in 2019, starting with a thousand dollars and a rented roaster in Stamford before building out their own facility in a converted mechanic's garage in North Canaan. The approach is quality-driven: light roasts, single-producer microlots, and a commitment to buying entire harvests from the same farms year after year, some relationships now stretch back to the beginning. Pricing is transparent; each bag lists what the producer was paid, the FOB price, and Ilse's cost. Sourcing focuses on Central and South America and East Africa, with Costa Rica, Honduras, Colombia, and Ethiopia appearing regularly.
