This coffee is a Sidra variety grown by Karol Ortega at the La Hormiga farm in San Agustin, Colombia, at an altitude of 2000 meters. The cherries undergo a 12-hour fermentation in a wooden hopper, followed by 36 hours of dry fermentation after depulping. The beans are washed four times and dried on raised beds for 18 days. The flavor profile features zingy acidity with notes of juniper, ginger tea, pineapple, and mango.
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.
