This coffee is a Pink Bourbon variety grown by Silvia Ordonez at the El Cascajal farm in San Agustin, Huila, Colombia, at an altitude of 1850-1910 meters. The coffee is processed using a washed method, involving a 32-hour dry fermentation in tiled tanks followed by an 18- to 20-day drying phase. The flavor profile is round and sweet, featuring notes of plum, blood orange, grape, and brown sugar.
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.
