Last weekend I (Tanja) made my way from the capital Quito at 2850 meters altitude to Julio Ullauri's farm in the heart of Tulipe. Yes, for those of you who already know us, this place is certainly not unknown. It is located in the middle of the Andes at 1600 to 1700 meters altitude about 1.5 hours northwest of the capital Quito and in Tulipe is also the farm of Alfonso Villagomez, from whom we already buy high-quality coffee. So I'm positive and looking forward to visiting Julio.
I have to get up at dawn, because in the Tulipe region it is winter, so to speak, and it can rain a lot from noon. But the sunrise that awaits me on my balcony in Quito, together with an exquisite cup of coffee, washes the last tiredness out of my bones. Let the journey begin!
A good friend accompanies me and we first have to descend in serpentine lines through the Andes 1000 meters further. The landscape is beautiful, in the middle of the mountains and all the greenery around it, past small rivers and idyllic waterfalls. To finally get to the farm we have to overcome some narrow and steep roads and then it lies in front of us: Julio's small coffee farm with its picture-book cottage in front of it. Dogs come running towards us and the first horror passes when we notice: dogs that bark do not bite.
Julio first invites us into his living room and tells us his story, the history of his farm and many coffee insights. He is an aeronautical engineer and I think to myself: how does someone like that come up with the idea of running a coffee farm in the "middle of nowhere"? But he enlightens me: his love of nature, his willingness to experiment and his love for high-quality coffee and his land led him to this farm 3.5 years ago. Now he dedicates himself wholeheartedly to coffee and continues to pursue his profession from the farm.
After our nice chat, the exploration tour starts. We walk through the 10 hectare facility, with coffee cultivation on micro lots, which make up a total of only 5 hectares. We look at the plants, the coffee beans are mostly not yet ripe, because the harvest does not start until the end of April, but we can already taste individual fruits directly from the tree. A pleasurable moment. Its specialties are Arabica coffees of the varieties Sidra, Caturra and Geisha. The tour through his farm turns out to be a very nice and informative hike and we also see wonderful hummingbirds here and there.
After getting to know the hacienda, we return to Julio's farmhouse and get a coffee tasting of its best varieties. A very special moment with the scent and taste of coffee and idyllic nature around it. We enjoy every minute. Looking back, I can only say: it was a wonderful day and maybe you will soon be able to enjoy Julio's specialty coffee, too. Let yourself be surprised.
