A mountainous province around Quito with new specialty farms, and the likely birthplace of Sidra and Typica Mejorado.
Pichincha province is in northern Ecuador around Quito. Its mountainous terrain has seen many larger, business-driven specialty coffee farms start up, and it also appears in national statistics as robusta-growing territory. Pichincha is also historically significant as the site of a Nestlé breeding facility, reported to have worked from imported Ethiopian seed, where field technician Olger Rogel picked out two seeds and named them 'Sidra' and 'Typica Mejorado.' Sidra is placed in the 1990s.
Field notes
- i
Both the Sidra and Typica Mejorado varieties trace to two seeds picked out by field technician Olger Rogel at a Nestlé breeding facility in Pichincha.
- ii
Many of the newer specialty farms here are run as businesses on larger plots, and growers often also farm cacao, cotton or sugarcane.
- iii
Cafe Imports says it was the first to export specialty coffee from Pichincha, after buying its first half-container from Ecuador in 2012.
Varietals
Sources · 6 Every sentence here was checked against a source we read. Taste notes are what guides describe, not promises about your bag. Last revised 2026-11-11. Some details here are less settled than others.
- Coffee Varietal: Sidra · Ozone Coffee
- Typica Mejorado: A Coffee Variety Overview · Perfect Daily Grind
- Ecuador Coffee Export Review: Loja, Zamora-Chinchipe, Pichincha · Royal Coffee
- Origin Spotlight: Ecuador · Driftaway Coffee
- Coffee production in Ecuador · Wikipedia
- Origins: Ecuador · Cafe Imports