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With a standard 9 bar espresso machines, don’t go crazy. This is an easily dialed in bean: 16-18 grams in, 32-36 grams out in 25-30 seconds, so your standard 2:1 ratio for espresso to get a nice balanced, vibrant cup with a pleasant, long lasting aftertaste, while keeping it sweet with a lower brew temp set at around 90-91 degrees (slightly higher if your machine has a more drastic fall in temperature while pulling shots).
Living in a municipality with harder tap water? Don’t underestimate the effect of water on the flavour of your coffee! Make sure to filter it down to under 80 ppm when brewing coffee. We recommend the BWT Magnesium Mineralised Water filters for best results.
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Variety: Castillo & Catuaí
Post harvest processing: Natural (processed by Finca Isabel)
Producer: Gonzalo
Location: Loayza, Caranavi Province, Bolivia
Elevation: 1400 maslNet weight: 250 grams or 1 Kg whole beans
Roasted for: Espresso -
With the launch of Gonzalo, we’re writing a new and meaningful chapter in our Bolivian coffee journey. Gonzalo is Fernando’s right hand at Finca Isabel—and also happens to be one of their neighbours in Loayza. Over the years, working side by side with Fernando, he picked up a few key lessons in sustainable coffee farming and began applying them to his own small plot.
In the past, Gonzalo experimented with processing his own coffee, but the results were mixed. Eventually, he opted to sell his cherries to middlemen instead. Still, his name kept popping up in our conversations with the team at Finca Isabel as we explored ways to expand our producer network. It took some time (and gentle nudging) to convince him to let Gabriela process part of his harvest—but in 2024, we finally met Gonzalo and his family in person, on his land, en route to Finca Isabel. That visit seemed to dissolve any remaining hesitation. We were no longer just an idea—he saw we were real.
From there, things started to click into place. A portion of his harvest was brought to Finca Isabel’s processing plant, where Gabriela worked her magic so we could evaluate the coffee’s potential. There were a few rough edges to smooth out in the beginning—getting the cherries in top condition to the drying beds took some coordination—but the result? Absolutely delicious.
This first lot is a natural process blend of Castillo and Catuai. Since the varietals were harvested together from a mixed microlot, separating them wasn’t possible—but they turned out to be a great match. The roast brings out a sweet, round body, perfect for espresso and full of character in milk drinks.
And while you're enjoying the cup, you're part of this story too. These kinds of wins take time—but they’re worth the wait. Gonzalo gets to step into the spotlight and earn more for his coffee, Finca Isabel puts their processing plant to fuller use while supporting a neighbour and friend, we get to add another gem to our lineup—and you get more delicious choices. That’s a win-win-win-win.
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Sourcing directly at origin from small farmers, we are fully aware of the hard work that goes into the quality product we buy and the challenges their families face to earn their fragile livelihood. In this regard, coffee producing communities in Bolivia face additional challenges, due to the lack of infrastructure, financial support and difficult access to international freight routes. To fairly balance the relationship between roaster and producer we are price takers and as part of our long term commitment to a financially and environmentally sustainable coffee production in Bolivia, we factor these realities into the pricing.
For this 40Kg batch of specialty grade coffee, Gonzalo & Finca Isabel received 13,22 USD/Kg.
