Ecuador - Quito - Las Terrazas del Pisque - Infusion (Black)

Discover black tea from the coffee leaves of Las Terrazas del Pisque, a farm as unique as its owner!

Las Terrazas del Pisque is a farm in the middle of the desert, a complete ecosystem created from scratch in the middle of an arid desert zone. 

This farm is the work of Arnaud Causse, whom you may know from Belco as Director of Transition. But Arnaud is also a singular producer, with a background as an agricultural engineer and many years of experience in the 4 corners of the world.

After being harvested during the rainy season, the coffee leaves are rolled by hand to encourage oxidation. They are then fermented in an anaerobic environment for around 2 hours, before being dehydrated.

Las Terrazas del Pisque is a very special farm. Its owner, Arnaud Causse, has grown a forest in the middle of the desert to plant his coffee trees. 

Located on the Pacific side of the Andes, Las Terrazas del Pisque relies on the 25 species of trees (ingas, acacias, lemon trees, avocado trees, etc.) planted by Arnaud to provide shade. 

Arnaud uses no pesticides and treats his coffee trees with tagetes, lavender and rosemary essential oils that he produces himself. Las Terrazas is a veritable micro-ecosystem. Melliferous plants such as tagetes, lemon balm, oregano and lavender are used both to produce essential oils and to attract bees for honey production.

Legumes supply the farm and also fix nitrogen in the soil. As for the fruit trees, they provide an ideal habitat for birds, which in return eat the fruit fly larvae. The farm is managed on a day-to-day basis by Wilson, an agricultural engineer with a strong sense of sustainable agriculture.

Arnaud Causse is first and foremost a man of challenges. For several decades, his passion for coffee has taken our travelling agronomist to the 4 corners of the world: Kenya, Costa Rica, Gabon, etc. He has also developed projects in El Salvador and the Galapagos Islands. He has also developed projects in El Salvador and the Galapagos Islands.

Immersed in the quest for excellence, he set up the Las Tolas farm, planting coffee trees in the heart of a natural forest. Then, after a spell in the Dominican Republic in Colombia and Peru, still working on coffee, Arnaud returned to Ecuador and founded Las Terrazas del Pisque, a farm in the middle of the desert.

Today, Arnaud has joined Belco and is the Transition Director, while continuing to manage his farms!