Costa Rican – Hacienda La Florida – Gesha Natural Processed

Description

Roberto Leiva and his 20 acre farm called Hacienda La Florida has just recently started producing the Gesha variety at a stunning 1900 meters above sea level.

Roberto came late to coffee cultivation, his farm has been around for a while but this is his first Gesha crop. His attention was fixed on cultivating strawberries and avocados, but in Costa Rica, it’s hard to avoid the draw to coffee.  And while he is new to coffee, Roberto made some shrewd decisions, like planting Gesha and electing to use a hand done natural processing.

This is not your typical Costa Rican coffee. All hand done from picking to processing using a very hot single strain originally from Ethiopia.  For Roberto, it made sense to use the low tech natural processing to avoid a large investment in equipment.  When done right, drying coffee in the cherry offers a standout cup profile and does not require use of water or energy associated with other processing methods, a win-win.

Tasting Notes: A unique and highly rated cup of coffee! Although tasty from light to dark, to see the lovely overly sweet, floral and jasmine like attributes of the Gesha strain, you have to keep the roast pretty light or the darker tones of the cup will cover them up. A more “new wave” lighter roast, fruity and floral coffee.

Light roasts will be loaded with fruity, floral and citric tones. Wonderful jasmine like aromatics balanced with just a hint of chocolaty undertone. All about the lighter sweeter tones at this roast point.

Medium roasts are still plenty floral and fruity, as one pushed the roast it will accentuate the more nutty and chocolaty darker undertones, brings better body & balance to the cup but mutes some of the lovely jasmine tea like features of the strain.

Darker roasts some will love, picks up some black tea like spice but turns the darker tones a little bittersweet with a smoky aftertaste. Covers up a decent chunk of the exotic floral and fruitiness.

Roasting Notes: High chaff but pretty even roasting for a natural, would recommend erroring lighter than darker to see this cup shine. Pushing the roast a little on the second attempt if the cup is a little too bright or fruit forward for ones tastes. Setup helps smooth it out greatly, hard to wait but 2-3 days after roasting will be decently smoother and more defined.