Guatemalan Premium Sacatepequez – Jardin De Villa Bella – Gesha Washed

Description

Although our buddies at Finca Vista Hermosa do not grow Gesha, they do have some friends that produce stellar Gesha lots. Edwin passed along a sample of this gem and we couldn’t help but to throw a couple bags of this coffee onto our Vista Hermosa shipment.

Jardin de Cafe Villa Bella is a tiny farm on the high volcanic mountainside of Santiago, in Sacatepequez. Really, the entirety of the surrounding land is conservation area. Don Jorge’s small residential farm and lush native garden
overlooks a natural hydrographic basin, where the main objective was the conservation of the forest and natural fauna. Only a small lot of coffee trees, growing beneath banana trees in an old growth forest have been cultivated.
Jorge Anibal Escobedo Martinez is an agronomist by trade, and his passions combine the love of coffee and the preservation of natural flora and fauna. The water on the farm comes from a well, extracting fresh spring water
from a depth of 90 meters. This water is used for washing coffees, after which it is captured in tanks for filtering, reuse, and finally for irrigation of the coffee trees and garden.

Fermentation time: 72 hour fermentation in tiled washing
basins
Drying type: Raised African beds in covered greenhouse
Drying time: 12 days
Elevation: 1400 – 2100 MASL

Tasting Notes: A top notch and exotic cup of Guatemalan coffee. Light roasts are where this cup will shine and be easily identifiable as a lovely Geisha coffee. The first thing to hit is the very jasmine and floral like aromatics whose spice notes will come through in the cup character.  Very lemony floral upfront at the lighter roasts balanced with a lovely dark tea undertone reminiscent of of a Darjeeling or English breakfast tea. Medium roasts drop the lemony floral tones quite a bit in the cup and bring forth a bit of semi-sweet chocolate mixing with the more tea like spice. Darker roasts are very pleasant but kill most of the exotic-ness of the cup, very easy to drink and smooth chocolate tones with a bit of a smoky factor.

Roasting Notes: This shines at the lighter roast points. The lemony floral, soft fruit and spice all come together in a very jazzy and semi-acidic cup. A little development past first crack is ideal if you like acidity. If you are like most and want a little more balance in the cup, lean towards a nice medium roast. It will mute up a little acidity without burning out the overly floral and soft fruit notes. One can roast it close to 2nd crack or into and it will still be tasty but those roast points will burn out much of what differentiates this cup.