Description
This is our first Laos coffee and a very fun one at that! A lovely coffee but unique offering even for Laos, Gesha is an Ethiopian strain of coffee known for its higher acidity and more floral cup character. Now grown many places in the world, but this is the first time we have seen it originating from an Asian country. Naga coffee is a grade 1 Arabica that is fully washed with 14 and up screen size; this particular lot is 100% Gesha.
Grown by smallholders, the coffee spans from Paksong, the plateau’s coffee capital, to the southern edge where the Nonglouang River plunges over the Tad Kameud Waterfall. These farms belong to seven villages Nonglouang, Lassasin, Xenamnoi, and others that form the Xekatham Estate. Plantations sit at 800–1 350 m a.s.l. on rich volcanic soils under a cool tropical climate ideal conditions for cup quality.
The Bolaven Plateau home to 95% of Laos’s coffee is threaded with rivers that flow west toward the Mekong and receives plentiful rain for much of the year. Its altitude, moderated temperatures, and mineral-rich volcanic soils yield specialty harvests with strong growth potential.
Ripe cherries are selectively hand-picked, depulped now often with hand-cranked pulpers that let farmers sell parchment for higher earnings then undergo controlled fermentation, triple washing, and sun-drying on raised beds to 10–11 % moisture. Screen 14+ ensures large, even beans ready for precise roasting.
Coffee arrived in Laos with the French in 1915 and took hold on the plateau in the 1920s. Today, initiatives like Naga support the national shift from Robusta to high-quality Arabica, positioning Laos as an emerging origin in the specialty-coffee market.
Tasting Notes: Best at the light to medium roast levels. Light roasts themselves have a very sweet citric upfront, hints of floral in the aromatics with a little hint of darker toned contrast, nutty/cocoa/spice. A pinch of fruit as the cup cools but more down the citric alley. A little lighter bodied, complex and balanced. A very jazzy, sweet and delicate lighter roast bean with wonderful aromatics. Medium roasts reduce the citric and floral, smoother cup building a bit more body and showing more of what we classically think of Asian coffees, bolder with some spice notes. Assuming you are on the lighter side of a medium roast, you still get nice balance of tones in the cup, a strong medium roast to dark roast points, the coffee is much flatter, strong semi-sweet chocolate with herbal spice.
Roasting Notes: Medium sized beans, easy to roast, medium to low chaff. To spotlight the Gesha’s floral vibrancy and bright citrus acidity, drop the roast just 0–30 seconds past first crack—adjusting for your roaster’s heat curve. At this light level the orange-blossom and jasmine aromatics bloom in V-60 or Chemex brews, while the cup fills with honeyed sweetness and hints of red-fruit. For a more balanced profile, extend the roast 60–90 seconds beyond first crack (medium roast), again dependent on your machine, will reduce the crispness and acidity bring out more of a honey like tone and plum like fruit instead of citrus .
