Peru Gesha

The Incas built in Cusco an enviable, rich culture, leaving behind long legacies in ancestral knowledge, traditions, and crops. Many of the communities we receive coffee from in Peru are microcosms of this left behind culture. The coffee growing families within Cusco speak Quechua, the indigenous language, and within that language is “minka,” a word for the collective effort of community members helping with tasks or projects; in this case, coffee farming, harvesting and processing is the work.

Julio Chavez’s farm San Sebastian sits at 2400masl in the La Convencion province. This Gesha lot from him has been dried on African style beds for 10 days after depulping. With notes of meyer lemon, jasmine pearls, and dates, this gesha is a sign of the quality coming out of Cusco. We’re sure to see more lots where this came from.

It’s heating up in here. And outside. But especially in here because the roastery is very hot and the Netherlands doesn’t really have air conditioning in buildings. This ain’t California sister! Somewhere else that probably doesn’t have much A/C is Cajamarca in Peru. Oscar Vasquez Becerra is a farmer from Cajamarca in Peru, and he’s growing Geshas (great segway into why we’re actually here right now).

Vasquez’s farm is in the El Cumbe community sitting at 1750masl, in a microclimate that allows for year-round harvesting. The climate here produces fertile lands and vegetation, and is known for being a top quality place to farm cattle. So if you’re looking for a succulent piece of grass fed steak, or a top scoring flat white then look no further!

Washed processed, and tasting in the cup like raspberry ganache and orange blossom, with some citric acidity. A classic gesha with a bit of something something.

Honey, honey, honey. Honey, I shrunk the kids. Honey, this Gesha’s so good. Honeydew melon, honeyblossom, chardonnay grape and florals fill this cup to make it sweet and delicate but by no means lacking any flavour. 

Grown in the north of Peru in Cajamarca, this coffee was produced by Dr Drei himself (as long as you’re thinking about the one who works for the coffee importer Cultivar, not the one who founded Death Row Records). Dreyde Delgado is known in the lab for his passion for fermentation experiments; this coffee in particular was fermented with microorganisms to help feed the fermentation. As a young coffee farmer, he’s taken all the opportunity he can to learn, develop, and also push forward coffee growing.

Dreyde’s San Antonio farm sits at 1960masl - a farm that started as a hectare his mother gave him and then grew to 2 more hectares, and takes full advantage of the tropical and cool climate - ideal for specialty coffee production.