Description
La Palma: Exploring the secrets of exceptional coffee
The La Palma – Colombia farm is located in Santa Bárbara, Antioquia, and is distinct from the company's other farms. It has its own processing process and a separate management house. Located on a steep mountain, it offers spectacular views of the Cauca River valley. Furthermore, its climate is unique, as the warm winds from the valley are offset by the farm's altitude, which is over 1,900 meters above sea level.
Coffee Varieties: From Typical to Gesha
The story of this special edition takes us back to Ethiopia in the 1930s, the birthplace of coffee. This country is known as the birthplace of coffee, with historical records dating back more than 500 years. In Ethiopia, varieties such as "Hairloom" are spoken of, a group of ancient varieties with such vast genetic diversity that they are still not fully cataloged. It was in this place that the variety known as Typica emerged, which has been the progenitor of many of the Arabica coffee varieties we know today.
For example, Caturra and Bourbon are direct descendants of the Típica variety, while the Colombia and Castillo varieties are the result of crosses between Típica and Timor hybrids.
In the 1930s, a group of researchers conducted an exhaustive tour of Ethiopia in search of coffee varieties that stood out and were worthy of worldwide distribution. It was near Gesha Mountain that they found a variety that caught their attention. This variety, known as Gesha (or Geisha), was characterized by its large beans and an elegant, tall, and slender phenotype.
However, this expedition was one of the last in search of new varieties, as Ethiopia banned the export of coffee seeds to preserve its genetic richness. Currently, removing seeds from this country is illegal and carries significant fines and even the possibility of imprisonment.
The magic of the Gesha variety: A unique flavor profile
In the 1950s, some Gesha seeds arrived at CATIE, the research center in Costa Rica. Due to its altitude, this variety was promoted as suitable for growing on hillsides to protect the rest of the coffee plantation from strong winds. However, it wasn't until the 1990s that the Gesha variety began to be recognized for its floral notes and complex profile.
The Peterson family entered this variety into a competition and set a record price at the "Best of Panama" auction. Since then, it has become known for being one of the most complex and unique cups, with a floral and citrus profile reminiscent of the finest coffees still found in Ethiopia, but difficult to find in other producing countries.
The variety of this coffee, Gesha, is what makes it truly special. Its main characteristic is its unique flavor profile, with notes reminiscent of delicate flowers and citrus fruits.
A unique tree of its kind
The Gesha tree is medium-sized, taller than the Caturra but shorter than the Típica. Its grains are large, and its leaves are medium-sized and light green.
What makes this coffee truly special is its rarity. It's a rarely grown variety both in Colombia and around the world, and it has a very distinct flavor profile from typical Colombian coffee.
