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La Camelia Fully Washed Gesha

$14.00

We love to say that there is so much great "less-hyped" coffee to be consumed. And, Huila coffee processing has dramatically changed in the last decade. As fermentation experimentation has advanced, many Huila lots get more advanced fermentation treatment that, in some ways, is in great benefit for the flavor profiles of this region's coffee. However, it has also significantly altered our consumer perspective of what classic Huila flavor profiles are like. At my other roasting gig, my boss talks of the boring cherry sweetness of the old Colombia coffee he used to know. So, we went off hunting "cherry and boring". Cesar Pedroza's coffee is processed that old way. As a result, in some ways this gesha is probably very "boring" to some. It's not significantly juicy, it has some nutty quality to its body but it's a good representation of what much of Huila coffee used to taste like. We're personally excited about this lot because Cesar is growing coffee on just one hectare of farmland in the highlands of Las Mercedes in Garzón. His gesha trees are also relatively young at just four years of age. It's a small scale project with some promising results.

This lot has a quieter citric acidity akin to lemon tea. There is that classic Colombia cherry-like sweetness. As it comes to room temp a soft, honeyed tea-forward body is as the forefront with lingering notes of what I'm calling sweet roasted almonds. On the finish, there are mellow yellow florals, like marigolds. Heads up, we experienced some semi-quakers in our first production cupping.

After manually sorting about 20-30%, we found more standard seed size and color. And, as a result, saw a significant improvement in cup quality that better matched the sample we tried when purchasing. We want to pass on that experience with you all with this A/B comparison.

This coffee launched on October 13th as part of Drop 12! Roast Experiment A/B comparison is available for only the first week the coffee is available.

Photo is from Valentina Diaz of "Huila mountains".

Varietal: Gesha

Process: Float sorted, dry-fermented for 20 hours in-cherry. De-pulped and then fermented in open container for 20 hrs to remove mucilage. Dried on marquesina -- parabolic greenhouse dryer -- to 10.5% moisture.

Region: Huila, Colombia

Altitude: 1700 masl

Funk: 0.5/5

Sourced by Osito.

Cesar Augusto Pedroza grows his coffee on La Camelia, one hectare farm in the township of Las Mercedes of Garzon. La Camelia sits at 1,700 masl. Cesar has about 1300 gesha trees. The peak of his harvest comes May and June. He also gets a fly crop on November and December.

In Garzon, about 45% of the local income is agricultural based. 75% of local jobs are in agriculture too. Coffee makes up a rich part of Garzon's history and it's highlands, which can have elevations of up to 1900 masl, have been known to produce some pretty exceptional coffee.

We won't talk to much about this varietal since its fairly well-known for having incredible cup quality, low yield, low disease resistance and "harder to pick" tree and branch structure. Gesha is named after its origin, which is wild coffee of southwest Ethiopia, specifically the Gesha Gori forest in Kaffa. Now, Gesha seeds are grown all over Central and South America too. Panama is extremely well-known for its Best of Panama auction, where almost exclusively Gesha take the top 10 places.

This is a more traditionally washed Huila coffee. It gets processed at Osito's own dry mill in Garzon. It's float sorted, and then dry-fermented for about 20 hours in-cherry so that enough coffee can be harvest for a significant milling. The coffee is then depulped and fermented in open container for 20 hrs to remove mucilage. The seeds then get dried on a marquesina, or parabolic greenhouse dryer until moisture reaches 10.5%.

We love the hidden gems of crushable, beautiful, and delicate coffees, especially when we aren't seeing them on other extra light roasters menus. There is so much "less-hyped" great coffee to be consumed. Huila coffee processing has quickly changed in the last decade. As fermentation experimentation has advanced, many Huila lots have gotten special treatment that has significantly altered classic varietal flavor profiles. On the other hand, this lot is processed "the old way". As a result, in some ways this gesha is "boring". It has a quieter citric acidity, a cherry-like sweetness, a soft tea-like body and some other sweet almond quality. On the finish, there is some quieter yellow floral like marigold. In addition, Cesar Pedroza is a very small-scale producer operating on just one hectare of farmland. La Camelia's gesha trees are just four years of age and get processed at the Osito dry mill in Garzon. His producer profile greatly fits our sourcing goal of highlighting newer, lesser known producers with minimal processing.

Green cost: $20.9/kg (+$1.76/kg freight, +1.9/kg after sorting)
Package and roasting costs: $2.91/bag; $10/kg
Profile and sample use: ~4kg
Approx. Margin: 30-35% (still have not recalculated operating costs on larger roaster... smh)

Resting: We recommend waiting 30 days before cracking the bag, but expect the cup to have peak "lack of roast environment character" in the 40-45 days range on pourover. Degas the night before by opening bag and then sealing. We're impatient and think this has tasted "peak flavor" (but still gassy) as early as two weeks after roast too. This is all to say: choose your own battle. Crack the bag early, try brewing and if the gas is a distraction for you, know that it will rest out in 1.5 months. Most importantly, have fun. :)

We've primarily enjoyed this offering as a pourover. We brew for QC:

Temperature range: 198-201°F (More clean coffee gets hotter water)
Water: Tap/Demineralized and Third Wave Water Light Roast
Grind Settings: Typically Medium Coarse (650-750µm)
Target Drawdown Time: 2:45-3:00
Less rest = less pours for us; we typically add a pour every two weeks

Freshly roasted 1 Pour Recipe:
Pour 1/4 water bloom and swirl dripper softly to incorporate bed fully. Wait 1 minute. Pour 3/4 water in spiral motion with 5-7g/s flow rate. With 1/4 water left, slow down flow rate to 3-4g/s. Expect drawdown to be in the 2 - 2:30 minute range for 12 to 15 gram brews.

Rested 4 Pour Recipe:
1. Pour 1/4 water every 30 seconds with medium-high agitiation (5-8g/s). Swirl the dripper on the bloom. Adjust agitation and grind size to hit expected drawdown time of 2:20-2:45 seconds on 12 to 15 gram brews.

Drops are typically prepared in two formats: a standard 100g / 200g bag offering at your preferred roast level or as a roast experiment.

Standard bag lets you support the producer, exporter, and the project without having to buy and drink coffee you're less interested in. You still get to observe and critique our roast methods at your preferred lightness but in larger quantities.
Roast experiment lets you participate in 3 blind tastings of 60g bags to evaluate 3 different roast curves. After the drops have been released, profile info and our own sensory feedback will be shared alongside any collected feedback from tasters.

Note that roast level selection does not apply to experiments sent out.

This is a side project that isn't in a place to pay our bills at the moment. We're actively trying our best in the two days we work on Base Coat a week to fulfill as quickly as possible. Volume has gone significantly up recently -- a great problem to have -- and we're doing our best to adapt. We roast every two weeks and try to get orders out within a week of your order placement. At latest, it takes us two weeks and if that is the case, expect an extra item in your bag as an apology.

Our times vary on roaster rental availability and our limited roasting schedule. We typically roast on two subsequent days twice a month. Once your order has shipped, you will receive an email with further information. Delivery times vary on location.

Because we are selling an agricultural product with limited shelf life, we do not accept returns. However, our goal is for every customer to be absolutely satisfied with their purchase. If you aren't enjoying the experience, let us know in an Instagram DM and we'll do our best to work with you to make it right!

La Camelia Fully Washed Gesha

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