INTRODUCING A NEW FILTER TO OUR LINEUP: LA VICTORIA
There was a moment in speciality coffee, around 2010, where it felt like the Gesha variety had swallowed up all of the air in the room. The variety with Ethiopian Landrace (Heirloom) genetics, made famous by Panamanian superproducers, generated unheard-of prices at auctions. The message that trickled down to many remote producers was that Gesha was a golden goose: rip up all of your Caturra, replace it with Gesha, and you’ll be set!
Never mind the caveats. Bringing a new field of seedlings to production level requires sacrificing several years of profitable harvests. Seed and seedling stocks are notoriously hard to verify, so it’s difficult to know exactly what you’re getting. Gesha has a lower yield than traditional, commercially available varieties and requires different care. Most roasters buy a tiny amount in the grand scheme of things, and variety does not guarantee cup quality. The ideal way to perfect a finicky variety is to have nothing to lose - to be an established, stable producer with money and time to risk on an experiment.
CUPPING AND SELECTION
Over the past 15 years, while travelling through coffee-growing regions, producers repeatedly asked us whether we bought “exotic varieties” such as Gesha. The answer was always the same: yes, in small amounts, but it has to be worth the hype and price, beyond the variety. As the Gesha variety spread worldwide, we tasted more and more expensive examples that were just “okay.” Enter La Victoria! A floral standout and our first Gesha in recent memory, this lot deserves attention, first for its cup profile, then for the excitement surrounding a special variety.
All the more reason we were delighted when this Gesha lot from Tolima’s Aristobulo Rayo crossed our cupping table, showcasing our classic ideal of washed Gesha flavour characteristics. There wasn’t any grand design to our sourcing here: we simply asked our import partners for special lots to see what might be available. We tasted La Victoria six times before purchasing it, among dozens of other options. The cup quality here merits its price, even without knowing Aristobulo’s intriguing journey with this lot.
ARISTOBULO’S JOURNEY
Though he knew it was called “Gesha”, Rayo had no idea that he had anything special. The variety had come full circle in its global spread, to the extent that his neighbour in rural Tolima sold him some seedlings before moving a few months later. During his first harvest, two years after planting, Aristobulo realised the trees yielded very little compared to his Caturra and Castillo blocks. At the same time, the grower’s association Rayo was part of had begun new work with exporter Siruma. A Siruma agronomist visited Café Agrario to conduct a baseline analysis of the members’ coffee, and Rayo’s coffee stood out immediately.
Since then, Siruma has been working directly with him to hone the processing and bolster his Gesha production. Aristobulo had the opportunity to cup his coffee in the Siruma lab for the first time, driving almost eight hours to deliver it and meet the wider team. With collaboration, coincidence, and hard work, La Victoria’s beautiful coffee stands on its own – and it just happens to be a Gesha*.
*Referred to with the 'Geisha' spelling on our product to reflect Aristobulo's naming.
A SPECIAL OCCASION
Light and delicate, yet undeniably vibrant, La Victoria stood up to round after round of blind tasting at our roastery. The result is a cup that delivers the deliciously crisp and floral flavour profile synonymous with the Gesha variety; we couldn’t be more excited for you to try it!
To share this coffee as widely as possible, it will be only the second to go in our 175g bags, available for special releases only. If you are ordering a single bag of coffee, you will still receive it in our letterbox packaging. However, for orders of two bags or more, keep an eye out for the smaller bag.
With a limited supply available, order yours here.
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