Overview
This is a traditional washed Gesha cultivar coffee from Huila, Colombia, produced by Juliana Guevara and Wbeimar Lasso on their estate, La Terraza.
The flavor profile is classically Gesha-like, with floral notes of lemongrass, rose, and orange blossoms complimented by sweet apple and apricot, tart bergamot, and warm caramel sweetness.
Our roasters found the coffee performed best with gentle heat approach and plenty of airflow to bring out the clean, sweet floral notes.
When brewed, we were particularly fond of coarser grinds in conical pour-overs. We will also briefly feature this coffee as an espresso option in our Tasting Room.
Source Analysis by Chris Kornman
Almost exactly a year ago, we picked up our first washed Gesha from Wbeimar and Juliana, humbly offered almost as an afterthought during a sourcing project that included coffees with much louder flavor profiles.
This year, however, the Terraza Gesha was offered proudly and with confidence, and our approval process was about as simple as it gets. A beauty of repeat business and trust-building (a two-way street) is that it tends to open new possibilities even as it reinforces consistency, and we’re looking forward to even more upcoming coffees from the impressive project this husband-and-wife team have built in Huila.
Terraza is the name for the farm owned and managed by Juliana Guevara and Wbeimar Lasso – the duo behind Terra Coffee. It’s basically a variety garden, and while we’ve contracted their Pink Bourbon, Typica, and Sidra cultivars for future shipments, we figured we could go big with the entrance.
Wbeimar Lasso, a Colombian Cup Tasters Champion, agro-industrial engineer and third generation coffee producer, is also a bit of a tinkerer with processing – notoriously responsible for multi-fermentation stages coordinated across small farms in Huila – delivering us some of our most unique and interesting coffees with consistency and regularity.
So, it came as a bit of a surprise to me that this is a very traditionally washed coffee. No particular idiosyncrasies in processing required, other than care and precision. Coffee cherries are depulped, fermented 36-48 hours, and dried – mostly in the shade – for 20-30 days.
We’re thrilled to be showcasing this new, intimate and innovative project from Terraza Coffee Estate, and can’t wait to see what comes next from the creative team at Terra Coffee.
Brew Analysis by Alisha Rajan
While going about the brew analysis the words of one of my favorite poets, Pablo Neruda, echoed in my head: “I love you simply, without pretense or pride: I love you in this way because I know no other way of loving but this.” And so I love this beautiful Gesha by Juliana Guevara and Wbeimar Lasso. Belied by the simplicity of its production is the undeniable florality of orange blossom and rose, the creaminess of custard, and the brightness of stonefruit. In a climate inundated with talk of multi-step fermentation processes and show-stopping co-ferments (i.e. a world of pretense), the essence and simplicity of this traditionally washed jewel stands alone with quiet strength.
I performed six brews for the analysis. I began with a moderately high dose of 19.0g and a finer grind setting for both the V60 and Kalita wave, yielding brews reminiscent of mango ice cream and caramel apple. Since the TDS was quite high, I decided to lower the dose to 18.5g and coarsen the grind for the subsequent brews.
My absolute favorite brew came in at an 18.5g dose, grind setting of 11, and a V60 brewer. This iteration retained the best attributes of the previous brews but presented with a supremely sweet and floral twist. Apricot and gala apples danced atop a silky body of maraschino cherry and tea-like sweetness tied together with a bow of florals. This, along with an extraction percentage of 18.5% and a TDS value within the desired range, indicated that she was the one.
My second favorite brew came in at an 18.5g dose, grind setting of 11, but this time brewed with a Kalita wave. I enjoyed the more exaggerated florality of this brew. Rose, lavender, plum, and lemongrass all shone brightly. With a slightly higher TDS than the last, this one was also very, very good.
Overall, I recommend a moderate dose and coarser grind size and a conical-style brewer to achieve the most balanced cup. Supremely sweet and stunning in its simplicity, I hope you come to love this Gesha as much as I do.
