La Palestina
Jose has owned his farm La Palestina since 1990 but this just his second harvest of the prized Gesha varietal. We taste Earl Grey, apricot, and white nectarine.
This is the second time this lot makes it to VS and, again, it’s a sensational representation of two variables colliding to create something beautiful. First is the varietal: Gesha. What is there to say that you don’t know already? It’s possibly the most reputable, known for its clean and elevated flavour profile. Second is the process: washed. Unlike the natural or other experimental approaches, a well-executed washed process respects the intrinsic fruit properties and elevates its flavour potential without adding any funky, crazy, ferment-like notes.
La Palestina is located near the village of El Triunfo in the San Jose de Alto district of Cajamarca, Peru. Previously cow pastures, Juan Alarcon Gonzales and Sobeida Coronel Martinez felt this land could have great potential for growing coffee, so in 1951, they purchased it and started to work in it.
Over the years, around 1990, the baton passed on to their sons Juan, Jose, and Annibal. The three agreed they could take the production to the next level and soon introduced a few changes to all systems and facilities, with a particular focus on elevating the quality and reducing their environmental impact.
Slowly but surely, they earned a reputation in Peru’s specialty coffee growing scene—a fact materialised with a spot within the top 20 producers of the 2019 Peruvian Cup Of Excellence.
This lot is made of Gesha varietal—the second batch ever produced at La Palestina. Until 2022, they concentrated on growing Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai and Catimor.
During this process, the cherry is mechanically pulped and dry/wet fermented for about 24 hours in plastic tanks. Then, it is washed and dried on a solar patio. All wastewater and mucilage are placed in a deposit in the ground, and raised pallets are used to avoid contact of parchment coffee with the floor.
We’d love to hear how you go and about your thoughts on this VS coffee. And remember, you can always check our online brew guides and YouTube channel for guidance on several brewing methods—or simply send us any questions via email.
 
All the images and information about this coffee and its producers have been kindly shared by the importer, Condesa Co Lab, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise).
Learn how long and why you should wait in our brewing window recommendations.
Our brewguide recipes are easy to follow and designed to bring the best out of our coffee.
1:3
dose:yield
ratio
To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.
1:16.7
beans:water
ratio
To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.
1:14.3
beans:water
ratio
To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water
1:12
beans:water
ratio
To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water
An exceptionally high quality variety that has grown in popularity, Gesha is named after the town of Gesha in Ethiopia where the seeds originated.
Peru is well suited to coffee cultivation and production, given its high altitude and climate.
Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.
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