Bolivia

Las Alasitas

Geisha

Natural Lactic process Gesha

Flavour: white blossom, cane sugar, white peach

We’ve been excitedly waiting for this coffee to land here at the roastery so we could share it with you – this Natural Lactic process Geisha from Las Alasitas is something pretty exceptional.

It’s a rare process and varietal in one; and it’s also more than double the green price of the next most expensive coffee we’ve ever shared (which was also a Geisha, and also VS). To make sure there’s enough to go around, this month’s delivery is 100g. Savour it!

At Las Alasitas, Pedro hires pickers from the Villa Rosario community to carefully handpick the coffee during the harvest. These pickers are trained to select only the very ripest cherries, and multiple passes are made through the farm throughout the harvest to ensure the coffee is picked at its prime. Selective picking is always very important and is particularly important for special micro-lots like this one, to ensure a very sweet and clean cup. The Rodríguez family has found that the very ripest (almost purple) cherries provide the best cup.

VERY SPECIAL

For the farm’s special varieties like Java and Gesha, the family uses special blue aerated crates (often used in wine production for grapes) to collect and transport the cherries.

These crates ensure the coffee is not damaged whilst it is being transported and also allows the coffee to breathe, preventing unwanted early fermentation.

Pedro is always innovating and trialing different processing techniques and in this case the coffee was processed with a strong influence from the wine industry. After being picked and weighed, the coffee cherries were carefully washed and then placed whole, with their husk, or ‘cascara’ intact, to ferment under controlled temperature and pH conditions in the family’s brand new custom-built stainless steel tanks (shown in the video below) for 10 hours. This process allows for the development of lactic acid, resulting in a silky mouthfeel and creamy character in the flavour profile. The Rodríguez family also calls coffees processed this way ‘choco naturals.’

The coffee was then gently washed and laid out to carefully dry on raised African beds, and turned every hour for a total of 175 hours until it reached 11.5% humidity.

Once the coffee was dry, it was transported to La Paz where it was rested before being milled at Agricafe’s dry mill, La Luna. At this state-of-the-art mill, the coffee was first hulled and sorted using machinery, and then by a team of workers who meticulously sorted the coffee again (this time by hand) under UV and natural light. The mill is one of the cleanest and most impressive we have seen.

GEISHA VARIETAL

Geisha is an exceptionally high quality coffee variety that is grown throughout Central America, and is named after the town of Geisha in Ethiopia where the seeds originated.

While the variety produces exceptional quality, the plants are also low yielding and require a large amount of stringent and detailed maintenance. For these reasons it often sells for very high prices. Geisha has proven to be relatively disease resistant in most grown areas.

BREW, SHARE AND ENJOY

Now you know a bit more about the background it’s time to enjoy this awesome coffee! If you don’t know where to start, you can use Reuben’s brewing recipe (coming soon, see below).

You can also try your favourite method and play around with some settings to get the best of it. Don’t forget to tell us how it went, adding your recipe here, via email or on Instagram at @samplecoffee.

We look forward to hearing about your experience with this VS coffee!

Learn everything about this coffee:

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Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

• Dose: 20g ground coffee
• Yield: 60g espresso
• Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

• Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
• Labels: recyclable
• Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
• Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer

Pedro Rodriguez

Country

Bolivia

Region

Bolinda

Altitude

1600 1650m above sea level

Variety

Gesha

Process

Natural Lactic

Importer

Melbourne Coffee Merchants

Body

Acidity

Tasting notes

White blossom, cane sugar, white peach

Roast style

Omni (filter + espresso)