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GEISHA PEABERRYFINCA ISABEL BOLIVIA
This espresso is truly something out of the ordinary. When we first tried it back in 2020, we were instantly blown away by the incredible punch of complex florals and sweet tropical fruits, as it is nothing we ever experienced before. This mix is made of 50% washed and 50% natural processed, only peaberry beans from the exclusive Geisha variety, giving it a very intense but at the same time extremely clean cup, creamy body and nice round finish.
Variety: Geisha
Screen size: 100% Peaberry
Producer: Finca Isabel
Microlots: Rosario, Naranjal und La Cuesta
Location: Loayza, Provinz Caranavi, Bolivien
Elevation: 1750-1850 m ü.d.M.
Net weight: 250 Gramm
Roasted for: Espresso
About this coffee
Finca Isabell is located in the community of Loayza at an average elevation of 1750 masl, about one hour from Caranavi, Bolivia and is run by Fernando and Gabriela. Fernando comes from a local coffee producing family but studied agronomy at renowned Universities in Costa Rica and Honduras, after which he perfected his craft at Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama where he met Gabriela, who is meticulously in charge of post harvest processing.
The results are evident as they run their finca extremely quality focused and with some of the most innovative agroforestry techniques we have seen in Bolivia. The symbiosis between his coffee plants and its surroundings is eye opening and big birds can freely roam their microlots, even stealing some of the sweetest coffee cherries before harvest. This doesn’t bother them, as the biodiversity of the spot clearly helps the high quality of their coffees.
This year’s peaberry mix is composed of 50% washed and 50% natural processed beans coming from Finca Isabel’s different Geisha microlots which not only share the genetics of the trees at Hacienda La Esmeralda, but also collected many quality awards in past Bolivian auctions.
Normally coffee beans grow as a pair inside each cherry, Peaberry (or caracolillo in Spanish) beans are called those beans that miss their pair, developing as a single bean inside of their cherry. Because of this, peaberry beans are more dense and pack more punch by absorbing a higher concentration of aromatic compounds.
These particular beans – accounting for approximately 5-10% of the harvest – are taken out from the batches after dry milling, since they behave differently in the roast than normal beans. As a 100% peaberry batch though, we find that they make for a unique espresso, especially intense and complex, highlighting the sensorial characteristics of a given bean even more. Being denser, they are able to take on heat during roasting, which is especially beneficial in the case of Geisha where, as specialty roasters, we want to highlight the lighter nuances of the bean such as complex florals, tropical fruits and a nice clean acidity. This usually works better on filter roasts, but with the peaberry beans we can just roast them dark enough for espresso without losing what sets it aside from other varieties.
