Bolivia Geisha Coffee

June 6, 2020

Bolivia Geisha Coffee

We've just finished one of our favourite microlots of the year from Boliva. A washed Geisha coffee processed using a semi-anaerobic fermentation method. We wanted to make sure that the information on this great coffee remains here in our blog for those customers still drinking this coffee or wanting to find out a bit more about Bolivia Geisha coffee.

This is a stunning washed Geisha from Bolivia with an SCA cup score of 88-89. It's a very complex coffee with floral notes that include jasmine and a honey like sweetness with a hint of ginger and soft delicate stone fruits.

Bolivia has an interesting coffee history and although it was exporting close to 85,000 bags in the early 2000, Bolivian coffees almost disappeared at the end of the last decade. In 2017, only 20,000 bags were exported. A tiny portion of these were sold as Specialty grade.

This coffee comes from one of the farms owned by the Rodriguez family in Samaipata. They have been involved in speciality coffee since 1986 mainly focusing on post harvest processing and exportation. In 2012 they started to farm their own coffee and now have 8 farms in the Caranavi region and 5 farms in the Samaipata region. Their main focus is producing fantastic speciality coffee using various processing methods and varietal and farm seperation.

Farm Overview:

This microlot comes from a small farm called Trapiche located at 1550-1700 masl in the Samaipata region. The farm is planted with Geisha trees under the shade of various native tree species. There are also several sections of wild untouched forest within parts of the farm.

Harvesting and Processing:

Coffee was hand harvested to ensure only perfectly ripe cherry from the Geisha trees was selected. After harvesting flotation in tanks was used to seperate out any defects before the pulping stage. The coffee was then pulped and fermented for 48hrs in tanks filled with water and covered with plastic. The producer has called this a semi anaerobic process as it sits between the dry fermentation washed method and the full anaerobic method which is done inside sealed tanks.

Tasting Notes:

Jasmine, Floral, Ginger, Honey, Sweet Lemon and Stone Fruit. This is a wonderfully delicate coffee with a tea like body.

Varietal – Geisha
Preparation – Washed - Semi anaerobic 48hr wet ferment
Location – Samaipata, Bolivia
Altitude – 1550-1700 masl
Importer - Falcon Coffees