Colombia La Fortuna Gesha Cup of Excellence

This anaerobic-washed Gesha variety coffee placed 5th in Colombia’s highly competitive annual coffee quality competition, the Cup of Excellence

It was produced by Victor Felix Ramirez on La Fortuna, a small 6-hectare farm situated in the mountains above the town of Pitalito in Huila.

Roasted fresh & shipped from the Equator Coffees roastery every Wednesday.

6oz / Roasts on Wednesdays

One-time order

$32.00

Quantity

Flavor Profile

Origin
Pitalito, Huila, Colombia
Tasting Notes
Deeply Sweet flavors of peach, apple blossom, and strawberry with a sparkling acidity.
Roast Level

Light Med Lt Med Med Dark Dark

Origin Story

Victor Felix Ramirez & Blanca Rubi Lopez

This anaerobic-washed Gesha variety coffee was produced by Victor Felix Ramirez on La Fortuna, a small 6-hectare farm situated in the mountains above the town of Pitalito in southern Colombia, within the celebrated coffee growing region of Huila. Victor is a second generation coffee producer that has worked on coffee farms for most of his life. After getting married, Victor and his partner Blanca Rubi Lopez, decided to purchase land of their own and named the farm La Fortuna. Historically, coffee produced on La Fortuna was sold as commercial grade, but desiring more income and a better quality of life for their family, Victor and Blanca committed themselves to producing specialty grade coffee. They replanted their farm with higher quality varieties and implemented more effective agricultural and processing practices, and only three years later they produced this lot, which placed 5th in Colombia’s highly competitive annual coffee quality competition, the Cup of Excellence.

Altitude

5,400-5,850 feet

Variety

Gesha

Processing

Anaerobic-Washed

Why We Love This Coffee

The Gesha variety was originally collected from coffee forests in Ethiopia in the 1930s. From there, it was sent to the Lyamungu research station in Tanzania before being brought to Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Central America during the 1950s. It was distributed throughout Panama by CATIE in the 1960s after being recognized for tolerance to Roya, or coffee leaf rust. However, the plant was not favored by farmers nor widely planted due to it having brittle branches. The variety finally came to prominence in 2005 when the Peterson family of Boquete, Panama, rediscovered it on their farm, Hacienda La Esmeralda. After tasting the coffee’s unique flavor profile and quality potential the Petersons entered it into the Best of Panama competition and auction, similar to the Cup of Excellence competition in other countries. It received exceptionally high marks and broke the then-record for green coffee auction prices. This Gesha variety lot from Finca La Fortuna displays similar floral and fruit forward flavor characteristics to its Panamanian coffee relative, which continues to reset the coffee price ceiling to this day.

This lot was processed using an innovative variation of the washed method referred to as anaerobic-washed. Instead of being pulped right after harvesting, the coffee cherries were placed in airtight bags and sealed for a brief 40-hour anaerobic fermentation. Then the coffee was pulped before being placed in airtight bags and sealed again for a second 40-hour anaerobic fermentation. Finally the coffee was washed, leaving the parchment clean of any residual fruit before drying. The short anaerobic fermentation periods imparted fruit-forward flavors into the coffee without overpowering the delicate flavor qualities of the Gesha variety.

Sustainably Sourced

Good Coffee, Better Planet

The Cup of Excellence is an annual coffee quality competition held in many producing countries that helps producers quantify the quality and value of their coffee. An international panel of judges taste and score submissions and winning coffees are determined before being sold in an auction format. Traceability to the farm has been a requirement since the program’s inception, ensuring that winning farmers directly receive the premiums that their coffees yield. Farmer identification is now standard in the specialty coffee industry, in part due to the Cup of Excellence competitions and other similar programs.

Colombia La Fortuna Gesha Cup of Excellence

Flavor Profile

Origin

Tasting Notes