Filter & Espresso
Mango, piña colada, blackberry
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Tarrazú |
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1,900 – 2,000 meters above sea level. |
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Geisha |
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Red Honey |
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Ivan Solis |
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2022 |
What is the Geisha coffee variety?
Geisha coffee has gained popularity in recent years thanks to its distinctive flavor profile, both delicate and vibrant. It typically has a pleasant sweetness along with acidic notes of berries and citrus, floral notes of jasmine, and fruity notes of mango, papaya, or peach. This makes the Geisha variety one of the most exotic and prized in the world of specialty coffee.
The Geisha coffee we present to you, grown on the Alto la Estrella estate, is a magnificent example of what we can expect from a coffee of this variety.
Geisha coffee grown in the best place
This Geisha variety coffee has been cultivated in the mountains of Costa Rica.
The name "geisha" refers to the coffee strain from which this variety originates. "Alto la estrella," on the other hand, refers to the best area for growing coffee in the Santa Maria de Dota region, in the Tarrazú canton of Costa Rica.
The Alto la Estrella farm covers just over one hectare and is located at an altitude of between 1,900 and 2,000 meters above sea level. The canton of Tarrazú offers ideal conditions for coffee cultivation thanks to its rich soil and favorable climate.
According to Ivan Solis, who processed this coffee, the Alto la Estrella farm is the best place to grow coffee in this region, which is already ideal for it. This is because this Geisha coffee variety gains significantly at higher altitudes.
Geisha Café Alto la Estrella of Costa Rica
The "geisha" coffee variety became popular in 2004, when it won the " Best of Panama " competition. Since then, it has won this same competition on other occasions and is regularly featured in many others.
And while the name “Geisha” may remind us of the East, the name comes from the village in the mountains of Ethiopia where this variety was discovered in the 1930s.
In the 1960s, the Geisha variety began to be cultivated in Panama and has been associated with this country ever since.
In 2010, a clever Costa Rican coffee farmer, Adolfo Umana, purchased seeds and planted them on the Alto la Estrella farm just as this coffee was at its peak. The ideal conditions here have allowed this Geisha coffee variety to develop, surpassing its Panamanian counterparts.
Geisha variety: cultivation and harvesting
This Geisha coffee lot was grown between 1,900 and 2,000 meters above sea level. At this altitude, the climatic conditions are ideal for slow ripening.
Adolfo Umana, owner of the small Alto la Estrella farm, plants geisha coffee plants among avocado trees. This creates a specific microclimate that is very conducive to growing the geisha variety.
Adolfo farms the land organically, respecting the local ecosystem. Thanks to the altitude and the environment, many diseases are prevented.
This Geisha coffee is harvested by hand and only when the fruits have reached their optimum ripeness.
Geisha coffee processing at the Solís y Cordero station
This coffee is processed by Ivan Solís at the family washing station he founded.
Ivan Solís grew up in a humble environment, always working in one way or another with coffee. Over time, his passion for coffee led him to become a Q grader and found and manage his own washing station.
Ivan and his family work with local coffee farmers to help them grow the finest coffees and process them in the most appropriate way. Ivan and his family's knowledge and passion for coffee make every batch that leaves their washing station a specialty coffee.
Ivan has developed his own processing style called "red honey," which has become the hallmark of his washing station. This involves always briefly fermenting the coffee cherries before pulping them, then allowing them to dry with the mucilage. The fermentation stage depends on each variety and batch.
Processing of Geisha coffee in Alto la Estrella
In the case of this Geisha coffee, since it is an exotic variety for Costa Rica, Ivan and his son let it ferment for only 24 hours.
Once the fermentation process is complete, they depulp the coffee, leaving the mucilage behind. Ivan says this coffee has excellent mucilage due to the variety and the growing conditions and altitude, which favor slow ripening.
Once pulped and mucilaged, the seeds are dried on raised beds. Due to the thickness of the mucilage, the drying time ranges from 20 to 26 days, during which time it is stirred regularly to ensure uniform drying.
