Colombia — Los Patios Geisha (Aerobic Co-fermentation)

Tastes Like — 🍑 Peach Ice Tea • 🌸 Apricot Blossom • 🌼 Elderflower • 💜 Lavender • 🍦 Vanilla

DETAILS

• Producer: Juliana Serna & Alberto Gutierrez
• Farm: Geisha, Los Patios
• Region: Huila, Colombia
• Varietal: Geisha
• Process: Aerobic Co-fermentation (peach)
• Altitude: 1650 MASL
• Size: 125g

INTRO

Juliana Serna and Alberto Gutierrez's Geisha from Los Patios, Huila, undergoes an aerobic peach co-fermentation that delivers vibrant notes of peach iced tea, apricot blossom, elderflower, lavender, and vanilla. From the first sip, the coffee opens with juicy stone fruit brightness before transitioning seamlessly into an elegant floral composition, rounded off with a soft, lingering vanilla sweetness.

This is a beautiful example of clarity, structure, and expressive flavour — a Geisha that showcases both the variety's inherent elegance and the precision of innovative processing. Suitable for both filter and espresso.

THE PRODUCER

Juliana Serna and Alberto Gutierrez operate Los Patios, a farm and processing facility in Huila that has become a hub for quality-focused experimentation and innovation. Working at 1650 MASL, they cultivate Geisha alongside other high-value varieties, applying rigorous agronomic practices and meticulous post-harvest protocols to unlock the full potential of their coffees.

Los Patios collaborates closely with Coffee Quest, whose Research & Development team has been stationed at the facility since April 2023. Together, they have pioneered experimental fermentation techniques — like the aerobic peach co-fermentation used for this Geisha lot — that elevate flavour complexity whilst maintaining the structural integrity and clarity that define exceptional specialty coffee.

The Geisha variety, originally from Ethiopia but famously cultivated in Panama and Colombia, is prized for its delicate floral aromatics, tea-like body, and exceptional clarity. At Los Patios, Juliana and Alberto's careful cultivation and innovative processing allow the variety to express its full potential.

THE PROCESS

The Aerobic Co-fermentation process at Los Patios involves:

• 🍒 Selective Harvest — Only fully ripe Geisha cherries are hand-picked at peak ripeness, ensuring maximum sugar content and aromatic potential.
• 🔧 Depulping — Cherries are depulped to remove the outer skin whilst retaining the mucilage, which contains sugars and precursor compounds essential for fermentation.
• 🧪 Peach Co-fermentation — Depulped coffee is placed in open-air fermentation tanks along with peach concentrate, which introduces fruit precursors and aromatic compounds. The coffee ferments aerobically (with oxygen present), allowing specific microorganisms to interact with both the coffee mucilage and the peach sugars, enhancing the coffee's fruit-forward character and floral aromatics.
• ⏱️ Controlled Fermentation Time — The fermentation is carefully monitored for pH, temperature, and sensory development to ensure optimal aromatic complexity without over-fermentation.
• 💧 Washing — After fermentation, coffee is thoroughly washed to remove the mucilage and any remaining co-fermentation material, leaving the beans clean and ready for drying.
• ☀️ Controlled Drying — Beans are carefully dried on raised beds or in mechanical dryers, with constant monitoring to ensure even moisture reduction and prevent over-fermentation or mould development.
• 📅 Stabilisation — Once dried to optimal moisture content, coffee is stored to rest and stabilise before dry milling and export.

This innovative aerobic co-fermentation method enhances the Geisha variety's natural elegance, adding layers of stone fruit and floral complexity whilst preserving the coffee's clean, structured foundation.

THE CUP

A remarkably expressive Geisha that opens with the juicy brightness of ripe apricot and refreshing peach iced tea, unfolds into an elegant floral composition of apricot blossom, elderflower, and lavender, and finishes with a soft, lingering sweetness of vanilla. The peach co-fermentation has amplified the coffee's fruit-forward character without overwhelming its inherent floral delicacy, creating a cup of exceptional clarity, balance, and depth.

Juicy mouthfeel, complex aromatics, silky body, and a clean, extended finish make this a Geisha that rewards slow sipping and careful attention. Equally stunning as filter or espresso.

Flavour Notes

• 🍑 Peach Ice Tea
• 🌸 Apricot Blossom
• 🌼 Elderflower
• 💜 Lavender
• 🍦 Vanilla