Panama — La Victoria Estate Gesha (Natural)

Tastes Like — 🌿 Bergamot • 🍑 Stone Fruit • 🫐 Plum • 🍵 Black Tea

DETAILS

• Producer: La Victoria Estate (Lamastus Family)
• Region: Boquete, Panama
• Varietal: Gesha
• Process: Natural
• Altitude: 1,700 MASL

INTRO

From La Victoria Estate in Boquete — a quiet companion to the Lamastus family's coffee empire for over a hundred years, neighbour to the legendary Elida Estate, and producer of excellent Panamanian Gesha lots for many decades. Processed by the careful hands of the Lamastus family at Elida, this natural Gesha is, in the words of one Black & White roaster, an absolute banger. In the cup: bergamot, stone fruit, plum, and black tea.

THE PRODUCER

The Lamastus family's story in Boquete begins in 1918, when Robert Lamastus founded Elida Estate — a farm that would go on to become one of the most celebrated addresses in all of specialty coffee. La Victoria Estate, its neighbouring property, came of age around the same time and has been producing exceptional Panamanian Gesha quietly and consistently ever since. Though it has not reached the same level of name recognition as Elida, the quality that emerges from La Victoria is a direct reflection of over a century of accumulated family knowledge, meticulous farming, and the exacting standards the Lamastus name demands.

The relationship between the two estates is both neighbourly and deeply practical — cherries harvested at La Victoria make the short commute to Elida for processing, ensuring that every lot benefits from the same infrastructure, expertise, and care that has made Elida so celebrated worldwide.

Gesha, first collected from the coffee forests of Ethiopia in the 1930s and brought to global prominence at the 2005 Best of Panama competition, finds its most iconic expression in Boquete — where the cool highland climate, volcanic soils, and the slow, fog-laden cherry development of the Lamastus farms produce the hallmark florality, citrus brightness, and delicate stone fruit complexity that make this variety so universally revered.

THE PROCESS

The Natural process at La Victoria involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Gesha cherries carefully harvested at peak ripeness 🔍 Sorting — Whole cherries sorted for quality before drying 🚗 Transport to Elida — Cherries make the short journey to the neighbouring Elida Estate for processing ☀️ Concrete patio drying — Spread out on concrete patios and meticulously monitored throughout until optimal moisture content is achieved

The slow, carefully monitored concrete patio drying at Elida is the defining step — whole-fruit drying on a surface that retains and reflects heat builds the stone fruit sweetness and depth that define this lot, while the Lamastus family's exacting standards throughout ensure the clarity and florality of the Gesha remain intact.

THE CUP

Everything you want from a Panamanian Gesha — and everything you'd expect from a hundred years of Lamastus family expertise. Floral bergamot and black tea elegance up front, giving way to ripe peach and plum stone fruit sweetness in a cup that is, unashamedly, an absolute banger.

Flavour Notes

🌿 Bergamot 🍑 Stone Fruit 🫐 Plum 🍵 Black Tea