Peru — Nicacio Moreano Finca Eucalipto Pata SL9 (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🫐 Blackcurrant • 🌸 Jasmine • 🍵 Green Tea • 🍊 Mandarin

DETAILS

• Producer: Nicacio Moreano
• Farm: Finca Eucalipto Pata
• Region: Incahuasi Valley, Cusco, Peru
• Varietal: SL9
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 2,170 MASL
• Size: 200g

INTRO

From Nicacio Moreano's Finca Eucalipto Pata in the Incahuasi Valley — a washed SL9 from one of the most compelling and historically mysterious varietals in specialty coffee. Cultivated for generations in the Peruvian Andes under the name Inca Gesha, and only recently revealed through genetic analysis to be something altogether more extraordinary: a near-lost East African lineage, almost certainly descended from Kenya's original SL-09 selection, quietly surviving at extreme altitude in Cusco. In the cup: blackcurrant, jasmine, green tea, and mandarin.

THE PRODUCER

Nicacio Moreano farms at 2,170 MASL in the Incahuasi Valley — part of the high Cusco growing region that has become one of Peru's most exciting and closely watched specialty origins. At these extreme elevations, cool temperatures slow cherry maturation significantly, building the aromatic intensity, exceptional cup clarity, and refined sweetness that make SL9 so compelling when grown and processed with care.

SL9 is one of the most intriguing varieties currently emerging from the Peruvian Andes. For years it was cultivated as Inca Gesha, widely assumed to be related to Gesha due to its intensely floral profile and elegant structure. Genetic analysis conducted by Dr. Christophe Montagnon at RD2 Vision in France — partly driven by research from SEY Coffee's Lance — revealed no meaningful relation to Gesha. Instead, SL9 showed a strong connection to SL-09, an extremely rare Kenyan selection developed by the Scott Agricultural Laboratories in the 1930s. Unlike SL28 and SL34, which became foundational to Kenyan production, SL-09 remained almost entirely absent from commercial cultivation due to low yields and susceptibility to Coffee Berry Disease — and largely disappeared from modern records.

How this genetic lineage arrived in Peru remains unresolved. Coffee writer Christopher Feran has documented several possible explanations, including historical seed exchanges, agricultural research programmes, and the loss of archival records following the destruction of Peru's Tingo María agricultural station in the late 1980s. What is clear is that SL9 represents the rediscovery — and evolution — of an almost-lost East African lineage that quietly survived for decades in the Peruvian Andes.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Finca Eucalipto Pata involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Fully ripened cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 💧 Flotation — Floated in water to remove unripe and insect-damaged cherries before pulping 🔧 Pulping — Cherries pulped into clean fermentation tanks 🧪 Dry fermentation — Fermented without water in their own mucilage for 24–36 hours, with the cool climate at 2,200 MASL keeping fermentation stable and clean 💧 Full washing — Thoroughly washed after fermentation to remove all residue ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Dried on raised beds, turned 5–6 times daily, for 10–12 days until reaching a stable moisture level of 10–11.5%

The cool-climate dry fermentation is the defining step — the ambient temperature at 2,200 MASL stabilises the 24–36 hour fermentation without water, reducing the environmental impact of wastewater while building the clean aromatic complexity and structured clarity that define this SL9. The frequent turning during drying ensures even, consistent results throughout.

THE CUP

A rare and historically significant washed SL9 from one of the Incahuasi Valley's most carefully managed high-altitude farms — blackcurrant depth and mandarin brightness framed by jasmine florality and the clean, refined character of green tea, in a cup of exceptional clarity and provenance. The rediscovery of an almost-lost East African lineage, expressed through the extraordinary terroir of the Peruvian Andes.

Flavour Notes

🫐 Blackcurrant 🌸 Jasmine 🍵 Green Tea 🍊 Mandarin