Tanzania — Leon & Aideen Christianakis Acacia Hills Geisha (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍓 Cloudberry • 🌼 Chamomile • 🍬 Cane Sugar

DETAILS

• Producer: Leon & Aideen Christianakis
• Farm: Acacia Hills Coffee Estate
• Region: Karatu, Oldeani, Tanzania
• Varietal: Geisha
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 1,750–1,950 MASL
• Size: 125g
  

INTRO

From Leon and Aideen Christianakis at Acacia Hills — a washed Geisha of elegant florality, juicy sweetness, and delicate berry character from one of Tanzania's most visionary and internationally celebrated specialty farms. A coffee that beautifully showcases the extraordinary potential of Tanzanian specialty coffee, equally at home as filter or espresso. In the cup: cloudberry, chamomile, and cane sugar.

THE PRODUCER

Acacia Hills is the result of Leon Christianakis's conviction that Tanzania's high-altitude volcanic terroir was capable of producing world-class specialty coffee. After discovering specialty coffee in the early 2000s, Leon began searching for land at the right elevation and in the right growing conditions — finding it in 2007 on the slopes of Mount Oldeani in Karatu, which he acquired together with business partner Mark Stell. The farm was neglected at the time of purchase; what followed was a systematic transformation into one of East Africa's finest specialty estates.

Today, Acacia Hills cultivates Kent, SL28, Geisha, and Pacamara across slopes bordering the Ngorongoro Conservation Area — one of the most extraordinary natural environments on earth, shared with elephants, buffalo, and the wildlife of the surrounding wilderness. Leon first planted Geisha on the estate in 2012 at the farm's highest altitudes, where the cool temperatures and volcanic soils of Mount Oldeani provide ideal conditions for the variety's hallmark florality and delicate complexity to develop with full clarity.

Tanzania carries an important chapter in the story of Gesha — after its original collection from Ethiopia, the variety was taken to the Lyamungu Research Station in Tanzania, where it was successfully cultivated before being distributed throughout Central America. Acacia Hills, by growing Gesha at the highest altitude of any farm in the Karatu region, brings that story back to the landscape where it once took root.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Acacia Hills involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Geisha cherries carefully selected at peak ripeness, with sorting beginning in the field 🔧 Depulping — Cherries de-pulped in the evening after harvest 🧪 Open fermentation — Coffee subjected to open fermentation for 12–13 hours, regularly monitored throughout 💧 Washing — Thoroughly washed after fermentation to remove all residue ☀️ Shaded raised-bed drying — Dried on shaded raised drying beds, with moisture levels monitored by a dedicated quality control team from pick to dry mill

The carefully monitored 12–13 hour open fermentation and shaded raised-bed drying are the defining steps — the controlled fermentation window builds the delicate berry and floral complexity that define this Geisha, while the shaded drying and quality control monitoring preserve the juicy sweetness and clean structure that make it so expressive across every brew method.

THE CUP

An elegant, juicy, and beautifully expressive washed Geisha from one of East Africa's most purposeful and celebrated specialty farms — cloudberry brightness, chamomile florality, and a clean cane sugar sweetness in a refined cup that showcases what Tanzania is capable of at its finest. Filter or espresso — this coffee shines either way.

Flavour Notes

🍓 Cloudberry 🌼 Chamomile 🍬 Cane Sugar