Sandbox Coffee Roasters - Natural Gesha | Bolivia
Description
Bolivia — Edwin Huanca Finca Tuki Tuki Gesha (Natural)
Tastes Like — 💜 Lavender • 🌸 Purple Florals • 🍈 Lychee • 🌿 Herbs
DETAILS
Producer: Edwin Huanca
Farm: Finca Tuki Tuki
Region: Calama, Caranavi, Bolivia
Varietal: Gesha
Process: Natural
Harvest: 2025
Size: 150g
INTRO
From Edwin Huanca at Finca Tuki Tuki in Calama, Caranavi — a natural Gesha from a farm built by Edwin and his wife Cynthia, named after the toucans that accompanied them as they worked. One of the first Gesha growers in Caranavi, Edwin helped spread the variety locally through his work as a seed breeder, and the cup reflects that intimate knowledge. Light, clean, and deeply aromatic. In the cup: lavender and purple florals up front, followed by lychee and a fresh herbal quality, with a light, clean body and a gentle lingering finish.
THE PRODUCER
Edwin Huanca grew up in a coffee family in Caranavi — his parents came to the region decades ago to cultivate coffee, and his eldest brother Marcial founded Cooperative Mejillones, now one of the region's most respected producer groups. Edwin has built his own chapter at Finca Tuki Tuki in Calama, where he and his wife Cynthia farm together — the name a tribute to the toucans that were their constant companions during the farm's early years.
Beyond cultivation, Edwin has made a name as a seed breeder and was among the first in Caranavi to cultivate Gesha, playing an active role in spreading the variety to other producers in the area. His intimate knowledge of the variety — from seed selection through to harvest and natural drying — is evident in a cup that is unusually light, clean, and precise for a natural Gesha.
Gesha, first collected from the Gori Gesha forest in southwestern Ethiopia in the 1930s and brought to global prominence at the 2005 Best of Panama competition, finds genuinely compelling conditions in Bolivia's Caranavi region — where the humid subtropical hillsides, fertile soils, and cool altitude combine to produce the delicate florality and refined sweetness the variety is celebrated for.
THE PROCESS
The Natural process at Finca Tuki Tuki involves:
🍒 Hand-picking — Gesha cherries carefully sorted at harvest for ripeness 🔍 Sorting — Spread in thin layers on raised beds after sorting ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Whole cherries dried on raised beds with regular turning over two to four weeks, allowing sugars and aromatic compounds from the fruit to be slowly absorbed by the bean 👁️ Careful monitoring — Continuously monitored throughout drying to prevent mould and ensure even, controlled development
The thin-layer raised-bed drying with careful monitoring is the defining step — by drying slowly and attentively, Edwin ensures the lavender florality and lychee delicacy that define this lot develop fully and evenly, while the clean, light body and gentle finish reflect a natural process managed with the restraint and precision of someone who knows this variety intimately.
THE CUP
A light, clean, and deeply aromatic natural Gesha from one of Caranavi's most pioneering and knowledgeable Gesha growers — lavender and purple florals opening the nose, lychee sweetness and a fresh herbal quality following through, with a light body and a gentle, lingering finish. Edwin Huanca's Finca Tuki Tuki at its most delicate and expressive.
Flavour Notes
💜 Lavender 🌸 Purple Florals 🍈 Lychee 🌿 Herbs
