Peru — Rolando Ramirez El Mirador Gesha (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🌸 White Florals • 🍵 Tea • 🍑 Ripe Stone Fruit

DETAILS

• Producer: Rolando Ramirez
• Farm: El Mirador
• Region: Santa Teresa, La Convención, Cusco, Peru
• Varietal: Gesha
• Process: Washed
• Elevation: 2,000 masl

INTRO From Rolando Ramirez at El Mirador, in the Santa Teresa region just outside Cusco — one of SEY's first real explorations of this part of Peru, and a striking early result. White floral lift and tea-like clarity sit alongside ripe stone fruit sweetness, hinting at how special and diverse this region's coffees can be. In the cup: white florals, tea, and ripe stone fruit.

THE PRODUCER This year marked the beginning of SEY's exploration of Santa Teresa, near Cusco in southern Peru — previously, nearly all of their buying in the country had focused on the Inkawasi Valley. Working with a group of talented, motivated partners in the region, including Rolando Ramirez at El Mirador, they've been able to go deeper here, with results that continue to reshape their perspective on Peruvian coffee.

Gesha traces back to coffee forests in Ethiopia in the 1930s, later passing through Tanzania's Lyamungo Research Station before landing at CATIE in Central America in 1953. Distributed through Panama in the 1960s for its coffee leaf rust tolerance, it was initially overlooked due to its brittle branches — until the Peterson family's Boquete lot broke green coffee auction records in 2005. Since then, it's become one of the most sought-after varieties in specialty coffee.

THE PROCESS The Washed process at El Mirador involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — cherries harvested at peak ripeness 💧 Floating & same-day de-pulping — floated to remove defects and de-pulped on the day of harvest ⏱️ Dry fermentation — fermented dry for 32 hours ☀️ Raised-bed drying — dried on raised beds

The 32-hour dry fermentation is the defining step — building structure and complexity ahead of drying, while letting Gesha's naturally floral, tea-like character lead alongside the ripe stone fruit sweetness this lot is known for.

THE CUP Delicate and clear — white floral aromatics and tea-like structure up front, with ripe stone fruit sweetness underneath. An exciting early signal for what Santa Teresa can produce.

Flavour Notes 🌸 White Florals 🍵 Tea 🍑 Ripe Stone Fruit