Costa Rica La Loma Estate Coffee Flavor Description Costa Rica Coffee Bean Taste Characteristics

La Loma is a small Costa Rican lot that has earned a firm place on the specialty coffee map. FrontStreet Coffee takes a closer look at the estate behind the beans and at the cup it produces.

FrontStreet Coffee - Costa Rica La Loma Estate Coffee Flavor Description Taste Characteristics

La Loma Estate

This farm has belonged to the Don Mayo Micro Mill family for over 20 years and is a very symbolic farm, as it represents the legacy of our family's work and the results of many years of effort.

Initially, this was an empty piece of land. Our family studies the nutrition of the coffee plantation annually based on leaf and soil analysis. The coffee trees are well-nourished, not only producing high-quality coffee crops but also yielding rich rewards in the coffee cup. Additionally, the coffee trees have a healthy plantation, stable quality year after year, and a beautiful coffee farm.

For this small plot, we wait for the perfect harvest day, which is collected by our coffee pickers who have been working with us for over 15 years. It is carefully processed in our micro-mill Don Mayo and finally undergoes honey processing for drying.

FrontStreet Coffee - Costa Rica 2019 COE Ninth Place

Farm Name: La Loma

Farmer/Representative: Hector Bonilla Cruz

Score: 88.66

Altitude: 1950masl

City: Leon Cortes Llano Bonito

Region: Tarrazú

Flavor: Honey, cherry, milk chocolate, vanilla, cocoa, blackberry, molasses, candy, pomelo, black cherry

Acidity: Sweet and sour orange, tartaric acid

Other Notes: Elegant, viscous, balanced

Processing Method: Honey processing

Variety: Gesha

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Gesha, translated from the English name Geisha, is one of the most sought-after varieties in Arabica. Its distinctive floral aroma and superb sweet-sour balance have won over countless drinkers, and because yields are low, disease resistance is weak and farm management is demanding, prices stay high. If you want a good Gesha without spending a fortune, it helps to know the different types.

Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda is the estate that made Gesha famous, and its Gesha line is divided into Red Label and Green Label. Red Label is officially called Esmeralda Special: it grows at 1,600-1,800 meters, each lot must cup above 90 points, and every lot has its own number, with all the beans in a lot coming from one small plot, so buyers can choose a lot that matches a subtle flavor preference. FrontStreet Coffee's Red Label comes from the Mario plot.

Green Label is officially Private Collection. It does not emphasize plot information the way Red Label does; instead it blends lots from several plots and expresses the signature high-altitude Esmeralda Gesha character. Think of it as a Gesha without plot separation, and its lower price makes it especially good value. For newcomers who just want a taste of "Gesha flavor," FrontStreet Coffee usually suggests the Boquete Gesha, an entry-level lot that delivers the classic Panama orange-blossom honey character, oolong tea mouthfeel and fine fruit acidity at a friendly price.

Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, also has a famous Gesha estate: Gesha Village. Its grading is more complex than La Esmeralda's, with three Gesha varieties grown there - Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931 and Illubabor Forest - and grades split into Gold RARITIES, Red GROWERS RESERVE, Green SINGLE-TERROIR and CHAKA lots. The Gold label is the Gesha 1931 variety, about 10% of Gesha Village's output and its top non-auction coffee, often chosen by competition baristas; FrontStreet Coffee's Gold lot uses a refined natural process and shows complex, rich flavors with a distinctive dry aroma, a lively sip and a long finish. The Red label is the Gori Gesha variety, about 15% of output, scoring 88 or above on the 100-point SCA scale, and as a single-terroir series every lot carries full traceability, including block name, variety and processing date.

FrontStreet Coffee's Genlana Gesha comes from the Genlana farm in Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia, a rare estate planted with a single variety. The coffee comes from the Genlana processing station on the border of the Kochore and Genlana Abaya regions. Established in 2014 and run by Israel Degefa, the station covers as much as 700 hectares of coffee, most of it uncultivated, with fertile soil and abundant shade trees. Thanks to that rainforest soil and shade, this native Ethiopian Gesha shows great layering. Fully ripe cherries are hand-picked and dried on raised beds for 14-20 days depending on the weather. Roasted medium-light, it shows bright citrus acidity, an elegant ginger-flower aroma, full ripe-fruit sweetness, a delicate, silky body and the refined finish that marks the Gesha variety.

Gesha is a medium-light roasted floral and fruit type with a hard bean that tends to sink and clog the dripper. FrontStreet Coffee suggests a grind of about 78 percent passing a China-standard No. 20 sieve (roughly fine sugar) and a brew temperature of 91°C. For pour-over, use 15g of coffee, a small Hario V60 and a 1:16 ratio. Start the timer and pour the first stage to 30g for a 30-second bloom, then pour the second stage in small circles to 125g. When the water in the bed drops by half, pour the third stage in small circles to 225g. When everything has drained, total extraction time is about 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds. Gesha also makes a fine SOE: FrontStreet Coffee's medium-roast Genlana Gesha SOE keeps the Gesha floral-fruit character and ripe dried-fruit sweetness while adding Ethiopian white flowers and bright lemon acidity, and extracted as espresso it turns into apricot, caramel and nuts.