Santa Irene Geisha
Provenance
The fourth release in our 10-Year Series continues a theme of finding exceptional flavour beyond the expected. A returning favourite from Santa Irene that showcases the quality of Geisha emerging from Guatemala, a country not typically associated with this varietal.
Complex and expressive, this lot was sourced through our decade-long partnership with Coffee Bird.
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Process
A natural process shaped by the conditions in Cobán, where climate plays a defining role in how the coffee is grown and dried. Instead of a defined dry season, the region experiences consistent mist and rainfall – known locally as chipi-chipi – for much of the year. This creates dense, moisture-rich soils and a staggered flowering cycle, both of which contribute to the cup profile.
Keeping intervention low allows these environmental factors to come through clearly. Ripe cherries are carefully selected and dried slowly. The result is a Geisha with defined structure, bright fruit, floral aromatics and a clean, tea-like finish that sets it apart from more typical Guatemalan profiles.
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Carlos Estrada
Owned by Dr. Jacinto Estrada Zanabria, Santa Irene is a protected natural forest reserve stretching out over 320 acres in Cobán – central Guatemala's coffee hub. In 2013, Dr. Zanabria's son, Carlos Estrada, planted the reserve with around 37 acres of Catuaí, Geisha and Bourbon Sidra lots.
Fast forward thirteen years and Carlos is producing coffees of rare qualities rarely associated with Guatemalan lots, and the local climate plays a key role.
Cobán's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean envelopes it in that most rare of climates – a temperate maritime climate. Here, the seasons are either misty or rainy. With no dry season, a year's rainfall can push the 4,000mm mark – up to twice the amount usually seen across the other major coffee-growing regions.
The unique climate, and the soil composition this drives, helps to produce coffees distinctively different from those grown elsewhere in the country. Often particularly delicate in texture and floral in aroma, Cobán's crop celebrates the diversity in sensory qualities of Guatemalan coffee.
