We’ve been working with Luis Pedro Zelaya Zamora for almost as long as we’ve been buying coffee and he feels very much like family. Buena Vista is, in many ways, the pinnacle of what Luis Pedro and his family have been doing in Antigua for many decades now: running a coffee growing and processing operation with vast knowledge and an eye for the details. The Gravilea trees are pruned meticulously, the coffees are dried on raised beds, fresh tostadas are served just outside the cupping lab.
And lucky for us, many years ago, Luis Pedro and his father planted large new lots of gesha on Buena Vista that was seeded from nearby Finca Santa Clara’s blend of Malawi and Panama geshas. Although all geshas originate from Ethiopia, the different trajectory of these varieties makes for unique bean shape and size, as well as cup profile. This blended lot is showy and dense with syrupy notes of orange blossom honey, navel orange, medjool dates and carob. Once again, we bow in gratitude to the Zelayas for their careful shepherding, great care and brilliance in planting gesha on Buena Vista.