A very jazzy, sweet and delicate lighter roast bean with wonderful aromatics. Medium roasts reduce the citric and floral, smoother cup building a bit more body and showing more of what we classically think of Asian coffees, bolder with some spice notes.
A lovely coffee but unique offering even for Laos, Gesha is an Ethiopian strain of coffee known for its higher acidity and more floral cup character. Now grown many places in the world, but this is the first time we have seen it originating from an Asian country. Naga coffee is a grade 1 Arabica that is fully washed with 14 and up screen size; this particular lot is 100% Gesha.
Grown by smallholders, the coffee spans from Paksong, the plateau’s coffee capital, to the southern edge where the Nonglouang River plunges over the Tad Kameud Waterfall. These farms belong to seven villages Nonglouang, Lassasin, Xenamnoi, and others that form the Xekatham Estate. Plantations sit at 800–1350 masl on rich volcanic soils under a cool tropical climate ideal conditions for cup quality.
The Bolaven Plateau home to 95% of Laos’s coffee is threaded with rivers that flow west toward the Mekong and receives plentiful rain for much of the year. Its altitude, moderated temperatures, and mineral-rich volcanic soils yield specialty harvests with strong growth potential.
Ripe cherries are selectively hand-picked, depulped now often with hand-cranked pulpers that let farmers sell parchment for higher earnings then undergo controlled fermentation, triple washing, and sun-drying on raised beds to 10–11 % moisture. Screen 14+ ensures large, even beans ready for precise roasting.
- Origin: Laos
- Region: Bolaven Plateau
- Producer: Naga Coffee
- Altitude: 800-1350 masl
- Cultivar: Gesha
- Processing: Washed
- Sourcing: Burman Coffee