GUATEMALA - FINCA SAN RAFAEL - LA LINEA #2299

Roaster's Notes

Finca San Rafael was started by Don Gerson’s Great-Grandfather back in the 1950’s. It’s now being carried by the hands of Don Gerson since 2012. This is a high quality Geisha grown with care! The result is a balanced, flavorful yet delicate cup. It's perfect on pour over and beloved by specialty coffee nerds. Notes on the farm from the importer: Hoja Blanca first got its name in the late 1700s. Back in that timeframe, the valleys were filled with plants that have since gone extinct. The bottom side of its leaves where actually white. The settlers thus named this region Hoja Blanca or “White Leaf” in English. Deep within these forests and up along the sides of the mountains is where you’ll find Don Gerson’s lands filled with a variety of Bourbon, Maresllesa, Pacamara, and Geisha plants that he’s particularly proud of. (His wife and close friends even joke about his Geisha plants being Don Gerson’s second love after his wife.) Don Gerson began working in coffee shortly after graduating from a car mechanic school in 1990 and then took over Finca San Rafael after his Mother and Father passed in the early 2000s. It wasn’t until 2019 however that Don Gerson developed a passion for Specialty Coffee. In 2019, Don Gerson decided to enter a lot into the Cup of Excellence and won 19th place that year with a Washed Anaerobic Gesha. At that time, Don Gerson didn’t actually have an export license but due to the excellence of that lot, Anacafe expedited the process and awarded Don Gerson with his own export license. Now empowered with the ability to market and export his own coffee, Don Gerson has gotten excited about the opportunity to enter in more lots into the cup of excellence and begin building relationships with interested buyers as a way to better sustain the farm, his family, and the surrounding community in Hoja Blanca.