Victoria Atao

Victoria Atao in Cusco, Peru

The Variety and the Lot

This SL9, known locally as Gesha Inca, is a local mutation believed to descend from an old Ethiopian strain that has grown in the district for decades. Once overlooked for its low yield, it is now being planted at increasingly high altitudes with careful quality management. This particular lot comes from Finca Paulette, where the SL9 trees produce a majority of yellow cherries, a distinctive trait of Victoria's plot compared with the mostly red cherries harvested at Finca Bella Vista.

Forest in Peru with misty mountains in the background

The Gesha Inca

The coffee is processed using the Incahuasi dry honey fermentation method before washing. Ripe cherries are floated to remove any unripe or damaged fruit, then pulped and left to ferment in their own mucilage without added water, a process that takes 24 to 36 hours in the area's cool climate. After fermentation the coffee is fully washed and dried on raised beds at around 2,200 metres, turned five to six times daily over 10 to 12 days until it reaches a stable moisture level of 10 to 11.5 percent.