Peru La Palma Geisha Nº 389

Miguel Lopez is a second-generation coffee farmer from La Palma, Chirinos, with coffee running through his family and a real passion for the craft. Alongside farming his own land, Miguel is a professional coffee taster and works in quality control at a local cooperative – experience that gives him a real advantage when it comes to producing exceptional Geisha.

Miguel’s father, Noé, moved to Chirinos as a young man in search of a better life. After years working on different farms, he eventually bought his own land, turning much of it into pasture but planting coffee too. From a young age, Miguel was fascinated by coffee, and his father encouraged him to pursue that interest.

Miguel began working at the local cooperative, La Prosperidad de Chirinos, where he learnt to taste and assess coffee professionally. After years spent tasting countless coffees and understanding what makes the best stand out, he decided to put that knowledge into practice on his own farm.

With help from the cooperative, Miguel sourced original Geisha seeds imported directly from Panama. Only seven of the first plants became productive, but Miguel carefully collected their seeds and used them to establish his own hectare of Geisha – a small plot built from those original genetics.

Miguel likes his coffee clean, sweet and uncomplicated, and his approach to processing follows the same philosophy. Rather than experimenting with complex fermentations, he has focused on finding the process that works best for his Geisha and repeating it consistently.

The cherries are pulped on the day they’re picked before the coffee is fermented in traditional open-air tiled tanks for around 36 hours. Rather than relying solely on the clock, Miguel judges fermentation by touch, waiting until the coffee feels less sticky and the remaining mucilage rubs away easily.

The coffee is then washed with spring water and slowly dried on raised beds under transparent plastic for around 15 days, depending on the weather. Once dry, Miguel bags and seals it before leaving it to rest for at least a month. He believes this resting period is essential for Geisha, giving the coffee time to develop before he tastes it again.

For Miguel, it’s all about patience, consistency and letting the coffee speak for itself: grow excellent Geisha, handle it carefully and give it the time it needs to become the clean, expressive coffee he’s looking for.