The newest Rare Release® is a contemporary classic from Panamanian coffee-producing powerhouse that proves legacies can still be built. Despite having ancient Ethiopian origins and a history of cultivation in Central America dating back to the 1950’s, the prestige of Panama Geisha has only fairly recently been realised after a geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda won Best of Panama with an unprecedented score of 94 points in 2004. This groundbreaking moment put the varietal on the map and rightfully so—coffee had never before been as floral, as complex, or as expensive—and heralded a new wave of Panamanian coffee producers driven by stature and terroir expression. One of them was Eugene Altieri, who set up his estate in the Boquete highlands to produce some of the world's finest geisha coffees. This lot, from their Mima Estate, is grown on the Chombi Block at the farm's highest elevations and is named for one of his grandchildren. The processing on this, their unique Dry Fermentation, is executed with Altieri's signature precision. Only ripe cherries are handpicked from dense and compact cherry clusters and left whole inside the harvest bags overnight to rest. In the morning they’re floated and spread out to dry on raised African beds for 5 days, then sealed in bags and fermented over 4 days. Final drying takes place in a refrigerated chamber over thirty days. Chombi offers easily our favourite geisha of the year with a dense and juicy cup profile—sticky tropical fruit notes of vanilla bean, mango, white peach and intense hibiscus florality all coated in a luxurious syrupy body. This is a 48g jar from our Rare Release® category. It is roasted to order and will only be shipped as wholebean.