Colombia - Penas Blancas - Geisha Natural
Country: Colombia
Region: Huila
Farm: Peñas Blancas
Producer: Jhoan Vergara Ayure and Nestor Lasso
Process: Natural
Variety: Geisha
Elevation: 1780 m.a.s.l
Cupping Notes: Lavendar, Black Tea, Lemon, Red Fruit, Sweet Tarts
Farm Description:
Jhoan Vergara Ayure and Néstor Lasso are the innovative producers behind the coffee from the Peñas Blancas farm, an emblematic location in the Huila coffee region of Colombia. Their dedication to excellence has earned them widespread recognition: their coffees have been used by baristas who achieved third place in the 2023 World Barista Championship, as well as first places in the 2024 and 2025 US Barista Championships. Furthermore, Néstor Lasso was honored as Most Notable Producer at the 14th Sprudgie Awards. At an elevation of 1780 meters above sea level, the Geisha variety coffee cherries, known for their complexity and delicacy, are carefully cultivated on this land.
This geisha lot underwent a natural process. In this method, coffee cherries are harvested with a Brix degree range of 22 to 26 and are subjected to cold water flotation. The cherries then undergo a multi-stage fermentation that begins with 24 hours of oxidation in the cherry, followed by a thermal shock of 30 minutes at 50°C. Finally, the cherries are fermented anaerobically for 60 hours in tanks, with must from the oxidation recirculated to the process. The drying process begins with 24 hours of mechanical drying at 40°C, after which the coffee is moved to solar beds for 15 days.
Region Description:
The Colombian Department of Huila is in the southern portion of the country where the Central and Eastern ranges of the Andes mountains converge. Huila’s capital city of Neiva is dry, flat, and desert-like, markedly different from the coffee regions further south. Centered around the city of Pitalito, Huila’s coffee farms are predominantly smallholder owned and over the past ten years have made concerted efforts to produce specialty coffee that reveals the full character of the region’s terroir. Selective manual harvesting, attentive processing, and careful post-harvest sorting all contribute to increasing recognition of the region.
Huila’s departmental coffee committee, the local connection to the national Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, has invested notable resources into training producers in everything from fertilization to roasting. This, combined with producer enthusiasm, has created a regional culture of quality-focused production.
Huila holds important historic significance dating back to pre-Columbian cultures. The archeological site at San Agustin includes a large number of stone carvings, figures, and artifacts that offer a rare glimpse into the land’s past prior to colonialism.