Panama is now world famous for the gesha variety, producing some of the most delicious (and expensive) geshas in the world. Gesha’s popularity had a huge impact on speciality coffee by emphasizing the importance and impact of coffee variety. At the same time that there is an intense interest in variety, there is also a move to understand how processing can elucidate unique varietal characteristics in coffee varieties. Elida Estate is world famous for their gesha coffees, but they have not rested on their success and they are trying to improve every coffee they offer–including coffees that are not gesha. They grow a large amount of Typica on the farm and they have developed a process that brings the best out of the variety.
Anaerobic Slow Dry process places freshly picked cherry inside of an oxygen free environment for five days for fermentation. After five days they sort and dry the cherry for an extended period of time of at least 30 days. The combination of the anaerobic fermentation and the slow drying process produces an intense, complex and clean natural.
