Gesha Village Nestled deep in the remote western expanses of Ethiopia, the lush, untamed jungles of the West Omo zone are a treasure of breathtaking natural beauty. Secluded within this stunning landscape lies the Gesha Village Coffee Estate, a 471-hectare farm leveraging the harmonious primordial microclimate to produce some of the most incredible coffees in the world. Gesha Village was established in the early 2000’s by two partners who shared a fervent passion for Ethiopian coffee, its people, and its agricultural industry. After deliberate analysis, collaboration, and preparation, they embarked on a months-long expedition seeking the ideal location for their dream coffee farm – one with the perfect elevation, precipitation, and temperature conditions for growing exquisite coffee. They landed in West Omo; Ethiopian highlands only a stone’s throw from the ancient Gori Gesha forest, the heritage home of the famed Gesha variety and what is believed to be the birthplace of arabica coffee itself. For the last two decades, they have been nurturing and cultivating those exact ancestral seeds and reuniting them with the global coffee market. Today, Gesha Village spans over 1100 acres and supports over 700,000 coffee trees, represented by a combination of three meticulously selected varieties: Gesha 1931, Gori Gesha, and Illubabor Forest. The team at Gesha Village has leveraged the sprawling size of their land to establish highly progressive levels of traceability by subdividing the land into micro-farms, each bearing distinctive altitudes, soil compositions, and environmental influences composing a unique terroir that directly impacts the flavor profile of its fruits. Gesha 1931: Washed Surma & Natural Oma This box set features two unique lots of the Gesha 1931 variety which are grown and processed in two different ways. Monikered to reference the heirloom Ethiopian seeds that were collected for global redistribution in 1931, this substrain of the variety was subsequently lost for decades until it was re-discovered to be thriving in the volcanic jungles of Panama. Through genetic testing, plant morphology, and bean shape and size, these seeds have been identified as nearly identical to the ones that dominated the Best of Panama competition in the 90s and revolutionized our industry. The second offering in the set is a naturally processed Gesha 1931 from the Oma block of Gesha Village. Oma is adjoined on the eastern front of the Surma block, and is nearly 50% larger in size. The Oma block was monikered to honor the revered religious leader of the local Meanit people. Ranging from 1,930 to 2,040 masl, the Gesha trees planted here produce stunning coffees rich with notes of stone fruit and a sticky honey sweetness. This particular lot was processed naturally, where it is sun-dried with the whole coffee cherry intact in thin layers on raised African beds. A parabolic plastic cover is used in the evening for increased air-flow to the coffee. The coffee undergoes 18 to 30 total drying days in the natural process, bringing forth concentrated amounts of complex sugars and flavorful acidities.