Benjamin Paz - Washed Gesha

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MEET THE PRODUCER | Our relationship with Benjamin Paz began long before we opened the doors of Black & White. One of our owners, Kyle, first met Benjamin back in 2015 through a mutual friend (Kevin Bohlin, the mastermind behind Saint Frank Coffee in San Francisco - we can't recommend them enough!). Benjamin's mission to help roasters buy high-grown, single-producer, and (often) single-variety lots from the Santa Barbara region of Honduras has resulted in a beautiful and fruitful relationship with us, and we are thrilled to introduce his 2023 XXX Washed Gesha lot to our menu, which took 5th place at the Honduras Cup of Excellence earlier this year. 

Benjamin is, truly, one of our favorite people in coffee, and this is one of our favorite coffees of the year.

TRUST THE PROCESS | First of all, it's worth noting that Benjamin procured the seeds for these particular Gesha trees from his friends in Panama - and that little origin story is going to become very apparent when you take your first sip! In this unique adaptation of washed processing, which Benjamin coined XXX, the coffee goes through three rounds (and 120 hours!) of fermentation. After being picked at peak ripeness, whole coffee cherries are shade-fermented in barrels for 48 hours. Then, the cherries are removed, pulped, and returned to the barrels for an additional 48 hours. Finally, they are covered with water for another 24 hours of fermentation before being washed clean and dried on raised beds for 15-21 days.

TAKE A SIP | At every step and temperature in this tasting experience, this coffee is clear on one thing: it's a Gesha. This is no more apparent than when it is hot, showcasing aromatics and flavors on a color spectrum of soft whites and pale yellows: white tea, white peaches, meyer lemon, and melon. Here, the floral character is reminiscent of lilies, and the sweetness is honey-like in taste and texture. 

As the coffee approaches a pleasantly warm temperature, everything becomes brighter and fresher, with more pronounced florals and an intensified, citrus-like acidity. The coffee is lovely and tropical at this temperature, with notes like key lime and tart mango. White tea gives way to sweet tea, and we found the coffee to shine most brightly here.

When cool, both acidity and sweetness peak, with those fresh flavors taking on more "cooked" characteristics. It's very citrusy here, and combined with that now pronounced sweetness, gives us something like lemon cookies and honey cake. That persistent tea-like note is reminiscent of black tea here, and the cumulative sense memory is one of enjoying our first very first high tea in Shoreditch several summers ago.

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Origin | Santa Barbara, Honduras

Producer | Benjamin Paz

Farm | El Salsa

Process | XXX Washed

Variety |  Gesha

Elevation | 1680 masl