Colombia Huila Finca La Terraza Crown Jewel Gesha Honey Fermented

A few kilometers south of La Plata, in a narrow Andean valley in southern Huila, sits a small farm called Finca La Terraza. Its cool, high climate slows everything coffee depends on, and that patience shows up in the cup. This is a Crown Jewel Gesha, a designation reserved for the rarest, most traceable Colombian microlots.

OriginColombia RegionHuila ElevationHigh-altitude Andean valley ProcessHoney, 48-hour fermentation VarietyGesha The Source

Finca La Terraza and the Lasso Guevara Family

Colombia is the world's third-largest coffee producer, and Huila, in the country's mountainous south, is widely regarded as its most celebrated department for specialty lots. Finca La Terraza is a small family farm run by Juliana Guevara and Wbeimar Lasso, the team behind Terra Coffee. Wbeimar is a third-generation producer, an agro-industrial engineer, and a Colombian Cup Tasters Champion, which tells you something about the precision behind every lot that leaves the farm.

The farm covers only a few hectares, tucked into a microclimate cool enough that frigid nights slow the trees and stretch out drying. A true Gesha separation from this corner of Colombia is still exceedingly rare, and the cold, high-altitude terroir is exactly what lets this delicate variety express its florals fully. The producers selected only the ripest cherries, sorting for the highest sugar levels well beyond the farm's usual standard.

The Craft

Honey Process, 48 Hours of Fermentation

Only the highest-sugar cherries entered this lot. After picking, the coffee fermented for 48 hours, then dried on raised solar beds for a full 25 days, a long, slow window driven by the farm's cold nights. As a honey process, the parchment kept its sticky mucilage through drying rather than being washed clean, which builds a cake-like sweetness alongside the powdery florals Gesha is known for. After drying, the lot rested another 15 to 20 days before cupping to settle into its final shape. If you want to understand how this differs from a fully washed lot, our guide to natural and washed processing methods walks through the distinctions.

We roast this Gesha to City+, a measured medium-light level meant to protect rather than flatten. Push the roast too far and the cantaloupe and orange blossom vanish. Held at City+, the sweetness, florals, and structure all stay intact. As a Crown Jewel, this is a limited, fully traceable microlot, analyzed in detail before export, and we roast it in small batches to match.

Cantaloupe Mint Orange Blossom Fig BodyMedium-Full AcidityBright The Cup

Vanilla Sweetness, Melon, and Florals

The first impression is sweetness, something close to vanilla ice cream, soft and rounded. From there the cup opens into cantaloupe and a cool wash of mint, with orange blossom lifting the aroma and a quiet thread of fig sitting underneath. The body is medium-full, the acidity bright but never sharp, and the long honey-process drying gives everything a smooth, even finish.

This is a coffee that rewards attention. Brew it carefully and the florals and melon arrive in sequence rather than all at once.

Find Your Fix

To showcase a Gesha this delicate, reach for a pour-over: V60, Chemex, or Beehouse all give the florals and melon room to bloom. Aeropress works well for a cleaner, more concentrated cup, and it makes a striking cold brew if you want the sweetness amplified. Browse our other coffee beans when you are ready to explore further, and find your fix.

Roasted in small batches at our Virginia Beach roastery.

Packaged in reusable glass mason jars, returned locally for reuse. Solar-roasted.

Virginia Beach, VA