Freak & Unique IX | Bolivia | Rodriguez Family Farm

Princess Geisha with her gold tooth and matching earrings, runs barefoot through the land of falling cherry blossom, plucking giant litchis from melon clouds.

Our very limited series, Freak & Unique continues with this Natural process delight from Bolivia. This coffee is available with or without an unframed risograph print by Emma Gallacher (numbered edition of 10).

FARM: Rodriguez Family Farm REGION: Caranavi ALTITUDE: 1500-1650 MASL VARIETAL: Geisha PROCESS: Natural

This beautiful lot for Freak & Unique IX is a Geisha from a plot on one of the Los Rodriguez farms, with the coffee grown amongst native trees, shade and patches of wild forest to help conserve the biodiversity of the farms. Once harvested, the cherries are taken on the same day to the Buena Vista Mill.

After washing and floating the Geisha cherries are directly moved to raised beds for 3-4 days before being dried in mechanical dryers: big square boxes with hot airflow.

When on sunbeds, the coffee is moved every 30 min in the morning and every hour in the afternoon. The cherries are dried on beds for a week before they are placed into mechanical dryers that recreate day and night light to ensure low and consistent drying without rain issues.

Every bed has its own tunnel with a plastic sheet to cover in case of rain – whilst it rained a lot before the harvest this year (7,000 mm instead of usual 2,500mm), the weather during the harvest has been great making it easier to produce incredible naturals this season.

When they reach 12% moisture content and after a few hours of resting, all coffee is bagged with Ecotact and Jute/plastic bags and sent to the dry mill in La Paz - the lots sit there in parchment until they are prepared for export.

• Please note due to the extremely limited availability of this coffee, we will be roasting once weekly. This may add a small delay to online orders. *

The Freak & Unique IX, sourced from the Rodriguez Family Farm in the Caranavi region of Bolivia, represents a meticulous collaboration between producer and roaster. This lot features the Geisha varietal, a plant globally celebrated for its distinct floral aromatics and tea-like clarity. Cultivated at elevations between 1500 and 1650 meters above sea level, the cherries undergo a natural process, a method that often imparts a heavier body and pronounced fruit-forward characteristics to the final cup.

Roasted by Hundred House Coffee, this offering highlights the specific terroir of the Bolivian highlands. When evaluating the complexities of such a high-altitude natural coffee, drinkers may find it helpful to consult a flavor wheel to better identify the nuanced profiles inherent in this unique harvest. By focusing on the intersection of careful cultivation and precise processing, this entry showcases the potential of the Rodriguez family’s work within the evolving landscape of South American specialty coffee.