ABOUT PIEDRAS AMARILLAS

Piedras Amarillas (yellow stones) gets its name from the abundance of yellow rocks scattered throughout this small 4-hectare (9.9 acre) plot. The farm is a communal project between three of the Moreno brothers: Mario, Danny, and Mabel, and consistently produces high quality Pacas, Bourbon, Catuai, and now Gesha coffee varieties. The Morenos have been a cornerstone of coffee production in Santa Bárbara, dating back to their father, Daniel Moreno, who purchased his first farm in 1963.

ABOUT GESHA 

Gesha was originally collected from coffee forests of Ethiopia in the 1930's. From there, it was sent to the Lyamungo Research Station in Tanzania, and then brought to Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Central America in the 1953, where it was logged as accession T2722. It was distributed throughout Panama via CATIE in the 1960’s after its tolerance to coffee leaf rust was recognized. However, it was not widely planted because the plant's branches were brittle and not favored by farmers. Gesha came to prominence in 2005, when the Peterson family of Boquete, Panama, entered it into the Best of Panama competition and auction. It received exceptionally high marks and broke the then-record for green coffee auction prices, selling for over $20 per pound. Since then, the variety has become a resounding favorite of brewing and roasting competition winners and coffee enthusiasts alike.