Vohora Gesha

This washed Gesha coffee from Karatu, Tanzania, is produced by the Vohora family on their farm Finagro, located on the Ngorongoro caldera. The flavor profile is exceedingly floral, showcasing the best qualities of the Gesha variety. The tasting notes include jasmine, peach, orange blossom, and bergamot.

Under the guidance of siblings Neel and Kavita Vohora, the Edelweiss and Finagro farms have transformed from well-managed estate farms, spanning 1000 acres across multiple ridges of the Ngorongoro caldera in northern Tanzania, into an innovative and genre-defying coffee enterprise. The Vohoras' recent harvest has been particularly noteworthy, especially their Gesha plantings, which have produced some of the first exportable harvests this year, stunning with deeply floral flavors and elegant nuances. The Gesha plants, grown from seed stock related to the New World's initial Gesha trees, trace their origins to a Tanzanian research station, with which Neel has formed a close relationship, accessing a wealth of genetic information and historical records.

The farms are also at the forefront of processing innovation. Nearly all of their coffee undergoes cherry maceration before processing, with microlots, like the Gesha, undergoing a carefully determined pre-fermentation process based on cultivar. The Gesha harvest, for example, macerates in whole cherry on raised beds under protective tarps for four days before being depulped, fermented in tile-lined tanks, washed, and dried on Finagro’s extensive raised bed network. Recent protocols, such as “skin drying,” protect the delicate coffee from excessive sun exposure before completing the drying process, after which the parchment is stored in GrainPro until milling in Arusha.

The farms are nestled on the outer ridges of the Ngorongoro caldera, the world’s largest unbroken caldera, which is home to a diverse array of wildlife. The estates, owned by the Vohoras since 1971, are situated near the town of Karatu. Neel’s grandfather, originally from India, worked as a farm manager for British colonists before Tanzania’s independence. The family business is run by Neel’s father, Ajai, from Nairobi, with Kavita managing milling and sampling operations in Arusha. The farms maintain native forest corridors to allow wildlife migration, although elephants and water buffalo occasionally damage the coffee trees.