Peru as a coffee origin has traditionally been viewed as a reliable source for reasonable quality organic and fairtrade lots, but the specialty scene there has developed tremendously in the last couple of decades. There is amazing potential here for high quality coffees—high altitudes, rich biodiversity, and diverse microclimates give each region a unique character. With many specialty farmers now focusing on growing both traditional and exotic varieties like Gesha, and many producers operating their own processing facilities, the potential for outstanding and unique coffees is exceptionally high.

Nevado has been experimenting throughout the harvest period with different fermentation methods and times to find the sweet spot for his coffees. After much trial and error, he has settled on a process involving a two-stage fermentation—the first in cherry and the second pulped.

After picking, the ripe cherries are hand sorted to remove any green or underripe fruit from the field, then rinsed of dirt and floated to remove lower quality (underweight) fruits. The floating cherries are placed in plastic barrels with a hermetic seal and airlock, where they ferment for 12 hours. Following this initial fermentation, the cherries are pulped and returned to the same barrel for a further 24-hour fermentation.

Nevado dries all of his coffee on raised beds or on a covered patio—essentially a small greenhouse with a wooden floor and tarpaulin mat. Since the farm's climate is quite changeable, drying time can vary considerably, but Nevado maintains good ventilation in the drying tents to achieve a slow, even drying process. Generally, the coffee takes 15 to 20 days to dry. Once moisture content reaches 11–12%, the coffee is bagged and rested for at least two weeks.

Nevado Palacios is the owner of El Cedro farm in Buenos Aires village in La Coipa district. Nevado, along with his wife, manages the farm using a combination of agro-chemicals and organic fertilizer to maximize production with minimal environmental impact. This philosophy is evident in their approach to de-weeding, which they do by hand without herbicides—unfortunately a common practice in Jaen agriculture. Aside from manual weeding, they regularly apply homemade compost made from coffee pulp, chicken and guinea pig manure, and sawdust.

Nevado owns 3 hectares of land. Currently, one hectare is planted with Gesha, while the remainder contains mainly Bourbon and some new Gesha trees which have been very recently planted. He chose these varieties for their merits—Gesha for its outstanding cup quality and Bourbon for both its quality and production yield. Though Nevado has been a coffee grower his entire life, El Cedro is a new project for him, with 2024 marking the farm's first full production.

Gesha is a coffee variety originally collected from Ethiopian forests in the 1930s. It was sent to the Lyamungu research station in Tanzania, then brought to Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Central America in 1953, where it was logged as accession T2722. Recognized for its tolerance to coffee leaf rust, CATIE distributed it widely throughout Panama in the 1960s. However, farmers didn't favour it due to its brittle branches and relatively low yield, so it wasn't widely planted.

There are actually multiple genetically distinct plant types referred to as Gesha, many sharing similar Ethiopian origins. World Coffee Research has confirmed that the Panamanian Gesha descendant of T2722 is a distinct and uniform variety. When managed well at high altitude, its cup profile can be phenomenal, known for delicate floral and peach aromas.

The lack of a standard translation from Ethiopian dialects to English has resulted in two interchangeably used spellings. The coffee was originally collected near a mountain commonly rendered in English as "Gesha." However, it was first recorded in germplasm records as "Geisha," a spelling mostly maintained by coffee researchers and germplasm banks for decades. The use of "Geisha" is problematic, though, as its non-coffee context carries specific connotations that many feel have been misappropriated for marketing value.

Gesha's global reputation was cemented by the Peterson family of Boquete. Their Hacienda Esmeralda won the Best of Panama competition in 2004 with this variety. The following year, their Gesha received exceptionally high marks and broke the then-record for green coffee auction prices, selling for over $20/pound.

The washed process was designed to minimize the risk of off-flavours caused by uncontrolled fermentation during the natural process. Cherries are typically sorted using a flotation tank, where under-ripe or defective fruits float to the top and can be removed. The remaining cherries are then pulped and left in a tank to ferment until the sticky fruit mucilage is soft enough to be washed off the parchment—a paper-like layer surrounding the seed.

The design and cleanliness of the tanks are crucial, and the degree and speed of fermentation depend on various factors. These include the amount of fruit remaining, the presence of bacteria and yeasts, whether the tank is filled with water, and the environmental conditions.

Once the mucilage has sufficiently degraded, it's washed away with water. The remaining parchment coffee, as it's commonly called, is then dried until it reaches a safe moisture content. The bacteria-rich and sugary water used in the process must be treated carefully, as it can cause algae blooms if it enters streams and rivers.

In situations where large amounts of coffee are processed in bulk, such as in Ethiopia, some operations have found it economical to use a mechanical demucilager. This device removes all the fruit from the parchment with minimal water, bypassing the fermentation stage entirely. However, some believe this leads to a reduction in cup quality, as many flavour precursors are created through fermentation.