2026 Peak Sub Q3
This quarter takes us from Colombia to the slopes of the Barú Volcano in Boquete, Panamá, with two single-terroir Geisha lots from Lamastus Family Estates.
The Lamastus family has farmed here for four generations. Robert Louis Lamastus founded Elida Estate in 1918. Today the family works five estates across four distinct microclimates in the Boquete highlands. Roughly half of Elida lies inside Volcán Barú National Park, a protected reserve of virgin cloud forest. The farm itself climbs from 1,670 to 2,200 masl, the highest cultivated ground in the region, under bajareque mist that settles through the dry season and in volcanic soil carrying its own native yeasts.
Elevation here does something specific. Night temperatures in the upper sections fall below 10°C, and that cold slows the maturation of the fruit. The longer a cherry takes to ripen from flowering to harvest, the more time its sugars and aromatic compounds have to develop fully, which is precisely where Geisha's floral, tea-like character comes from.
What makes this pairing worth cupping side by side is that Elida isn't farmed as a single field. It is a mosaic of named plots, each picked, fermented and dried separately. The two lots here come from plots at opposite ends of the estate's elevation range: Loma on the mid-section ridge at 1,700–1,800 masl, and Vuelta up near the park boundary at 1,900–1,950 masl. Same family, same variety, same season, and two very different cups.
Both are late-season picks. Loma came down on 21 April, Vuelta on 28 April, closing the 2026 harvest. Processing follows the logic of each plot. Loma is washed and dried on raised beds, the fruit removed early so it’s the higher clarity of the two. Vuelta is a classic natural finished in the Lamastus dark room, where blocking UV light protects the volatile aromatics that high-elevation naturals otherwise lose. One estate, two ends of the mountain.
Elida Estate - Loma Geisha Washed
EGW LOMA 0104-210426. Loma is the ridge running through the mid-section of Elida, 1,700–1,800 masl on deep volcanic soil, where warmer days bring the cherry to a full and remarkably even ripeness. Pulped at burgundy-ripe and fermented 24–48 hours, then washed and dried slowly on raised beds. The most transparent expression of the plot has to offer: jasmine and white flowers, bergamot, mandarin and white peach, a bright well-structured acidity, clean silky medium body, sweet lingering finish.
100g
Origin: Elida Estate, Boquete, Chiriquí, Panamá
Elida Estate - Vuelta Geisha Natural DRD
EGN DRD VUELTA 0604-280426. Vuelta sits among the highest ground on Elida, 1,900–1,950 masl by the national park boundary, where the coldest nights stretch maturation further than anywhere else the family picks. Whole ripe cherry, only time and air, then the dark room. Strawberry and ripe tropical fruit, rose and jasmine over candied red fruit, a winey complex sweetness, full silky body, very long perfumed finish.
100g
Origin: Elida Estate, Boquete, Chiriquí, Panamá