SL9*

Inkawasi, Cusco

2,300 masl

December 2025

Hand-picked at peak ripeness. Floated to further remove defects and de-pulped on the day of harvest. Dry-fermented for 32 hours. Washed. Dried on raised beds.

ABOUT JHON SAENZ

John Saenz is a producer in the Inkawasi Valley near the town of Amaybamba. We have tasted his coffee for several years, and this season it stood out as exceptional. Located on the slopes of Chogesafra Mountain beside an immense nature reserve, his farm is one of the most stunning places we have ever seen coffee cultivated.

ABOUT SL9

*While this variety’s exact genetic fingerprint is not currently in the global database, its similarity to SL09 supports the use of SL9 as a provisional working name. For now, we refer to it as SL9, as it contains no Gesha in its genetic composition. However, we are continuing conversations with geneticists, as well as with communities in the Inkawasi Valley, about how this variety should be referred to and represented going forward.

Colloquially known as “Gesha Inca,” we had this variety genetically tested last year and found that it closely resembles SL09—a rare cultivar belonging to the Ethiopian Legacy group. “SL” refers to single-tree selections made by Scott Agricultural Laboratories in the 1930s. While SL28, SL34, and Mibirizi are the most widely grown SL selections, SL09—and by extension SL9—remains uncommon in cultivation today. Local names like “Gesha Inca” often reflect history and terroir as much as genetics—capturing a conversation between lineage, cultivation, and the way producers and communities have always understood their coffees.

The cost of getting a coffee from cherry to beverage varies enormously depending on its place of origin and the location of its consumption. The inclusion of price transparency is a starting point to inform broader conversation around the true costs of production and the sustainability of specialty coffee as a whole.