This is our last Peru SL9* of this season. These coffees have completely redefined the global coffee landscape for us and have emphatically put Peru on the map as being capable of producing some of the best coffees in the world. In the cup we find a more fruit-forward and jammy profile of yellow tropical fruit and strawberry, with a soft but lifting acidity.
SL9*
Amaybamba, Cusco
2,280 masl
November 2025
Hand-picked at peak ripeness. Floated to further remove defects and de-pulped on the day of harvest. Wet-fermented for 32 hours. Washed. Dried on raised beds until moisture content reaches 10.5%.
ABOUT ALEJANDRINA MAYTAN
We have been captivated by the SL9* variety as it is grown in the valley around the town of Amaybamba. The valley is extremely challenging to reach, and yet it produces some of the most distinctive expressions of terroir we have encountered. This is only our second year exploring it, and our first purchasing coffee from Alejandrina. We cannot wait to return.
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.
Pricing Details
FARM GATE (USD; GREEN)
~$25.26/KG
FOB
$31.92/KG
DDP
$35.18/KG
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.