Learn about the Mexico Cup of Excellence winner from 2025 for experimental processing: a Gesha with a story of investigation, discovery, and passion.

The first Gesha cultivar in Mexico was planted in 1983 by an INMECAFE* delegate and soon discarded due to its lack of resilience. 21 years later, in 2004, an agricultural engineer named Rubiel López recovered this lost Gesha lineage, now a landrace descended from the original 1983 specimen.

López dedicated his life to rescuing, recovering, and improving this Mexican Gesha; the result is a beloved variety carefully optimized over the years for compatibility with the terroirs of Veracruz. It is constantly monitored and adjusted to reveal the character of the land.

This is the stated purpose of Genoma Gesha Estates. They use agriculture, science, and tradition to preserve and improve the genetics of Mexican Gesha and highlight the qualities of Mexican terroir.

Finca La Palma, a far  m within Genoma Estates, is led by Rubiel López himself. La Palma has 2,000 Gesha trees over just 2 hectares of land, some of which are direct root and some of which are grafted plants. They use native shade trees and drone imagery to carefully manage shade coverage on the farm. In their words, they are “a farm where tradition and technology grow side-by-side.”

This lot ranked #1 in the 2025 Mexico Cup of Excellence for experimental coffees as a direct result of López’s dedication to Mexican Gesha. It features a natural process combined with an experimental 10-day controlled fermentation, highlighting clarity, complexity, and florals.

Producer: Rubiel López
Farm: Finca La Palma at Genoma Gesha Estates
Region: Tlacotepec de Mejía, Veracruz, Mexico
Varietal: Mexican Gesha
Process: Natural Experimental
Altitude: 950 MASL

We Taste: Purple grape, blueberry, raspberry, vanilla. Medium acidity, floral finish.

*INMECAFE was the national governing organization for the coffee industry in Mexico which offered resources, infrastructure, and support to coffee farmers. It was shut down in 1989, deregulating price and quality standards, and leaving farmers to navigate the global market directly.

Only in late December 2025, just weeks ago, did the Mexican government pass legislation for the coffee sector to invest in sustainability standards, reduce market imbalances, and improve producer access to information on market prices.