Finca Tasta's Tastiest Washed Coffee Yet

In the Junín Province of Peru, tucked away near the town of Satipo, is Finca Tasta: a 56-acre estate owned and managed by siblings Edith and Ivan Meza Sagarvinaga. They inherited the farm from their late mother, and as second-generation coffee producers, they value both nature and innovation. While more than half of the farm is left as a natural preserve, the remainder is cultivated with coffee. It features a processing station where the team experiments with several post-harvest processing techniques. 

Edith and Ivan. Edith spearheads operations at the farm and exports, while Ivan puts most of his efforts managing relationships with local roasters and supplying them with coffee.

The 2024 season was a tough one for Finca Tasta. Edith Meza Sagarvinaga, who spearheads operations at the farm, said that it simply rained too much and required her and the team to work harder. Heavy rains made it hard to harvest the coffee quickly and efficiently. Coffee is usually dried on raised beds at the estate, but wet weather conditions and gray skies forced them to transport the coffee to another location to finish drying the coffee.

Upon arriving at Finca Tasta, you are immediately welcomed by the guest house. Parts of cultivated farmland surround it, while the processing area is a 5-minute walk from the guest house.

When rough weather conditions reign, often the best farmers can hope for is maintaining the quality and integrity of the beans. However, Finca Tasta has managed to exceed expectations and has produced its tastiest washed coffee yet. Once harvested, cherries are sorted by hand and floated in clean water to remove underripe and damaged fruit. They are then depulped and placed into an airtight container to ferment for 72 hours before being washed and dried on raised patio beds. Edith explains that for this harvest, they were able to create a better hermetic enclosure for fermenting the coffee. This is the primary reason why coffee quality has improved, despite the challenges in drying the coffee.

Finca Tasta also grows fruits and vegetables, including plantains, yucca, tomatoes, sugarcane, raspberries, and pumpkins. They are sold to organic grocery stores in Lima, the capital city of Peru.

In my recent conversation with Edith, I’ve learned that challenges continue, and the upcoming harvest will be limited. Many of their younger coffee trees were affected by root-knot nematodes, which delayed the development of coffee trees. Although they’ve been able to manage the situation successfully, they’ll have to wait until the next season for these trees to bear fruit. On the brighter side, Finca Tasta began to cultivate additional coffee varieties several years ago, and they should start producing cherries next year.

Edith gave me a tour of the farm in 2020 and showed me a section of the farm with new coffee trees. Finca Tasta also grows fruits and vegetables, including plantains, yucca, tomatoes, sugarcane, raspberries, and pumpkins. They are sold to organic grocery stores in Lima, the capital city of Peru.

While we wait to see what exciting new coffees Finca Tasta will have to offer, we’ll enjoy the washed coffee we have in hand. This coffee opens up as it cools, offering sweet and tangy notes with a silky mouthfeel; we taste Valencia orange, mango, and panela. When brewed on the lighter side, you’ll accentuate more of its juicy qualities. With a heavier brew, a syrupy body is more pronounced. No matter the brew, we still pick up a lot of sweetness at the finish that makes us want to take another sip!