When Deaton first started buying coffee from Marysabel and Moises Caballero, we didn’t just start buying from producers—we found people we could build something with.
Since then, through nine consecutive harvests, the coffees from Finca La Tanairi have become part of Tectonic’s foundation. Every year, we return—not just because the coffee is exquisite, but because of the relationship behind it. A relationship built on trust, transparency, and a shared pursuit of better.
And this year’s release, Lot 57A — a Washed Geisha from the 2025 harvest, may be the most quietly confident expression of that bond to date.
The Beauty in Restraint
Washed Geishas don’t shout. They whisper. Clean, structured, and floral, they demand attention not through boldness, but through grace.
At 1550 MASL, nestled in the highlands of Xinacla, Lot 57A was harvested with intention and care, then washed and dried to let the terroir speak clearly. While we’ll share full tasting notes once Cropster data lands, early cuppings already show what we’ve come to expect from La Tanairi: balance, brightness, and the kind of quiet complexity you lean into.
2025: A Year That Asked More
This harvest wasn’t easy.
A labor shortage swept across Honduras during peak picking season, pushing wages to nearly triple the usual rates. For producers like Marysabel and Moises Caballero—who already invest heavily in quality control and careful harvesting—the pressure was immense. They could have scaled back. Rushed picking. Prioritized volume over precision.
But they didn’t. They held their standards. And we stood with them—choosing to absorb those increased costs rather than see the integrity of the harvest compromised.
That decision carries extra weight when the coffee in question is Geisha—a variety known for its brilliance, but also its demands.
Originally from Ethiopia and now grown in small pockets across Central and South America, Geisha is celebrated for its luminous clarity, its florality, its tea-like structure, and its often astonishing complexity. But it’s also notoriously low-yielding, finicky to grow, and costly to produce. Every tree yields fewer cherries than other varieties, and every mistake in picking or processing can dull what makes it special.
So producing an exceptional washed Geisha isn’t just a matter of good farming. It’s a matter of relentless precision, trained labor, and unwavering intention—especially in a year like this.
When you drink Lot 57A, you’re tasting more than just variety or origin. You’re tasting the result of shared decisions—sometimes difficult ones—made to protect quality over convenience. You’re tasting a coffee that was never rushed. Never compromised. And never treated as just a commodity.
Meanwhile… in Dubai
Earlier this year, a Geisha lot from Panama sold for over $30,000 per kilogram at auction. That same variety is now being brewed and served for nearly $1,000 a cup at luxury cafés in places like Dubai.
It’s staggering. And it’s sparked all kinds of conversation: Is this the pinnacle of coffee culture? Or a detour into spectacle?
For us, it’s something to watch with curiosity—but not envy. We respect the craft behind those record-breaking lots, maybe not so much the auctions behind them. But we also know there’s another kind of value: one built on continuity, mutual investment, and the patient evolution of a relationship.
That’s what Lot 57A represents.
Nine Years In and Still Learning
Every year we source from La Tanairi, we learn something new—about process, about partnership, about what it takes to produce great coffee year after year. And we’re reminded that quality isn’t just a result—it’s a relationship. It’s the thousands of quiet choices made from soil to sorting table to shipping container.
Nine years in, we’re still learning. Still listening. Still saying: this is the kind of coffee we want to stand behind.
We’d Love Your Take
What’s the most you’ve ever paid for a cup of coffee?
Would you try a $1,000 Geisha just to say you did—or does value, for you, come from somewhere deeper?
And more importantly: do record-breaking coffees help or hinder the industry? We’re genuinely curious. Leave a comment and let us know what you think.