Peru Tres Cedros

Altitude: 2200-2260 meters

Varietals: SL9

Process:
Cherries are sorted and depulped, fermented for 30-36 hours and then dried on raised beds

Harvest: October - December 2025

Region: Acconcharcas, Cusco

At Wonderstate we have long believed in the potential of Peruvian coffee. Long before the current wave of attention, before the marketing campaigns and global recognition, we were buying and celebrating coffees from Peru. Selections like this one from Tres Cedros remind us why. Peru is capable of producing some of the most compelling coffees in the world.

So what makes this selection from Tres Cedros so remarkable?

The very best coffees we taste each year usually emerge from a rare alignment of factors. The right people, the right place, the right genetics, and thoughtful processing all working together. Tres Cedros sits squarely within that kind of alignment.

During our visit to Cusco we traveled to Acconchacras, the small hamlet where Tres Cedros is located. The community sits just beyond Amaybamba on the opposite side of the mountain ridge. That difference in position shapes the character of the place. Farms in Amaybamba receive the first light of morning, while Acconchacras warms under the afternoon sun. As the day progresses, warm air collects along the slopes before temperatures fall sharply in the evening and early morning. At more than 2000 meters above sea level, that daily swing between warmth and cold slows the maturation of the coffee cherries and creates a long, steady growing season.

Within that environment, Saulo and Albino are cultivating several rare varieties, though their primary focus is SL9, also known locally as Gesha Inka. The origin of this variety is still somewhat mysterious, but its genetic lineage clearly points toward the great East African coffees. It shares similarities with varieties like Chiroso, Gesha, Pink Bourbon, and Sidra. The quality potential is remarkable and its profile unmistakable. Even with relatively straightforward processing, SL9 produces cups that are intensely expressive while remaining refined and elegant. The fruit character tends to be richer and more textured than classic Gesha, while its floral qualities remain vivid and precise.

That genetic potential meets careful and pragmatic work on the farm. Saulo brings a cupper’s discipline to every step of production. Coffee is picked at peak ripeness and depulped the same day. The parchment ferments for roughly thirty to thirty six hours before being washed and moved to raised drying beds where it slowly reaches its final moisture. This process is typical for the region, yet it is the details that matter most. Cherry selection, fermentation timing, drying management, and the health of the soil and trees all shape the final expression in the cup.

What emerges is a coffee that feels complete. Bright and transparent, deeply sweet, and layered with fruit and florality that unfold with clarity.

Coffees like this remind us that the story of specialty coffee is still being written. Producers like Albino and Saulo are helping define what places like Cusco can become, and we are honored to share their work with you.

Albino Ibias is a member of the Incahuasi Cooperative, headquartered in Andahuaylas, Peru. Coffee has shaped his life for as long as he can remember. As a child he worked beside his father on the family farm, learning the rhythms of harvest and the steady patience that coffee demands. Over time Albino expanded his own land and built a life there, raising four children while continuing the work that had sustained his family for generations.

One of those children, Saulo, eventually left the farm to attend university where he studied business. For a time his path seemed likely to move away from agriculture, but coffee never fully left his life. After finishing his studies, Saulo returned home to the small hamlet of Acconchacras, just beyond the community of Amaybamba on the other side of the mountain. He came back with new questions and a growing curiosity about quality and the possibilities of specialty coffee.

Today Saulo serves as the head of quality control for the Incahuasi Cooperative. In that role he cups coffees from across the region and works with producers to improve consistency and quality. Through this work he began to see the potential that existed within his own family’s land.

In 2021 Albino and Saulo established Finca Tres Cedros together. The farm represents a shared effort between father and son, built on Albino’s lifetime of farming knowledge and Saulo’s growing experience in sensory evaluation and quality control. Their goal is simple but ambitious. They want to produce coffees that express the full potential of Cusco, a region whose farmers have long been overlooked despite remarkable growing conditions.

Saulo’s work tasting coffees throughout Peru has deeply influenced the direction of Tres Cedros. Each year he cups countless coffees and has twice served as a judge in Peru’s Cup of Excellence competition. That experience has encouraged a spirit of experimentation on the farm and has helped guide decisions around varieties, processing, and quality.

We first connected with Saulo earlier this year through a series of conversations online. What began as a few messages slowly turned into longer exchanges about the work happening at Tres Cedros and the vision that he and Albino share for the future of their farm. When we visited Cusco last October we had the opportunity to taste several small selections they had prepared for us. The coffees were extraordinary and easily among the most memorable we tasted during our time in Peru. We feel incredibly fortunate to share the work of Albino and Saulo with you.

Cusco has quietly and swiftly become one of the most exciting coffee producing regions in the world. Though at once overlooked, this region now produces coffees of mindbending clarity and structure, revealing just how much potential has long existed in the Andes. Much of this momentum can be traced to the discovery and cultivation of remarkable varieties like SL9, often referred to locally as Gesha Inka, which has brought global attention to Peru’s evolving coffee landscape.

At Finca Tres Cedros in Cusco, Albino and his son Saulo represent the next chapter in Peru’s coffee story. Their farm reflects both the history and the future of the region. For generations, producers here cultivated traditional varieties with little recognition beyond local markets. Today, careful stewardship that honors land, innovative and diligent processing, and the introduction of exceptional genetics are allowing farms like Tres Cedros to produce coffees that impress immediately from the first sip. 

This selection expresses the full character of the SL9 variety. The cup opens with crystalline acidity and remarkable clarity, carrying vivid fruit tones that feel both bright and candy-like sweet. Notes of tropical canary melon and ripe red peach lead the way, juicy and fleshy at once, followed by layers of sugared sweetness and brilliant jasmine florals.

It is a coffee that feels complete, a reflection of both the land it comes from and the dedication of Albino and Saulo, whose work continues to push the reputation of Peruvian coffee to new heights.