The Story
Cloud Nine is our second staple in the Extra range, but where Sugar Rush goes bold and loud, Cloud Nine goes somewhere else entirely. This is a coffee for the moments that ask for stillness: delicate, floral, tea-like, and deeply complex. The kind of cup that rewards slow attention. Cloud Nine will always be here, edition after edition, chasing that particular feeling of lightness and clarity.
For this first edition, we found exactly what we were looking for in Honduras — specifically in the region of Santa Barbara, widely considered one of the finest producing areas in the country. Santa Barbara doesn't just occasionally produce exceptional coffee; it does so with striking consistency, regularly accounting for more than half of Honduras's Cup of Excellence finalists. It is a region that seems to understand quality as a baseline, not an ambition.
Within Santa Barbara, Elder Chavez has built a quiet but well-earned reputation. He operates two farms: La Montañita, a small plot set within forested land at around 1,650 meters, and El Mirador, his larger farm higher up the hill at approximately 1,800 meters — now planted entirely with Geisha.
Elder's path to where he is today was deliberate. His early production focused on Catimor, but as quality from the variety declined over time, he made a clear choice: transition fully toward the highest end of what his land could offer. In 2017, he invested in improved processing infrastructure. Then in 2020, rather than replanting El Mirador gradually, he committed entirely — replacing the whole farm at once with Geisha seeds sourced directly from the Hartmann family in Panama, one of the most respected origins for the variety in the world. It was a long-term bet, and it has paid off.
The Process
This lot is fully washed, processed with the precision and care that defines Elder's approach at El Mirador.
After selective hand-picking at peak ripeness, cherries undergo dry fermentation for 28 to 36 hours in tiled tanks — a method that encourages clean, structured fermentation while preserving the variety's delicate aromatic character.
Drying is handled with equal care, prioritizing ample airflow and shade protection to slow the process down and protect the coffee's clarity and floral notes. The cherries were grown at 1,800 meters above sea level on the slopes of El Mirador.
Every step is designed with the same goal: to let the Geisha speak as clearly as possible.
The Cup
Delicate, luminous, and endlessly complex, a cup that floats.
Cloud Nine is everything Geisha does best, brought into sharp focus by Elder's meticulous processing. Expect lifted floral notes, jasmine-like, woven through a black tea structure, followed by green apple and apricot notes. Soft, bright acidity carries the complexity forward, while a long, clean finish leaves you reaching for another sip.
This is a coffee that asks nothing of you except to slow down and pay attention. And it rewards that attention generously.