Intelligentsia Coffee Silver Lake

Daniel Canales made history in 2004 as the first grower to win a Cup of Excellence competition with an organically grown coffee. We purchased some of that winning lot and have continued working with the Canales family ever since. Today, the Canales family's commitment to thoughtful farming and exceptional quality continues through Daniel's three sons, Milton, Norman, and Donal, who represent the third generation at the family's farm in Pueblo Nuevo, Estelí, where they have transformed former pastureland into a diverse coffee ecosystem. This year's washed Pacamara lot was produced by Norman Canales, whose careful stewardship carries forward a legacy six decades in the making. A variety known for its remarkably large beans and distinctive flavor, the Pacamara has become one of our favorite coffees from the Canales family.

This lot was grown by members of the Alaka Farmers Association and processed by our longtime partners, METAD, at their Hambela washing station in the West Guji Zone of Oromia. Led by the Adinew family, METAD consistently produces some of our favorite coffees from Ethiopia. Farmers delivered their daily harvest of ripe coffee cherries to the station, where they were meticulously sorted and dried on raised beds with the fruit fully intact. METAD’s expertise and attention to detail are especially evident in natural coffees like this one, where careful processing allows the heirloom varieties and terroir to shine, preserving the distinctive expression that makes Ethiopian coffee unlike any other.

Many Geisha varietal coffees sold in the U.S. come from Panama — descended from Ethiopian seed, but shaped by Panamanian terroir since the mid-20th century. This coffee, however, was cultivated on the Gesha Village Coffee Estate in Bench Maji, near the Gori Gesha forest where the variety was first catalogued in 1931. The founders of Gesha Village, Rachel Samuel and Adam Overton, handpicked seeds from that forest that most closely resemble what we know today as Panamanian Geisha and brought them to their farm. This lot was grown on the Narsha section of the farm, the smallest of three plots where those seeds were planted. After a selective harvest, the perfectly ripe cherries were sun-dried with meticulous care, resulting in a profile that showcases the original Gesha genetics and reflects the region’s historic terroir.

This washed Castillo lot comes from neighboring farmers in the Cauca region of southwestern Colombia. After selectively harvesting cherries from only their Castillo trees, they delivered their coffee to our partners at Banexport for classification and processing. Introduced to Colombian farmers in 2005, Castillo has since been widely adopted for its resilience against coffee leaf rust, a devastating fungus that affects farms around the world. A testament to the quality potential of hardy varieties, this coffee shines as espresso with notes of sweet orange and dried fruits.

This year marks 30 years since Marysabel Caballero and Moises Herrera began their journey together in coffee. To celebrate, we are bringing back La Tortuga, a name first used in 2004 for coffee from Marysabel’s father, Don Fabio, as a nod to the classic story of the tortoise and the hare. What began as a reflection on Honduras’s steady rise in specialty coffee now speaks to the Caballero family’s approach to building their coffee legacy: patient, deliberate, and always moving forward. That spirit of progress comes through in this latest release of Batian, a prized Kenyan variety with genetics that include SL28, SL34, and Sudan Rume. Through selective picking, careful sorting, and washed processing, Marysabel and Moises bring remarkable clarity to the variety. The result is one of our favorite La Tortuga selections of the year. It's a compelling expression of Kenyan genetics adapted to Honduran terroir.

Daniel Canales made history in 2004 as the first grower to win a Cup of Excellence competition with an organically grown coffee. We purchased some of that winning lot and have continued working with the Canales family ever since. Today, the Canales family's commitment to thoughtful farming and exceptional quality continues through Daniel's three sons, Milton, Norman, and Donal, who represent the third generation at the family's farm in Pueblo Nuevo, Estelí, where they have transformed former pastureland into a diverse coffee ecosystem. This year's washed Pacamara lot was produced by Norman Canales, whose careful stewardship carries forward a legacy six decades in the making. A variety known for its remarkably large beans and distinctive flavor, the Pacamara has become one of our favorite coffees from the Canales family.

We first began working with the Alvarez family of El Borbollon in 2003, and their coffees have remained an important part of our blends and single origin offerings ever since. This lot comes from their family-run farm, La Reforma, in the renowned coffee growing region that surrounds the Santa Ana Volcano, also known as llamatepec. It features the esteemed Geisha variety processed as a natural, with the ripe fruit of the coffee cherry left fully intact as it was carefully dried on raised beds.

This year's edition of Summer Solstice blends coffees from Colombia, Peru, and Ethiopia to evoke the berry and bright citrus flavors of the season. Flavor notes: blueberry, honey, & lime.

Our coffee team carefully selected top lots from Colombia, Costa Rica, and Ethiopia for this blend honoring the athletes participating in the 2026 Chicago Marathon. Intelligentsia is proud to be the official coffee of the event.

This lot comes from the Ayla washing station in Bombe, a high elevation coffee growing community in Ethiopia’s Sidama region. Established in 2010 by family-owned Testi Coffee, Ayla receives freshly picked coffee cherries from neighboring smallholder farmers. Farmers in Bombe cultivate coffee on small plots of land that reach as high as 2,150 meters above sea level, with coffee growing alongside other crops and beneath the shade of native trees. At the washing station, careful sorting begins the moment the cherries arrive and continues throughout processing. The coffee is washed in fresh water from the Bonora River before being dried and sorted on raised beds. As espresso, the sweetness and complexity of coffees from this region really shine. Expect notes of ripe stone fruit and fresh lime zest.