Rachel and Adam Overton

Adam Overton and Rachel Samuel are the visionaries behind Gesha Village Coffee Estate, a landmark project in the Bench Maji Zone of southwestern Ethiopia. The couple’s journey into coffee began in 2007 when they were commissioned by the Ethiopian government to produce a documentary on the country’s coffee industry. This experience fostered a deep connection to the land and its cultural heritage, eventually leading them to transition from filmmaking to coffee production.

In 2011, Overton and Samuel leased a 471-hectare plot of land located approximately 20 kilometers from the Gori Gesha forest. This forest is widely recognized as the birthplace of the Gesha coffee variety, a cultivar that has achieved global prestige for its exceptional cup quality and distinct floral and fruit-forward flavor profiles. By establishing their farm in such close proximity to the variety's origin, they sought to cultivate Gesha in its native environment.

To prepare for this ambitious undertaking, the pair sought the expertise of Willem Boot, a prominent coffee educator and owner of the Panama-based Finca La Mula. Under his mentorship, they learned the technical fundamentals of high-quality coffee cultivation and processing. This foundational knowledge allowed them to build the estate from the ground up, focusing on precision agriculture and rigorous quality control standards that have since become a hallmark of their production.

Gesha Village is categorized as a plantation-style farm, a distinct model within the Ethiopian coffee landscape. Unlike traditional garden or forest coffee production, the estate operates with intensive management practices. This allows for the meticulous separation of specific lots, such as the Oma Block, and the application of diverse processing methods, including honey and natural processes, to highlight the unique characteristics of their Gesha 1931 and other heirloom genetics.

The impact of their work extends beyond the farm's borders, as they have played a pivotal role in reintroducing the world to the potential of Ethiopian-grown Gesha. While the variety gained international fame through its success in Panama, Overton and Samuel’s work has demonstrated that the variety can achieve extraordinary levels of elegance, purity, and complexity when grown in its ancestral Ethiopian terroir.

Today, the estate is highly regarded by specialty roasters worldwide, who frequently feature their micro-lots in limited releases. Their coffees are consistently noted for tasting notes such as jasmine, bergamot, and various stone fruits. By bridging the gap between the wild origins of the Gesha variety and modern specialty coffee standards, Adam Overton and Rachel Samuel have secured a significant place in the history of contemporary coffee production.