Gesha Malawi

With its fragrance of rose and rosehip, this coffee makes an impression right away. It has an intense aroma, with notes ranging from fresh flowers to the delicate sweetness of berries. On the palate, it stands out for its complex, balanced flavor, with harmonious notes of blueberry, ripe apricot, ripe peach, and cantaloupe. The taste truly evokes a fruit and flower herbal tea: blueberry, red berries, and all the freshness of flowers that lean toward sweetness, bringing to mind fruit juice and summer. Its acidity is bright, yet overall well judged and balanced. The body is light and velvety, offering a pleasant mouthfeel. The finish is remarkably persistent, evoking notes of rosehip, rose, and blueberry, along with a pleasant sweetness that lingers on the palate.

This specific lot is made up of the Gesha Malawi variety, which is not very common, and Ricardo, the farmer, is the only one growing it in the region. Production began in earnest twelve years ago at an altitude of 1,750 to 1,850 meters above sea level.

As soon as the cherries arrive at the wet mill, they are sorted, mechanically depulped, and fermented in a water tank for 12–14 hours to break down the outer mucilage. They are then laid out on raised beds to dry.

The water used to wash the fermented coffee is recycled after all solids have been removed, then reused during depulping for the next lot to be processed. This has the added benefit of inoculating the next lot during depulping, speeding up fermentation and helping maintain a consistent mix of yeasts and bacteria throughout fermentation. After being used twice this way, the water is filtered through a complex treatment system with filters and settling tanks, and all solids are recycled and composted as fertilizer.

The Zelaya family has been growing coffee for more than 100 years and across four generations. It all began in 1908, when the great-grandfather of current owner Ricardo Zelaya dreamed of growing coffee. The farm was later purchased by Ricardo’s grandfather in 1974, and since 1989, Ricardo—the family’s fourth generation—has been producing coffee at Santa Clara. Today, the family grows coffee in many regions of Guatemala and is one of the few authentic “Antigua” coffee growers: Finca Santa Clara is located on the fertile southern slopes of Volcán de Agua, in the Antigua Valley, which is surrounded by three volcanoes: Agua, Acatenango, and Fuego.

The Zelaya family is deeply committed to both quality and sustainability. The family farms are carefully managed, from the thoughtful selection of varieties to the close supervision of the dry and wet mills. The coffee is shade-grown, protecting the plants from direct sunlight, maintaining soil health, and providing important habitat for birds and insects. The family’s mills are also environmentally friendly and equipped with settling tanks that prevent pollution of local waterways. At Santa Clara, workers are considered family members, which is why Ricardo started a scholarship program in 2010 to help workers pay for their children’s education. Now managed by his daughter Bel, who has a degree in Special Education, the dream is for the project to gain formal nonprofit status and expand to include not only the children whose parents work in the industry.