Gesha - Marleny Imbachi

Impressions: Cherry blossoms, white tea, lemon meringue
Roast degree: light (2/5)
Country: Colombia
Location: Kennedy, San Agustin, Huila
Variety: Gesha
Process: Washed
Farm: La Torre (2 hectares)
Farmer(s): Marleny Imbachi
Import-Export partners: Semilla

We bought Marleny's Gesha 2 years ago and it was so well received that we shipped it to 5 continents.

Gesha is hyped right now. It monopolizes all the attention at auction where the lots produced by mostly White European landowners fetch hundreds of dollars per pound, and occasionally, thousands. This is a pure marketing ploy by people with means to extract as much value as possible from their land - a land that is often worked by Indigenous people.

The Gesha trees that produced this beautiful coffee were planted in 2021 and took 4 years to come to fruition, showcasing the commitment Marleny is showing to a beloved varietal in the specialty coffee world.

Small holder farmers like Marleny do not have access to those fancy markets, but her coffee is not less than: it's delicious, and she should be fairly compensated for her hard work.

After years of selling on the local markets for low prices, they organized to reach new markets and to get fairly compensated for their product.

THE MONKAABA PRODUCER GROUP
Marleny and her husband Augusto Ortega (check out his delicious Sidra varietal coffee we also offer!) are lifelong farmers and founding members of the Monkaaba group we often buy from.

It's a smallholder coffee grower empowerment initiative whose goal is to assist other growers in the area to not only find a better market for their coffee, one that pays a solid price, but also to invest in the knowledge and skill of producers in a way that ensures their future success while making them more autonomous.

We release many regular coffee from the group throughout the year and they are always delicious!