Colombia | Marleny Imbachi Gesha

Region: Kennedy, San Augustin, Colombia
Variety: Gesha
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1,650 masl
We Taste: Apricot, Rainier Cherry, Oolong Tea, Orange Blossom Honey

We're thrilled to be working with Marleny Imbachi's gesha again from this most recent harvest. She is an exceptionally knowledgable and talented producer and we've been purchasing coffee from her and her husband, Augusto Ortega, since we started roasting. Marleny and Augusto are both well-renowned producers in San Augustin and founding members of the Monkaaba group.  We first purchased her gesha in 2024, which was one of the very first harvests from the trees she planted in 2020 and 2021. Although gesha is renowned for its quality potential, it can be quite challenging to grow and is relatively low yielding. However, after 5 years, Marleny's gesha is truly beginning to flourish. This success is evidenced in the sheer productivity of the farm, where traditional knowledge states that Gesha trees will produce under one pound of cherries per tree; this lot of only 1400 trees managed to produce around two pounds per tree.

In addition to increased volume, this year's harvest showcase huge growth in quality, with much more clarity and focus in the cup. This year, we're tasting ripe tropical citrus like apricot, peach, and papaya alongside red fruits like rainier cherry and strawberry. These flavors are underpinned by a delicate floral quality that reminds us of orange blossom honey and oolong tea.

While planting new or boutique varieties is a huge investment of time and effort that carries risk for producers involved, we're happy to play a small supporting role in this project and continue to root for Marleny's success.

The Monkaaba group is an initiative aimed at assisting producers in finding better market access and better prices for their coffees, but also helps invest in producers to ensure their future success. The group is educating producers on how the supply chain works so that they can better navigate it, while helping them to improve growing, harvesting, and processing techniques. The also host open weekly cuppings to improve producer's ability to evaluate and understand their coffees while they receive feedback from other members. 

Price Breakdown:

Our Total Cost: coming soon
Packaging, labor, and weight loss: coming soon
Green Price: $8.95/lb
FOB Price: $6.53/lb
Farm Gate Price: 4,300,000 Colombian pesos per carga parchment

Importer: Semilla

*We roast on Tuesdays and ship the following day; order cutoff is 7:00 am Tuesday morning