Marleny Imbachi’s Washed Gesha | Colombia
Description
Washed Gesha¹
La Torre, Kennedy, San Agustin, Huila, Colombia²
Marleny Imbachi is a coffee producer of great respect and we're delighted to share her first harvest of Gesha. She and her husband Augusto Ortega are lifelong coffee producers, founding members of the Monkaaba group, and veritable pillars in the San Agustin coffee-growing community.
For smallholders, investing in their farms by replacing old, lower-quality varieties with those with more quality potential, such as Gesha requires a great deal of work, risk and attention. It comes with a slow payoff as Gesha typically produces its first seeds after only three years and its first real harvest of any consequence will take up to four.
However, if there are any growers who are able to manage such delicate varieties it would be Augusto and Marleny. Traditional knowledge states that Gesha trees will produce under one pound of cherry per tree, this lot of only 1400 trees managed to produce around two pounds per tree. We first tried her Gesha in January on our origin trip to Colombia and it is just as incredible then as it is now. We find a full-bodied cup that's super creamy with notes of white peach, floral and raspberry.
¹ Processing & Varietal
² Region of Origin
We Support
This
Bringing our clients closer to the people who grow and harvest their coffee, with the aim of cultivating long-term relationships that can offer consistency and reliability for all parties in the coffee value stream.
Not That
FAQ's
WHO MAKES P.S. COFFEE?
The P.S. Coffee menu is made possible by grower communities and smallholder farmers in Rwanda, Honduras, Colombia and Guatemala. Through our sourcing sister-company Semilla, we hold long-term and consensus based partnerships with producers that have had zero or limited access to or knowledge of the specialty market.
These skilled and passionate professionals are redefining coffee production within their growing regions that have historically been underserved and overlooked despite being within well-respected coffee producing countries. Through community support networks, access to knowledge and capital and investment into physical and intellectual infrastracture, they are transitioning towards autonomy and away from the exploitative model they’ve mostly always known.
These are the people and communities you’ll meet through P.S. — and build connections with as we continue to support and purchase from them year after year.
Meet the P.S. Producer Network
HOW IS P.S. COFFEE SOURCED?
All of the coffee on the P.S. menu is exclusively sourced with Semilla Coffee through the following principles:
Durable Relationships
All of Semilla’s relationships are formed with specific communities in underserved coffee growing regions within well-respected coffee production countries. Semilla identifies producer groups that have zero or limited access to or knowledge of the specialty market and takes on the requisite risk that comes with their transition into becoming specialty coffee producers with dedicated buyers across North America. Semilla’s commitment is to work only within the bounds of these groups, seeking to grow with them in pursuit of purchasing all of their production, year after year.
Best Prices, Defined by Producers
All coffees purchased by Semilla are purchased at the best locally available price. This is determined via communication with and understanding of local market dynamics, and prices are arrived upon via a consensus model in which the coffee growers and Semilla agree democratically on the best prices for all involved.
Traceability and Transparency
Semilla’s commitment is to work with complete commitment to traceability and transparency along the value chain. This means full transparency of prices paid to the farmer (farmgate) as well as prices paid at port (FOB). Additionally, Semilla offers in depth information and context for each coffee, the producers who grew it, and the condition within which they work with each purchase.
Quality
Semilla exclusively works in the specialty coffee realm, meaning all of the coffees purchase are above the quality levels offered by conventional commodity or Fair Trade and Organic buyers. Quality is determined in reference to the Specialty Coffee Association and Coffee Quality Institute’s grading standards, with all coffees source for P.S. achieving a minimum of 85 points out of a possible 100.
DO YOU HAVE THIRD-PARTY SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATION?
We are skeptic of most fair trade/organic/sustainability certifications. They often leave the financial burden on coffee producers who are, and let's be honest, not polluting anywhere near us folks in the Global North are.
Instead of focusing on these certification, we work towards a value system that uplifts everyone along the coffee supply chain. Through Semilla, our sourcing sister-company, we can connect directly with our coffee producer network to bring to life their ideas that come from, and work for, them towards a more sustainable, equitable value chain.