Colombia, Monteblanco - Gesha Gold

Harvest of Monteblanco's gesha begins with measuring sugar content of the coffee cherries to ensure they've reached the perfect ripeness for harvest. The freshly harvested cherries go through a process of floating the cherries in water to sort out defects and debris. They then sit for 48 hours before being depulped. Then the coffee is fermented for 12 hours and placed into sealed containers to be fermented anaerobically for another 60 hours. After all this, the coffee is finally ready to be fully washed and dried to the target humidity.

The gesha varietal is arguably the most prized and rarest coffee varietal on the planet. Its rarity is mostly due to how difficult the plant is to cultivate and its low fruit yields. But the hard work is worth it due to this plant’s ability to produce arguably the best and most unique flavor profiles of any coffee. As the saying goes, there is beauty in struggle.

Finca Monteblanco, is a family farm managed by Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia in the tradition of coffee cultivation that began with his grandfather. Monteblanco’s 18 hectares sit on the crest of a hill, with the wetmill and drying facilities at the top of the farm and slopes of coffee planted below.