MARIA OMAIRA, Washed Gesha

Late last year we travelled to Colombia to take part in the “La Mejor Taza” auction in Pasto, Nariño. The region borders Ecuador and is known for its excellent quality so we were really excited to be involved as part of the international jury. Juan and Jayne from Carnival Coffee Roasters were also taking part and we jumped at the chance to purchase this amazing coffee to present as a collaborative release, showcasing the quality of coffees from this region.

This coffee comes from the highlands of Nariño, where Maria carefully cultivates around 1,500 Gesha trees which contributed to this lot. Handpicked at peak ripeness, the cherries are first floated to remove defects, ensuring only the highest quality fruit moves into processing. The process starts with a 24 hour pre-fermentation in cherry, allowing natural microbial activity to build early aromatic complexity. The cherries are then de-pulped and transferred to a open tanks where the seeds rest with their mucilage to continue fermentation, enhancing sweetness, structure, and clarity in the cup. After 24 hours the coffee is thoroughly washed to remove any remaining mucilage, ensuring a clean, consistent profile.

Drying takes place on raised beds in a structure known as a marquesina and can take anywhere between 15 and 30 days, depending on the climate conditions. This slow, controlled drying promotes even moisture reduction, maintaining quality and shelf life. Finally, the dried parchment coffee is rested before milling, allowing the internal moisture to homogenise. The result is a refined washed Gesha with clarity, sweetness, and a delicate yet structured cup profile.

Maria Omaira, from the community of Cusillo Bajo in La Unión, Nariño, was born in 1969 and has dedicated over 45 years to coffee cultivation. Growing up in a coffee producing region, their life has been closely tied to the land, building deep knowledge through hands on experience and continuous learning. They focus on quality driven coffee production. What began as a small scale project evolved into a committed pursuit of excellence, with a clear goal: to participate in and win the Cup of Excellence, showcasing the potential of their coffees on an international stage.

Today, on their one hectare farm located at 2,080 meters above sea level, they cultivate Gesha under the shade of fruit trees such as lemon, orange, and native arrayán. This biodiversity contributes to a stable microclimate, and El Cuadradero represents a balance between tradition, sustainability, and a strong ambition to produce outstanding coffees.

Gesha is a coffee variety originally collected from Ethiopian forests in the 1930s. It was sent to the Lyamungu research station in Tanzania, then brought to Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Central America in 1953, where it was logged as accession T2722. Recognized for its tolerance to coffee leaf rust, CATIE distributed it widely throughout Panama in the 1960s. However, farmers didn't favor it due to its brittle branches and relatively low yield, so it wasn't widely planted.

There are actually multiple genetically distinct plant types referred to as Gesha, many sharing similar Ethiopian origins. World Coffee Research has confirmed that the Panamanian Gesha descendant of T2722 is a distinct and uniform variety. When managed well at high altitude, its cup profile can be phenomenal, known for delicate floral and peach aromas.

The lack of a standard translation from Ethiopian dialects to English has resulted in two interchangeably used spellings. The coffee was originally collected near a mountain commonly rendered in English as "Gesha." However, it was first recorded in germplasm records as "Geisha," a spelling mostly maintained by coffee researchers and germplasm banks for decades. The use of "Geisha" is problematic, though, as its non-coffee context carries specific connotations that many feel have been misappropriated for marketing value.

Gesha's global reputation was cemented by the Peterson family of Boquete. Their Hacienda Esmeralda won the Best of Panama competition in 2004 with this variety. The following year, their Gesha received exceptionally high marks and broke the then-record for green coffee auction prices, selling for over $20/pound.

The washed process was designed to minimise the risk of off-flavours caused by uncontrolled fermentation during the natural process. Cherries are typically sorted using a flotation tank, where under-ripe or defective fruits float to the top and can be removed. The remaining cherries are then pulped and left in a tank to ferment until the sticky fruit mucilage is soft enough to be washed off the parchment, a paper-like layer surrounding the seed.

The design and cleanliness of the tanks used for fermentation are crucial, and the type, degree and speed of microbial activity depends on various factors. These include the amount of fruit remaining, the presence of bacteria and yeasts, whether the tank is filled with water, and the environmental conditions.

Once the mucilage has sufficiently degraded, it's washed away with water. The remaining parchment coffee, as it's commonly called, is then dried until it reaches a safe moisture content. The bacteria rich and sugary water used in the process must be treated carefully, as it can cause algae blooms if it enters streams and rivers.

In situations where large amounts of coffee are processed in bulk, such as in Ethiopia, some operations have found it economical to use a mechanical de-mucilager. This device removes all the fruit from the parchment with minimal water, bypassing the fermentation stage entirely. However, some believe this leads to a reduction in cup quality, as many flavour precursors are created through fermentation.