Colombia–Wilmar Guarnizo Gesha

Colombia – Wilmar Guarnizo Gesha

Region: Huila, Colombia

Producer: Wilmar Guarnizo

Altitude: 1800 – 1850 meters

Varieties: Gesha

Process: Washed 

Drying: Patio 15 days

Cupping notes: Plum, White Grape, Raspberry Tea

Cupping score: 87.5

Among the highlands of the municipality of Tarqui, Huila, you find a group of farms owned by ten siblings, the Guarnizo Family.

Each member of the family has their own farm and their own families. Some of them are neighbors, creating a village of just the family, and some of them lie in more remote areas of the municipality. However, all nine of them have the same objective, to produce some of the best coffee in Tarqui. Wilmar, one of the Guarnizo brothers, inherited the farm La Vega from his father in 2002 with not even one coffee tree on the land. He took the role of leader and guided and educated all his siblings in the process. They would even share their fermentation and drying stations with each other. 

When there is just a little coffee on the trees, at the beginning or at the end of the harvest, we all go to each other’s farms and help with the picking and post-harvest processes,says Wilmar. In Wilmar’s home, everyone is involved. His wife Tania and his daughter take care of the fermentation, hand-sorting and selection of cherries, as well as of the drying stations. Wilmar, with the help of his brothers, takes care of the coffee trees, growing new varietals, and conserving the local forests.