Colombia Guitierrez Red Honey Gesha
The Coffee
Colombia Guitierrez Red Honey Gesha from Blanchard's Coffee Roasting Co.
| Country | Colombia |
| Region | Tolima |
| Farm | Finca Monteverde |
| Farmer(s) | Giladaro Guitierrez, Miralba Falla |
| Varietal(s) | Gesha |
| Processing | Red Honey |
| Altitude | 1900m |
From the Roaster:
...I am putting a warning on this coffee. It is not reminiscent of any coffee you have ever had. It is weird... It is delicate and complex with notes we don’t usually find in coffee. Wild onions, blood orange, hibiscus, and chamomile...
The Review
Smell
During brewing the coffee was giving out suggestive yet subtle notes that were both floral and blueberry like. The brewed cup continues in this subtle manner. At one moment it smells like blossoming trees in my neighborhood at springtime, and in another it smells like very fat and sweet blueberries (the kind that aren't tart). There the slightest herbal note, when combined with roast-related smells, is reminiscent of sweet caramelized onions.
Taste
On the first sip an expansive medium-heavy milk chocolate body coats and moves across the palate, carrying with small hits of savory that hit in random places. The floral and berry attributes are there, but are wrapped in this heavy savory milk chocolate blanket and therefore are a bit less accessible. On the finish, the body unhurriedly exits the stage leaving roasted savory remnants. As it cools, the floral component becomes a little easier to find, but it still does not present with much acidity or force.
This coffee is like some wonderfully ridiculous single origin chocolate bar that has sweet caramelized onion bits in it. There are some subtle fruit notes but they aren't obvious, they are like the ones you find in excellent single origin chocolate.
Thoughts
My first sip of this was completely contrary to what I was expecting. I was expecting light body, clean floral notes, and maybe some fermented blueberry characteristic of the processing method. Instead what I encountered was a Gesha transformed by the processing method almost entirely into something else. If my hand was forced, I would almost always prefer to taste the cleaner washed representation of such a high-end coffee as this but the effect of processing on the experience is unique enough here that is was very much worth exploring. The beans appear to be roasted very lightly. I commend the folks at Blanchard's coffee for having a very light touch with this one as it is a very unique experience. They get even more kudos for having the courage to state "Wild Onions" as a tasting note on an expensive bag of coffee.
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Grab some Colombia Guitierrez Red Honey Gesha from Blanchard's Coffee Roasting Co. for yourself.