Story
“La Colmena,” or “the beehive,” is a beautifully fitting name for this four-producer blend from the Montanchez family in Huila, Colombia. The idea for it came from Esnaider Ortega-Gomez and Didier Ortega of Monkaaba, a smallholder coffee grower empowerment initiative based in the town of San Agustin. Monkaaba is essentially a “sister company” to our importing partner, Semilla, for all of their operations in Colombia. Monkaaba’s goal, as expressed by Semilla, is to “assist growers in the area to not only find a better market for their coffee, one that pays a solid price, but also to invest in the knowledge and skill of producers in a way that ensures their future success.” Esnaider is exceptionally poised to bring this goal to fruition. With over ten years’ experience as a sample roaster and cupper—in addition to his work in the field—Esnaider has cultivated a uniquely keen perspective on what contributes to effective market access for his neighbors’ coffees. Through this process, one of his key insights has been the acknowledgment that most growers never receive clear context for why their coffee may or may not resonate with potential buyers—a manifestation of gatekeeping that is extremely prevalent throughout the industry. This degree of obscurity keeps a huge number of producers from ever pursuing a path toward specialty, and Esnaider seeks to disrupt this status quo by holding weekly cupping and providing open feedback and training to anyone he works with. This sort of engagement and open distribution of knowledge is absolutely fundamental toward building a more equitable supply chain, and few entities are making it happen as effectively as Monkaaba. This broad basis of success brings us back to the name—La Colmena. Just as a beehive relies upon the fluid synergy of many individuals in a complex system, this blend brings together various members of the Monkaaba network toward a sweet, beautiful finished product. With coffee grown by three members of the Montanchez family as well as Pastor Ordoñez, La Colmena features some individuals who have already produced phenomenal micro-lots of their own, as well as some who are earlier on their trajectory toward that goal. Their combined contributions coalesce toward a balanced, well-rounded coffee that earned fair compensation across the board, and will be a meaningful step toward a fuller realization of each individual’s goals as specialty producers. In the cup, we taste cacao, brown sugar, and green apple.
