Supreme Coffee: Colombia Hermanos Burbano

Region: San Agustín, Huila Altitude: 1930 m.a.s.l. Variety: Gesha Processing: Washed

UK Arrival: July 2026

Tasting Notes: Bursting with florals reminiscent of white rose and bergamot. Layered with summery notes of peach, tangerine and lemon verbena supported by a silky texture.

This elegant Gesha comes from El Quebradon in San Agustin, Colombia from a farm founded by three brothers, José, Miguel Ángel and Jesús Burbano. Their story started when their uncle Jaime Muñoz offered José his own farmland to cultivate coffee, but José did not accept right away and instead asked that his brothers would also have a fair share of the farm. Jaime accepted this proposal and thus El Quebradon was born. 

The brothers are not the only coffee producers in their family. The eldest of nine siblings, Jenaro Burbano was the one to instill the passion for specialty coffee in his brother José and the family have all worked the land since a very young age. The brothers have used their experience and passion to build El Quebradon into not only a family business, but an exciting and creative project that produces coffee sustainably for themselves and the benefit of their land and communities. Each brother brings in his own set of skills and their collaborative approach is reflected in the exceptional coffee they produce. They have continued training in production processes, agronomic management, and quality control. Today they receive technical assistance from an engineer who guides them at every stage of cultivation, strengthening their knowledge and improving results.

Instead of planting more common and high producing coffee varieties, the Burbano brothers decided to utilise the great terroir and climate of San Agustin. They chose more exotic cultivars, such as Pacamara, Sidra, Chiroso and of course this beautiful Gesha. The high elevation, cooler temperatures and rich soil are the perfect conditions to ensure their trees get the best nutrition and are able to develop the maximum sweetness in their fruits.

Washed Processing

This washed Gesha lot is subject to meticulous processing. Only the fully ripe cherries were picked every twenty days between January and March of this year, then they were placed in a wooden hopper to ferment overnight. The next morning they were de-pulped, before a wet fermentation for 72 hours. This developed more of the fruit qualities and silky texture in the coffee while also assisting in breaking down the fruit mucilage on the seeds. Afterwards, they were rinsed four times to clean off the mucilage residue and laid out on raised beds until just the outer parchment layer started to dry. At this point they were moved together into large mounds, slowing down the final drying time to between 21 to 29 days. This slow drying preserved the fruity esters created during fermentation and locked in the more delicate notes of the Gesha, enhancing the floral profile in the final cup.

History of Gesha

The Gesha variety has a long and industry-defining history in specialty coffee. It was an Ethiopian cultivar that first rose to fame back in the early 2000’s when Panamanian farm Hacienda la Esmerelda entered their gesha lot into the Panama cup of Excellence. Cuppers thought there must have been an accidental Ethiopian grown coffee on the table as its fruity sweetness and complex florality was unlike anything being produced in Panama at the time. It won the national competition and was quickly adopted by many other farms throughout Panama, even spreading across Central and South America in Honduras, Costa Rica and Colombia. Since then it has also been the variety of choice for many Barista Championship and Brewers Cup competitors, having won countless national championships and multiple world titles in the past two decades. 

Semilla & Monkaaba

This will be the first lot we have bought from Semilla and the Monkaaba group, with whom we have connected through our friend Rachel Beebe. After roasting with us for eight years we were ve

Produced by José, Miguel Ángel, and Jesús Burbano, this lot from San Agustín, Huila, represents a meticulous approach to cultivation in one of Colombia’s most celebrated coffee regions. The Burbano brothers have utilized the washed process to highlight the inherent characteristics of the Gesha varietal, a plant globally recognized for its potential for exceptional floral and tea-like clarity. Roasted by Steampunk Coffee, this selection showcases a delicate profile defined by white rose, bergamot, peach, tangerine, and lemon verbena.

While Gesha is often prized for its complex, aromatic elegance, the specific expression of these notes can vary significantly based on terroir and post-harvest handling. To better understand how these distinct descriptors align with professional sensory standards, tasters may find it helpful to reference the flavor wheel. This coffee serves as a refined example of how careful processing at 1930 masl can elevate the profile of a high-quality harvest.