Shoebox Coffee Roasters - Marlon Bolaños Gesha Washed | Colombia

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Colombia — Marlon Bolaños The Three Coffee Farmers Gesha (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍑 Yellow Fig • 🍍 Pineapple • 🍵 Bergamot

DETAILS

• Producer: Marlon Bolaños (The Three Coffee Farmers)
• Region: Huila, Colombia
• Varietal: Gesha
• Process: Washed (48hr Underwater In-Cherry + 48hr Dry Fermentation)
• Source: Unblended Coffee

INTRO

From Marlon Bolaños's project The Three Coffee Farmers — a Gesha of extraordinary juiciness and acidity, built on one of the most technically interesting two-stage fermentation protocols in Huila. Forty-eight hours submerged in cherry underwater, then drained and left in the same barrels to dry-ferment naturally for a further 48 hours, then fully washed and dried on raised beds. The result is a fruit bomb that leapt off the cupping table. In the cup: yellow fig, pineapple, and bergamot, with starfruit, mango, grapefruit, and yellow florals throughout.

THE PRODUCER

Marlon Bolaños grew up in a coffee producing family in Huila but didn't develop a serious interest in the crop until the age of 17, when he enrolled in a barista education course at SENA — learning brewing, green coffee grading, and sensory analysis. Upon returning, he began planting differentiated varietals including Pink Bourbon, Gesha, and Chiroso, and started experimenting with new fermentation techniques on each successive harvest. The farm is now owned and operated by Marlon and his two brothers, Pedro and Hemerson — Marlon leading quality control, fermentation protocols, sampling, and part of the logistics operation.

Marlon has competed and won in multiple barista and brewing competitions, taking spring water from the family farm for brewing — water whose natural trace mineral composition has earned it the nickname "Champion's Water" among peers, now coveted by producers and baristas across the region.

Gesha, first collected from the coffee forests of Ethiopia in the 1930s and brought to global prominence at the 2005 Best of Panama competition, is one of the world's most celebrated and sought-after varieties. In Marlon's hands in Huila — with a two-stage fermentation protocol that unlocks extraordinary fruit complexity while maintaining exceptional cleanliness — it reaches a particularly vivid and compelling expression.

THE PROCESS

The Two-Stage Washed Fermentation process involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Gesha cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 💧 48-hour underwater in-cherry fermentation — Whole cherries submerged in water in sealed barrels for 48 hours 🌬️ Drain and dry-ferment — Barrels fully drained and cherries left in the same barrels to dry-ferment naturally for a further 48 hours 🔧 Depulping & full washing — Fully washed after the dry fermentation phase to remove all fruit residue ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Dried on raised beds for 10–15 days

The two-stage fermentation — 48 hours underwater followed by 48 hours dry in the same barrel — is the defining step. The first phase builds the intense juiciness and tropical fruit depth that define this lot; the second phase, fermenting in its own moisture without additional water, adds a layer of aromatic complexity and dried fruit richness that pushes the cup into a genuinely extraordinary register, while the thorough washing after both phases preserves the clean, bright acidity that makes every note leap from the cup.

THE CUP

A fruit bomb washed Gesha from one of Huila's most technically accomplished and creatively driven producers — yellow fig sweetness, pineapple and mango tropical juiciness, bergamot citrus complexity, and a grapefruit and pomelo acidity that is intensely juicy and electrifyingly alive. Confirmed on first sip, and unforgettable thereafter.

Flavour Notes

🍑 Yellow Fig 🍍 Pineapple 🍵 Bergamot