The information in this blog post is excerpted from an interview with Esnaider Ortega Gomez and Didier Ortega during their visit to Berlin in October 2024. Photos are from co-founder Anabel’s visit to monKaaba’s home base in San Agustín Huila in July 2024.

La Colmena is a field blend that includes coffees produced by emerging smallholders farmers within the monKaaba network. It’s designed to provide opportunities for producers who are still building the know-how and expertise required to produce micro-lots of exceptional quality. By pooling their coffees into a collective blend, these producers can participate in the specialty coffee market while continuing to develop their craft.

monKaaba was founded by six smallholder families in 2019 and has since grown to 80 families in 2024. The young producers Esnaider Ortega Gomez and Didier Ortega lead daily operations at the monKaaba warehouse and have gradually been pulling in more young producers to work in various paid roles including quality analysis, cupping, sample roasting, and preparing coffees for export.

Photo: Silvia Ordonez's green coffee sack proudly displayed in her home.

The idea for monKaaba, says Didier, “is based on the fact that there is a mutual feedback of everyone's knowledge and experiences in order to achieve an optimal coffee of very good quality. But this is a learning process.”

According to Esnaider, when monKaaba first started, the focus was on micro lots. “Every coffee should come out with recognition of the producer. That was one of our main objectives. To give true recognition to the producer.” This was particularly important since many producers were accustomed to selling to intermediaries for very low prices and with a complete loss of traceability, even when the coffee was of high quality.

While individual micro-lots remain a key focus for Monkaaba, La Colmena provides a space for coffees that might not yet meet the strict standards required to be marketed independently but are still products of dedication, time, and energy.

As Esnaider describes it, taking only the “best” lots from each producer felt somewhat at odds with the project’s philosophy. “We felt a little strange and bad because it was like we were taking only the best of this person, like their best coffees. So when we saw that we could support in this way - to have coffees that are still very good but that cannot be marketed as micro lots; that we are buying the best, but also coffees that have been injected with the same work, the same time, the same energy, the same intention that they should be good. But for one reason or another they are not enough. For the producer it is something that sometimes is out of their control, too.”

La Colmena thus serves as a real and meaningful support system. It allows producers to sell larger volumes of coffee to monKaaba, ensuring they benefit financially from their efforts while maintaining motivation to strive for higher-quality output. The blend represents their work, passion, and progress, even if it isn’t marketed under their individual names. As Esnaider says, because of monKaaba’s support, the producers feel that La Colmena represents them.

Photo: Edil Quinaya's first green coffee export bag hangs on a wall of his home.

La Colmena thus serves as a real and meaningful support system. It allows producers to sell larger volumes of coffee to monKaaba, ensuring they benefit financially from their efforts while maintaining motivation to strive for higher-quality output. The blend represents their work, passion, and progress, even if it isn’t marketed under their individual names. As Esnaider says, because of monKaaba’s support, the producers feel that La Colmena represents them.

The creation of La Colmena blend in the monKaaba warehouse is as meticulous as the work of the producers. Each coffee included in the blend is carefully assessed and cupped to ensure quality. According to Esnaider, the coffee “has to have certain quality parameters to be included in this blend. The idea is to offer a blend that is always very balanced.

For young and emerging producers, La Colmena is a springboard of sorts. It allows them to see their work recognized in a meaningful way while working toward the goal of marketing their name on micro-lots in the future. Esnaider adds, “in the end, many producers do achieve their own recognition with their name on their export bag, on their sack, on their farm, on their micro lot.”

For us at Warawul, we knew from the start that we wanted to find a place for La Colmena on our coffee menu. La Colmena highlights the strength of community and the value of collective effort in specialty coffee. For the monKaaba group in San Agustín, Huila, it opens doors for young and new producers and gives them the tools, feedback, and space to know how to assess the quality of their own coffee and to learn and evolve and to achieve autonomy. For coffee lovers, it’s a chance to taste the fruits of collaboration and dedication—a blend that reflects the vibrant diversity and striving for excellence of Monkaaba’s producers.

Photo: Samples of green coffee waiting to be assessed at the monKaaba bodega in San Agustín.

This year’s La Colmena includes contributions from the producers Gloria Ortega, Harold Ortega, Benedicto Fernandez, Alejandro Galindez, Celina Samboni, Orlando Quinayas, Yivier Quinayas, Julian Burbano, Diego Burbano, Maria Ortega, Victor Ortega, Yuri Montanchez, Robert Montanchez, Mauricio Montanchez, Henry Muñoz, Jose Burbano, Marleyi Cordoba, Didier Galindez, Jenaro Burbano, Marleyi Burbano, Damian Bolaños, Angel Ortega, Didier Ortega, Jaime Burbano, Silvio Ordoñez, Esnaider Ortega Gomez, Arley Galindez, Sebastian Hoyos, and Armel Burbano.

We’ve roasted La Colmena medium-light to bring out sweet notes of cacao and red apple. It’s an easy drinking coffee perfect for sharing at gatherings with family and friends.