Colombia Marleyi Córdoba Tabi

Producer: Marleyi Córdoba
Farm: El Diviso, 2 hectares
Region: Los Robles, San Agustín, Huila, Colombia
Variety: Tabi
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1,980 masl 
Tasting Notes: Sweet and nutty. Notes of malt and green tea, with a fruity lift and a quick, clean finish. Medium to light body.
Importer: Semilla

About the Producer

Marleyi Córdoba's path to specialty coffee is one of resilience and quiet determination. Her family migrated from the Cauca department to San Agustín when she was just seven years old, settling on a small one-hectare plot and slowly beginning to cultivate coffee. The high altitude made early attempts difficult—the cold temperatures were unforgiving—and for years, the farm struggled to produce enough to make specialty a real possibility.

Marleyi left school young and found work in nearby cities, but in 2018, a family tragedy brought her back. After losing her brother suddenly, and with her father leaving the farm, Marleyi and her mother found themselves solely responsible for its future. Running a farm as a woman in rural Colombia is still uncommon, and the work was relentless. To stay afloat, she adopted a practice called "jornal al cambio": trading a day's labour on neighbouring farms for a day of work on her own.

Rather than retreating, she expanded. Marleyi negotiated an additional hectare of land and, inspired by her friend and fellow producer Jhon Jairo Gómez, planted the Tabi variety, a choice she believed could thrive at her elevation of nearly 2,000 masl. Today, El Diviso spans 2 hectares, and her Tabi is processed with real intention: cherries ferment for twelve hours in a wooden tank, are then depulped and sealed in clear plastic bags for 72 hours, drained in mesh bags, and finally dried on raised beds for 20–25 days.

Semilla first purchased from Marleyi in 2021. We're proud to carry her coffee and honoured to share the story of someone who has overcome so much to be here.

About Semilla & Monkaaba

Marleyi is a member of Monkaaba, a smallholder empowerment initiative in San Agustín founded by Esnaider Ortega Gómez. Monkaaba's mission is to build a more equitable coffee supply chain—not just by connecting producers to better markets, but by investing in their knowledge and confidence as growers. Through weekly cupping sessions open to all, Esnaider has created a space where producers of every age and experience level can evaluate their own coffees, understand quality, and grow alongside one another.

Semilla partners closely with Monkaaba because this kind of community-rooted work reflects exactly what sourcing should look like: real relationships, shared knowledge, and producers who are active participants, not instruments, in the supply chain.

This summary is based on information provided by our partner and green bean supplier, Semilla.