Colombia Granja La Esperanza Bourbon Honey

About Colombia Granja La Esperanza Bourbon Honey

A fantastic coffee from Granja La Esperanza, this time a honey processed coffee from the Las Margaritas farm. This red bourbon varietal is partially depulped during processing, leaving 50% of the mucilage on the bean, giving it a honey color, hence the name. The Las Margaritas sits at an altitude of 1550-1650 meters above sea level in a province called Campo Azul.

Cafe Granja La Esperanza manages 3 farms: Cerro Azul, Potosi, and Las Margaritas in eight distinct microclimates located in three mountain ranges in Colombia, which gives the experienced agronomists behind Cafe Granja La Esperanza plenty of room to experiment with a number of variables, such as microclimates, processing methods, and varietals. The team at Granja La Esperanza is driven by a combination of science, business, and an obsession with quality coffee. The team creates milling and processing protocols tailored for each distinctive microclimate and varietal.

The staff is so dedicated to quality and research that they recently spent two years studying the famous Geisha varietal in Boquete Panama, on a property adjacent to the famed Peterson Esmeralda farm, before becoming the first producers to bring the varietal to Colombia at their Finca Cerro Azul in Trujillo. Their dedication to quality goes so far that coffee harvesters must demonstrate a level of excellence during a five month training period before being qualified to pick the Geisha cherries at the peak of ripeness.

In addition to winning the Triple Crown Award at SCAA in 2012, coffee from one of their farms, Finca Cerro Azul, was ranked second place with a score of 88.25. Coffees from Cafe Granja La Esperanza were also used in competition by the winners of the Brewer's Cup and Roasters Choice Awards. Their hard work was described as an "unrelenting quest to steadily obtain the most perfect cup of coffee" and this coffee is proof of their success in this quest.

Region: Caicedonia, Campo Azul
Producer: Granja La Esperanza
Altitude: 1550-1650 meters; 5100-5450 feet
Cultivar: Red Bourbon
Milling: Honey Process (semi-fermented)
Picking: Only full matured cherries

Cup Characteristics: Very sweet and caramelly with aroma of molasses. Crisp, lemon acidity. Floral, chocolate malt flavors and a creamy, viscous mouth feel, ending with clean finish with some lingering chocolate final notes.

Roasting Notes: This high grown coffee can be roasted to a number of levels, from City to French, but a roast approaching second crack will preserve sweetness while displaying depth.