Cafe Granja La Esperanza - XO Mandela by Rigoberto Herrera, Colombia

Stewed strawberry aroma followed by notes of candied strawberries, mature black cherries, boozy complexity and lime candy with a juicy mouthfeel and a long and succulent finish.

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Country: Colombia

Area: Trujillo, Valle del Cauca

Farm: La Esperanza

Producer: Rigoberto Herrara

Alt: 1760 msl

Varieties: Mandela

Fermentation: Anaerobic

Process: Natural

Variety:

Mandela is a self pollinated selection from Caturra x Caturra, choosing a bean that gave the best characteristics. This was then crossed with the Timor Hybrid in order to provide some resistance to rust, before being crossed again with Ethiopian landrace varietals such as Sudan Rume, Daleco, and Villa Sarchi. It was a bit of risk, but it paid off. Mandela turned out to be a great tasting variety. 

Process:

XO is a term they use for the coffees that underwent extended fermentation during processing that gives flavors reminiscent of aged cognac. 

Cherries are fermented in grainpro bags for 70 hours. With gentle rotation every 5 hours, each cherry absorbs its own flavorful essence, enhancing the natural acidity and fruity notes. To lock in quality and flavor, the cherries first go through three days of mechanical drying at a controlled temperature of 38-40°C. Then, they complete their drying phase naturally on raised beds for 12-15 days, developing boozyness and complexity. The beans rest in climate controlled conditions at 18-19°C, until they’re ready to be roasted.

Story:

Colombia Rigoberto Herrera, Café Granja La Esperanza 

The story begins when Blanca Ligia Correa and Juan Antonio Herrera – a couple with a love for specialty coffee, come to Valle del Cauca. When they arrived in this land, they began looking for land to open a farm. After many years of research, they decided to stop in the town of Calcedonia to build their first farm called Potosi. Until 1945, Café Granja La Esperanza was born.

At first, they only planted Typica coffee, divided and cared for small batches so that their coffee beans had the best quality. After many years of dedication to coffee, the couple has gradually been loved and supported by the Colombian people. The coffee business gradually became a foothold, so they decided to buy more farms in the Valle del Cauca region. This time, they have chosen places with more favorable climate and terrain conditions and planted more varieties of Bourbon yellow, Bourbon red and Caturra to diversify choices for customers. They hire more workers, spreading the inspiration about coffee beans to all employees and their children.

In the late 90s, that passion was inherited and developed stronger by Rigoberto Herrera and Luis Herrera – the children of the farm owner and his wife. After taking over, they immediately began to learn the most scientific ways to improve the quality of coffee beans. They began testing new coffee varieties, applying sustainable farming methods, and caring for coffee trees according to international standards. They are determined to cultivate organic coffee as well as promote investment in modern equipment to improve product quality and optimize processing processes.

The two operators Rigoberto and Luis began to believe deeply in their work and so their dream grew as the crops grew in different growing regions in their native Colombia. In 2003, they decided to export the region’s best and most unique specialty coffee. Thanks to unremitting efforts, the coffees at Café Granja La Esperanza farm make coffee enthusiasts admired with their unique and extremely attractive flavor profiles.

In 2007, Rigoberto Herrera and Luis Herrera had the opportunity to rent and manage a farm in Panama where they produced Gesha Coffee. They participated in Best of Panama and won first place with Gesha coffee from the Cerro Azul farm. This is an important milestone marking the beginning of a new era in the history of Café Granja La Esperanza.

From then until now, every day those people with a passion for coffee and community responsibility still live and continuously improve to bring Colombian coffee to a new level. With a focus on perfecting and improving processes and exclusive processing, the coffee bean profile here is always recognized and highly appreciated. That’s why Café Granja La Esperanza’s coffee has now won many prestigious awards such as Best of Panama, SCAA Best Coffee of the Year, World Barista Championship and Good Food Award.

Café Granja La Esperanza pursues the goal of creating the most perfect cups of coffee. Therefore, in addition to applying advanced scientific organic farming techniques, they constantly explore and innovate production and processing processes. To do that, farm operators have invested, built a quality laboratory to check the quality of coffee at every stage, from cultivation to roasting. Preliminary processing of the farm is also focused on development. Prominent can be mentioned are the X.O and Napoleon processes that enhance the flavor, creating a rich complex for the scent. They also have a team of Q-Grader experts to verify and analyze all of their coffee batches to ensure the best quality, uniformity and stability. In addition, Café Granja La Esperanza also collaborates with suppliers to share knowledge and good manufacturing practices, to ensure that each of their coffees has a score of 84 or higher.