Ahh yes it is back and as good as ever. This naturally processed micro-lot comes from the Colombian masters Cafe Granja Esperanza from their farm 'La Esperanza'. This little known variety, Mandela, is one of the many experimental varieties created by the Colombian Coffee Research Centre CENICAFE. It's lineage is from Carturra and Ethiopian landrace.

This 'natural' aka 'dried in the skin' has undergone 36hrs dry fermentation immediately after picking, then left for 48hrs in the silo dryers before final sun-drying. It's then held in storage (reposo) for at least one month to stabilise and reduce the astringency of 'freshness'.

Five farms make up Café Granja La Esperanza – Cerro Azul, Las Margaritas, La Esperanza, Potosi and Hawaii. Cerro Azul and La Esperanza are located in the municipality of Trujillo, Las Margaritas and Potosi are in Caicedonia and Hawaii is in Sasaima, Cundinamarca

Café Granja La Esperanza represents the heart of the Colombian Coffee Culture. The original farm “Potosí” was acquired by Israel Correa and Carmen Rosa Vega (grandmother) in 1930, when they arrived to the northern area of Valle del Cauca, as part of a cultural, economic and social, movement called La Colonización Antioqueña (The Antiochian Colonization) where many families, mainly from the Department of Antioquia started to seek unoccupied land in the central and southern regions of Colombia. The couple had 14 children among them Blanca Ligia Correa (mother) who married Juan Antonio Herrera (father), they were assigned to work and live at the Potosí farm. In 1945 Juan Antonio decided to introduce three different varieties to the existing Typica, and that is how he started a crop of Yellow Bourbon, Red Bourbon and Caturra. This was the birth of Café Granja La Esperanza in 1945.

Over the coming years, there were not major changes in their way of life, besides of rising a big family that was the Colombian tradition in those days. Following this and the lack of labor, the children of the family were able to compensate by doing farm work. After 11 children and many years of hard work, the farm was very productive regardless of the internal changes in the country and the ups and downs of the international coffee market. Two of the eleven children, Rigoberto and Luis, showed especial interest in coffee production and processing, deciding to give a new direction to this product, changing the crops to organic in the late 90’s. Besides Potosí, another farm in the Trujillo region was acquired to enlarge the organic production, La Esperanza farm. In the year 2007 Don Rigo had the chance to lease and manage a coffee farm in the region of Boquete in Panama, called “La Carleida”, and a year later obtained the first place in the “Best of Panama”, organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama. At this point he decided to bring some of the Geisha seeds to Colombia, starting a new era in the history of Granja La Esperanza.

Today, Café Granja La Esperanza specialises in the production and of specialty coffee varieties and marketing those directly into every specialty coffee market around the world. Their profiles are recognised and highly appreciated, and every day they continue to improve and always seek to make a difference.

La Esperanza Mandela Natural

Artisan coffee roaster based in Exeter, Devon. Small batches roasted to order using only ethically sourced speciality grade coffee which changes frequently with the seasons and selected because of it's flavour characteristics. Some coffee might be fair-trade, some might be organic, some RFA but these are not primarly purchasing criteria. It's all about the taste!

La Esperanza Mandela Natural

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La Esperanza Mandela Natural