Natural process coffees are definitely one of CGLE’s specialities, every season we cup a lot of natural coffees from them and this year was the first time we have tasted their...
Natural process coffees are definitely one of CGLE’s specialities, every season we cup a lot of natural coffees from them and this year was the first time we have tasted their natural Pink Bourbon (in Colombia it’s often just shortened to just “Pink”). Although this was one of their most expensive lots, it was the pick of the bunch for us so we had to bring it in for our customers to experience. Like many of the CGLE naturals, this has their characteristic booziness, similar to a sweet white wine. It was also the sweetest lot that we cupped, reminding us of gummy bears and tropical fruit like ripe mango and passionfruit.
After taking over the family farm, dating back to the 1930s, Rigoberto and his brother, Luis decided to take their coffee in a new direction when they began growing organic coffee in the 90's. They soon acquired another farm, La Esperanza to keep up with organic production and in 2007 Rigoberto leased a farm in Panama called La Carleida. Here he won first prize for "Best Coffee in Panama" for a Geisha varietal, the seeds of which were brought back to Colombia starting a new era for coffee at Cafe Granja La Esperanza. Five farms now make up the Estate; Potosi, La Esperanza, Hawaii, Cerro Azul and Las Margaritas, growing competition winning coffees where varietals are matched with processes to create unique flavour profiles. We have been proud to work with Rigoberto and his team since 2014 and over the last 9 years we have been delighted to showcase many of their exiting coffees. This is a great example of the long-term relationships that we aim to build with all of our partners at origin.
Granja la Esperanza is a well-known producer in the world of speciality coffee due to the wide range of super high-end coffees that they produce. However, they have also shared their success with their local community in many ways. During harvest time, Café Granja look after their pickers by paying them by time not by weight and they also provide free meals and even a place to stay in their ‘barracks’. As well as looking after their own team of workers, they also help out several cooperatives in neighbouring regions by working alongside the farmers and in the washing stations to improve the cup quality so they can earn higher prices for their coffees.
As early adopters of organic production back in the 90’s, it’s clear that Rigoberto and his team have a huge respect for their land and ecosystem. All of their coffee plants are densely intercropped with a variety of other plants from shrubs to tall canopy trees including banana, guava, cacao, guanabana and many more. Not only does this help reduce the spread of pests like Broca but it also encourages birds and wildlife which in turn help by eating the Broca.
Pink Bourbon is a variety that has gained a lot of attention in the speciality coffee world in recent years, and this is mostly because of the delicious cup quality that it can produce. Interestingly, Pink Bourbon has not actually been genotyped yet so we can’t actually be sure what exactly it is! As the name suggests, the cherries are usually a pinkish colour, although they can also appear more orange and sometimes striped. This has led people to believe that it is hybrid of Red Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon.
It is also believed that there are different strains of Pink Bourbon and as it is likely to be a hybrid, some are stable while others can revert back to either Red or Yellow Bourbon. This can also lead to varying cup qualities from different lots, some can be very high scoring, with high sweetness and floral notes, similar to some coffees from Southern Ethiopia, while other lots of Pink Bourbon sometimes can have a flatter cup profile.
Harvesting is done by hand by pickers that receive thorough training to ensure they only pick cherries at the correct ripeness. After this, cherries are sorted by being floated in small tanks where the floating cherries are scooped up and separated. The cherries that sink are the correct ripeness. After this, cherries are fermented in special barrels with controlled temperature for 48 hours with no water. Barrels are closed but not sealed in order to allow an aerobic fermentation. After fermentation, the coffee cherries are left for another 48 hours in mechanical dryers and then pass to solar dryers for about 15 days depending on the weather until the dry cherries reach a moisture level of 11 to 12%.