Rigoberto Herrera Cafe La Granja XO Gesha
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Varietal: GESHA
Region: Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Altitude: 1700-2000m
About The Cup
This coffee comes to us with an intense fruity aroma, even green, and a distinctive cognac-like flavor in the cup, from whence the process gets its name. The Gesha XO is a different tax bracket coffee and totally unique.
About Cafe La Granja and the XO Process
Cafe La Granja Esperanza, comprising of four separate farms (La Esperanza, Cerro Azul, Las Margaritas, and Potosi), is overseen by Rigoberto and Luis Herrera. Inherited from their grandparents, the brothers meticulously oversee diverse microclimates for optimal cherry quality. Cerro Azul was once an organic farm; it has since lost that certification, the disease-resistant trees remain. “Don Rigo” has dubbed the new variety selection “San Juan,” and his marketing manager said it’s an “improved” Colombia cultivar that yields larger fruits and seed size. They’ve undertaken a unique fermentation and drying process for the selection, dubbed “XO” in honor of the cognac notes that result in the cup – “XO” means “Extra Old” and is used to designate some of the highest quality, longest aged cognacs. the process involves cherries that are strictly hand-picked only when perfectly ripe by highly trained employees. They are then fermented with the skin and mucilage for about 48 hours. After fermentation, the coffee is left in the silo for a resting period of up to 72 hours. The skin is then mechanically removed without water, and finally, there is a second fermentation step with parchment and mucilage only is about 10 days of silo-aged drying.
About the Varietal