Mandela

Mandela

We have worked with the team at Cafe Granja La Esperanza for over a decade; they are constant innovators, continuing to surprise us each year with new developments, techniques and a consistent dedication to quality. They even work with genetics, creating their own hybrid varietals through manual cross pollination of trees. Mandela, CGLE17 and San Juan are probably the best examples of this, aiming for high yields and a degree of disease resistance, but maintaining excellent quality. Mandela was born through generations of cross breeding, involving Caturra, Timor Hybrids and isolated Ethiopian heirloom strains like Sudan Rume and Geisha. Trees from these experiments were taken to the field at La Esperanza, the sister farm of Cerro Azul, just outside Trujillo in central Valle. Here, they were carefully selected and stabilised in order to plant more widely throughout the Cafe Granja project.

This is the first time we have purchased a Mandela lot, but we have tasted samples each year on our visits, and have toured the plot on La Esperanza several times. Mandela consistently carries the fruity and bright character of Caturra, alongside the floral complexity of its Ethiopian parentage, with minimal influence from Timor’s Robusta genetics.

When Rigoberto returned to Granja, he brought back not only experience, but Panamanian Geisha seeds. These seeds were the foundation for the next stage of growth, beginning to chase distinct flavour profiles and the high end specialty market. The experience of bringing a Panamanian varietal to Colombia was pivotal to Granja in their endeavour to adapt more exotic varietals to the Colombian soil, showcasing a wide view of the Cauca Valley terroir.

They have also begun to experiment with unique processing, using open and closed tank fermentations to create incredible control over fermentation, for both their washed and natural coffees. They also use mechanical drying extensively, allowing very tight control over length and degree of drying. This type of fermentation results in very low water usage, compared especially to traditional washed processing. This is another of Granja’s core values, focussing on sustainability. They have also worked very hard on maintaining local floral and fauna, using waste products from the farm to fire their mechanical driers, and switching to organic farming methods.