About This Single Origin 

Colombia Tres Dragones | Caicedonia (Café Granja La Esperanza)

ROAST:  Filter Roast

PROCESS: Anaerobic natural 

REGION: Caicedonia

ELEVATION: 1500-1950

VARIETAL:  Colombia

CUP: Black spiced rum, Liqueur cherries, Dark chocolate

The Potosi Farm in the Caicedonia region is owned and operated by two brothers, Rigoberto and Luis Eduardo Herrera. These two brothers are generational coffee farmers and are part of a larger group known as Granja La Esperanza. Quintessentially, this is heritage Colombian coffee. Both brothers left Colombia in the 1970s to study engineering abroad, only to return in 1998 to reconstruct their family’s coffee farm. Under new leadership this farm has transformed from producing commercial grade coffee to some of the most exotic and rare coffees on the planet. 

The fresh vision of the two brothers coupled with the longstanding, generational coffee knowledge of their friends and family is showcased in the cup. Unlike traditional coffee farms that pay pickers based on weight of coffee harvested in a given day, Granja La Esperanza actually pays pickers by days worked. This incentivises the trained pickers to focus on quality rather than quantity, ensuring that only the ripest cherries are harvested at their optimal time. 

According to the brothers, Granja La Esperanza has 3 foundational pillars of quality control: coffee varietal, terroir and human talent. Of course, the people of Ganja La Esperanza are the most important part of this foundation. 

The name Tres Dragones actually comes from the fabled 3 mechanical dryers that are used to process coffee on the Potosi farm. The rate that coffee is dried has a huge impact on what flavours within the coffee are best preserved and the intensity of the final cup. This decision is critical and made after considering a range of variables such as starting moisture, fermentation, ambient temperature and et cetera. 

Several years ago, in the earlier days of Manta Ray, we served this coffee from the Potosi farm and we are delighted to welcome it back again! In the cup we have been finding black spiced rum, Liqueur cherries and dark chocolate.