Colombia — Oscar Hernández Los Nogales Grand Reserve Red Gesha (Dark Room Dried Natural)

Tastes Like — 🌸 Complex Florals • 🍑 Peach • 🍍 Pineapple • 🍵 Oolong Tea

DETAILS

• Producer: Oscar Hernández
• Farm: Los Nogales
• Region: Pitalito, Huila, Colombia
• Variety: Red Gesha
• Process: Dark Room Dried Natural (DRD)
• Size: 340g (12oz)

INTRO

Los Nogales is one of Huila's most storied coffee farms — established by patriarch Ricardo Hernández in 1952 and now stewarded by his grandson Oscar, a third-generation producer combining tradition with ambitious innovation. The Grand Reserve DRD showcases the farm's finest Red Gesha lot, processed using the highly controlled dark-room drying method that coaxes remarkable clarity from a naturally processed coffee.

THE PRODUCER

Oscar Hernández grew up surrounded by coffee on the hills of Pitalito. His grandfather Ricardo built the farm; his father Ricaurte expanded it into a specialty powerhouse; and Oscar has taken it further still, bringing his background in environmental management to bear on sustainable farming practices that will carry Los Nogales into the next generation.

The Hernández family have spent decades combining tradition with innovation, and the Grand Reserve DRD represents the pinnacle of that effort — their finest variety, their most technically demanding process, their best lot.

THE PROCESS

The Dark Room Dried Natural (DRD) process at Los Nogales involves:

• 🍒 Selective Harvesting — Red Gesha cherries handpicked at peak ripeness
• ✅ Sorting — Sorted for density and ripeness consistency
• 🌡️ Controlled Environment — Coffee moved to a UV-free dark room with tight temperature and humidity controls
• 📅 Slow Drying — Cherries dried very slowly in the absence of direct light, preserving aromatics and minimising fermentation influence
• ☀️ Stabilisation — Coffee stabilised to optimal moisture content before milling

Originally coined by the Hartman family in Panama, DRD produces a naturally processed coffee with the clean, transparent character more typically associated with washed lots — a remarkable technical achievement.

THE CUP

Boasting complex florals and vibrant acidity, the Grand Reserve DRD showcases Gesha's inherent character whilst keeping the processing influence beautifully subtle. Stone fruit like peach and tropical pineapple play against one another, underpinned by a long, elegant oolong tea finish that lingers with impressive persistence.

Flavour Notes

• 🌸 Complex Florals
• 🍑 Peach
• 🍍 Pineapple
• 🍵 Oolong Tea