Hydrangea Coffee Roasters - Gesha Natural Cerro Azul CGLE

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Colombia — Rigoberto & Luis Eduardo Herrera Granja La Esperanza Cerro Azul Gesha (Natural)

Tastes Like — 🍓 Candied Strawberry • 🍐 Guava • 🌹 Rose

DETAILS

• Producer: Rigoberto & Luis Eduardo Herrera (Café Granja La Esperanza)
• Farm: Cerro Azul
• Region: Trujillo, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
• Varietal: Gesha
• Process: Natural
• Altitude: 1,752–1,941 MASL

INTRO

From Cerro Azul — Colombia's first Gesha-only farm, and the jewel of Café Granja La Esperanza's celebrated portfolio. A naturally processed Gesha of saturated fruit and floral expression, rounder and fuller than the washed expression but no less refined. The natural process amplifies the variety's fruit character without obscuring its hallmark aromatic lift and elegant structure. In the cup: candied strawberry, guava, and rose.

THE PRODUCER

Café Granja La Esperanza is one of Colombia's most celebrated specialty coffee enterprises, led by brothers Rigoberto and Luis Eduardo Herrera. The family's coffee story traces back to Potosí, where their father Juan Antonio Herrera expanded the farm's plantings beyond Typica to include Yellow Bourbon, Red Bourbon, and Caturra — laying the foundation for the family's deep commitment to variety selection, agronomy, and quality-driven processing. From those roots, CGLE has grown into a multi-farm operation recognised globally for pioneering work with Gesha and other rare varieties in Colombia.

Cerro Azul, situated in Trujillo, Valle del Cauca, is recognised as Colombia's first dedicated Gesha farm — originally converted from other varieties and planted with Gesha seed brought directly from Panama. The farm spans 17.4 hectares across seven distinct lots, with elevations ranging from 1,752 to 1,941 MASL, and sits within a cool, humid mountain environment where temperatures range from 15–21°C. These conditions — slow cherry development, high aromatic concentration, and the refined structure associated with extreme altitude — make Cerro Azul one of Colombia's most exceptional and irreplaceable coffee addresses.

THE PROCESS

The Natural process at Cerro Azul involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Gesha cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 🔍 Sorting — Careful cherry selection before drying to ensure consistency ☀️ Whole-fruit drying — Cherries dried with fruit intact, allowing natural sugars and aromatic compounds to integrate slowly into the bean throughout the drying period 🔄 Regular turning — Turned throughout drying to ensure even fermentation and prevent defects

The whole-fruit natural drying is the defining step — by leaving the cherry intact, the process amplifies Cerro Azul Gesha's inherent fruit expression, building the candied strawberry and guava sweetness that give this lot its rounder, fuller character, while the high altitude and cool microclimate of Trujillo preserve the aromatic lift and refined structure that are the variety's hallmark.

THE CUP

A saturated and beautifully expressive natural Gesha from Colombia's first and most celebrated dedicated Gesha farm — candied strawberry sweetness and tropical guava richness lift into a delicate rose florality, with the aromatic clarity and elegant structure that only Cerro Azul at altitude can provide. Granja La Esperanza's most iconic terroir, at its most fruit-forward.

Flavour Notes

🍓 Candied Strawberry 🍐 Guava 🌹 Rose