"Upon grinding, the aroma presents pickled pineapple, dried mango, raisin, and a winey note. On the palate, pickled pineapple, dried mango, and passion fruit lead, followed by raisin, dark chocolate, and a lingering wine-like finish. The cup is bold, dense, and full-bodied."

Café Granja La Esperanza is led by Rigoberto Herrera and the Herrera-Correa family, whose coffee history is closely tied to Potosí, the first farm in their estate network. The farm’s roots go back to the early generations of the family, before later being developed into one of Colombia’s most technically focused specialty coffee projects. Under Rigoberto’s direction, CGLE has built its identity around rare varieties, controlled processing, and detailed lot separation across several farms. Potosí remains central to that story, both as a historical foundation and as a site for continued experimentation. Tres Dragones reflects this philosophy through a natural process designed with precision rather than spontaneity.

Potosí is located in Caicedonia, in Colombia’s Valle del Cauca department, across a misty valley from Las Margaritas. The farm sits between approximately 1,400 and 1,860 metres above sea level, with a large cultivated area supported by forest land and surrounding biodiversity. This location gives the coffee a combination of mountain humidity, moderated temperatures, and fertile Andean soils. The area’s climate supports slow cherry development while also requiring disciplined drying control during post-harvest work. At Potosí, terroir and infrastructure work together, allowing CGLE to handle both cultivation and dry milling with a high level of consistency.

This lot is built around the Colombia variety, grown and processed specifically at Potosí. Colombia is a cultivar developed for resilience in Colombian conditions, with stronger resistance to disease than many traditional varieties. In specialty production, its quality depends heavily on altitude, picking discipline, and the care given to fermentation and drying. At CGLE, Colombia is treated not as a basic production variety, but as a structured base for a refined natural process. Its role in Tres Dragones is to provide sweetness, density, and stability while allowing the processing method to build layered fruit expression.

For Tres Dragones, ripe cherries are selectively harvested and sorted before entering a controlled natural process. The cherries undergo a temperature-managed fermentation stage of around 10 hours, allowing early fruit activity to develop under defined conditions. After fermentation, the whole cherries are moved into silos for an initial drying phase of approximately 48 hours. They are then transferred to mechanical dryers for 24 to 48 hours before returning to the silo to continue drying. The process is completed when the coffee reaches a stable moisture range of around 11.5 to 12%, preserving the structure built during fermentation and drying.

Tres Dragones takes its name from the mechanical dryers at Potosí, remembered for their dragon-like heat and the farm story attached to them. The process is technical, but it remains connected to the farm’s practical need to dry natural coffees with reliability in a humid mountain environment. Rather than relying on uncontrolled extended fermentation, CGLE uses staged heat, airflow, and moisture management to guide the coffee toward balance. The result is a natural lot that carries the identity of Potosí through both variety and method. It is a composed expression of Café Granja La Esperanza’s approach: historical roots, precise processing, and a continued focus on controlled innovation.

Variety : Colombia
Altitude : 1,400–1,860 MASL
Process : Natural Tres Dragones
Origin : Valle del Cauca