La Esperanza
Jasmine 〰️ Apple 〰️ Citrus 〰️
Jasmine 〰️ Apple 〰️ Citrus 〰️
PACKING
70KG, GRAINPRO
SCREEN
14/16
PROCESSING METHOD
WASHED
REGION
SIERRA NEVADA DE SANTA MARTA
ELEVATION
1650M
VARIETAL
CASTILLO
HARVEST
OCTOBER-DECEMBER
PRODUCED BY
DARIO & ILIANA DELGADO
Dario Delgado has been a coffee producer since 1998, focusing much of his production on organic farming. After several years in the coffee growing industry, Dario and his daughter, Iliana, started working together towards focusing on specialty coffee production.
In 2015, Dario decided to start a new company with two farms growing Castillo variety but now following a tailored made specialty production process. In 2022, they celebrated their fourth harvest of these coffees following the new specialty protocols which also allowed them to test the consistency of these coffees in the process.
This year, the total production in both farms came close to 5 containers, 1375 bags. For the first time, Dario is allowing Iliana to fully manage both the farm processing and the commercial offerings abroad. It is a goal for Iliana and the family to accomplish direct trade partnerships for all of their coffees — being owners of the complete supply chain from the farm to the port.
Processing:
Dry cherry stabilization for 12 hours
Fermentation of de-pulped cherries for 24 hours Mechanical drying in silo at 40 degrees celsius for 36 hours (pre-dry 16 hours and full drying 12 hours)
Milling and sorting starting in November
The Delgado's farms are located in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. La Esperanza Farm is a small plot of land reaching about 1650m. Coffee trees are planted under native tree shade.
Due to climate conditions, the trees get natural cloud coverage everyday. These weather conditions allow for coffee cherries to ripen slowly and consistently until the harvest season which is concentrated once a year between October and February.
Coffees are harvested at the optimal ripening point manually by a group of pickers that are hired every year. Almost 70% of the pickers return each year for the harvest. Once the cherries are picked, they are taken to the beneficio (mill) where they are first sorted with a mechanical washer, separating immature and dried cherries from perfectly ripened cherries.
After ripe cherries are clean, they are transported to a stainless steel silo where they initially ferment for 24 hours. After 24 hours, the coffees are mechanically de-pulped and then fermented again for another 24 hours. The wet parchment is then washed in an eco washer that uses centrifugal force to remove the last remainders of pulp from every seed.
Once fully washed, the coffee is transported to mechanical silos where they are slowly dried for almost 50 hours. Afterwards, the dry coffee (in parchment) is stored in 40kg jute bags and kept in warehouses in the farm for about 3 weeks before they are transported down to the dry mill.
Once in the dry mill, coffees get an initial QC evaluation and assigned a storage location depending on how quickly these must be processed for export. All of the coffees are milled and sorted carefully to maintain physical and sensory standards. It also helps that the mill is strategically located only 15 mins away from the Santa Marta Maritime Port. This allows for them to quickly respond to direct trade customers and move milled coffee directly and safely to port.
