Colombia · Hope Estate Honey Process GeishaCoffee Beans
Origin
- Region: Colombia Cauca
- Variety: Geisha
- Process: Honey Process
- Roast: Cinnamon Roast
- Altitude: 1700~2000 meters
- Sample Batch:
- Grower: Hope Estate
Flavor Notes:
Aromatically, Front Street detects rich notes of rose, jam, and dried strawberry. Upon tasting, the coffee presents a full-bodied grape juice profile, followed by orange, strawberry, passion fruit, and a wine-like fermentation texture. As the temperature drops, the juiciness becomes even more pronounced, and after swallowing, a lingering black tea-like aftertaste emerges, distinct and long-lasting.
- Aroma: Medium
- Cleanliness: Medium
- Sweetness:Strong
- Acidity:Average
- Body:Strong
- Bitterness:None
- Aftertaste:Medium
- After Cooling:Medium
Colombia · Hope Estate Honey Process GeishaCoffee Bean Intro:
Colombia · Hope Estate Honey Process Geisha
Country: Colombia
Region: Cauca Region
Estate: Hope Estate, Margaret Plot
Elevation: 1700~2000 meters
Variety: Geisha
Processing Method: Honey Process
Flavors: Rose, grape juice, strawberry, fermentation notes, orange, dried fruit
As a renowned coffee estate in Colombia, Hope Estate now boasts a history of nearly 80 years. Through the tireless efforts of two generations, its products have won the favor of many coffee enthusiasts. Before delving deeper into Hope Estate, it’s important to know that although it is indeed the name of an estate, when we see it in a competition or ranking, it doesn’t refer to just this one estate. At such times, it represents a collective of several farms operating under the unified name of Hope Estate for competitions and sales.
Speaking of this, we must mention a Colombian couple, Blanca Ligia Correa and Juan Antonio Herrera. In their early years, they spent several years in allocated labor, during which they were assigned to work on a farm called Postosi, where they began a new chapter in their lives. After working there for several years, the couple became enamored with the coffee industry and decided to purchase the Postosi farm themselves to manage it directly. This became their first estate. Since the Postosi farm primarily grew Typica, Mr. Juan Antonio Herrera hoped to explore more possibilities. Thus, in 1945, the couple acquired a new plot of land near the farm, specifically to cultivate specially introduced Yellow Bourbon, Red Bourbon, Caturra, and Typica. This estate was named Hope Estate, symbolizing its potential for greater possibilities. 
Over the years, the couple had 14 children during their marriage and estate management, effectively expanding the family through their own efforts. Among them, two sons, Rigoberto and Luis, developed a strong interest in coffee cultivation. They delved deeper into the field, continuously learning and improving. Eventually, under their leadership, the family acquired three more estates: Margaret, Blue Hills, and Hawaii. The total area of the five estates is 150 hectares, with varying elevations but generally ranging between 1400–1800 meters. Except for the Hawaii estate, all others are located in Colombia’s Cauca Province. 
Cauca Province is located in the southwest of Colombia, with an average elevation of 1758m, reaching up to 2100m at its highest. Due to the high average elevation of the Cauca region, there is a significant diurnal temperature variation, which slows down the growth rate of coffee plants. This allows the coffee beans to absorb more nutrients, developing superior sweetness and flavor. Additionally, the region enjoys abundant rainfall, suitable temperatures, and fertile volcanic soil, making it another “coffee paradise.” With 150 hectares of land, it’s easy to imagine how productive Hope Estate must be—and indeed, it is. However, at that time, it hadn’t yet made a significant splash, remaining just one of many coffee-growing families in Colombia.
It wasn’t until 2007, thanks to a bold move by Mr. Rigoberto, that Hope Estate ascended to a new level. At the time, Mr. Rigoberto leased a coffee farm in Panama called La Cadereta. Under his management, it won the following year’s Panama BOP championship. Winning the award made him realize the importance of varietal genetics. Soon after, he brought Geisha back to Colombia and began experimenting with various other varieties, officially paving the way for Hope Estate’s future success. Hope Estate places great emphasis on the scientific cultivation of coffee trees. It employs agricultural engineers to oversee all aspects of coffee production, enhancing quality and yield from a professional agricultural science perspective. For example, the estate prunes coffee trees over 15 years old to rejuvenate them and uses fruit peels and pulp mixed with soil to produce organic coffee.
Among them, the Margaret Plot is the third coffee plantation managed by the estate owner, covering approximately 33.8 hectares with an average elevation of around 1850 meters. The English name for the Margaret Plot is “Las Margaritas,” meaning “daisies.” It’s said that this area is always covered with beautiful flowers and maintains a humidity of around 73%, fostering rich floral and fruity aromas in the coffee.
The Margaret Plot is located in a deep T-shaped valley, neighboring Farm No. 1, Potosi. It serves as a rare variety breeding and experimental center established by Hope Estate to carry on the family’s spirit of adventurous experimentation in the Cauca Valley. Experimental plots in the Margarita estate also grow rare Arabica coffee varieties, such as Mokka, Pacamara, Laurina, Sudan Rum, and the select Bourbon variety Tekisic—varieties rarely seen in Colombia.
The Geisha from Front Street this time was processed using the honey method. When using honey processing, Hope Estate first pours the freshly picked coffee cherries into a water tank for flotation to remove underripe defective cherries and impurities like stones. The outermost skin is then removed using specialized equipment. The beans, still coated with some mucilage, undergo a period of “dry fermentation” before moving on to the drying process. To ensure optimal sugar content, the estate picks the cherries only when they are fully ripe, with a BRIX reading of 15-16, allowing the fruity sweetness to fully develop.
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Region Intro:
Cauca Department, whose name comes from the Cauca River. Located in southwestern Colombia, together with Narino Department and Huila Department it is one of Colombia's important specialty coffee regions.
Cauca Department is a region certified under Colombia's coffee origin designation, with an average altitude of 1758m and a maximum altitude that can rise to 2100m. The area's terrain, rainfall, temperature and volcanic soil provide suitable conditions for coffee cultivation. 80% is mountainous, with parallel mountain ranges distributed in the east and center that are part of the Andes; the central range includes two main volcanoes, Sotara and Petacas, and on the border
Brewing Tips:
Filter: V60
Water Temperature: 92-93°C
Coffee Grounds: 15g
Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Fine sugar-like (20-mesh sieve, 78% retention)
First pour: 30g water for a 30-second bloom, followed by 95g (scale shows ~125g), poured in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows ~225g), taking about 1 minute and 35 seconds. Total brew time: 2’10”, then remove the filter and complete extraction.
Flavor Cup Report:
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