Notes from our importer, 2nd Mile Specialty Coffee:

In the early 2000s, while still in their late teens, Alexander and Leidy Hernández were forced to flee their home in Caquetá after threats from armed groups. They spent years moving through different parts of Colombia before finally settling in Huila, where they decided to commit fully to coffee with a clear intention: break into the specialty market and build a more stable future for their family through quality.

What began as just a few hectares has grown into around 50 hectares of coffee at over 1,700 meters above sea level, planted with Panamanian Gesha, Caturra and Bourbon Aji varieties. Their farm, Finca La Esmeralda, sits in the village of Monte Bonito in Pitalito,

southern Huila, near the heart of the Macizo Colombiano - the great Colombian Massif where several Andean ranges meet and major rivers like the Magdalena are born.

This geography shapes a complex mosaic of slopes and microclimates: cool, stable temperatures, volcanic soils and plenty of clean water, conditions that have made this area one of Colombia’s most celebrated coffee landscapes.

Within this setting, the lot you are tasting is marketed as Gesha Dorada, a name chosen to capture both its golden honey process and the impression it leaves in the cup.

“Dorada” (“golden”) speaks to the way this coffee feels rather than any distinct variety - bright but not sharp, sweet but not heavy, with a calm, luminous quality that stands apart from louder, experimental profiles.

For Gesha Dorada, ripe Gesha cherries are selectively hand‑picked at peak color and density. After pulping, Alexander leaves a measured layer of sticky mucilage on the parchment and moves the coffee directly into a controlled honey process. Drying takes place slowly on raised beds, with careful attention to bed depth, airflow and turning so that sugars in the mucilage concentrate without pushing the coffee into over‑fermentation.

This approach yields a refined honey expression rather than an overtly funky one. The cup shows wild‑honey and sugar‑cane sweetness, lifted by jasmine, orange blossom and a distinct lemongrass‑like acidity, all carried by a silky, balanced body, with a clean and well defined, structure.