February does funny things to a cup. The steam feels like a telegram. The first sip behaves like a confession.

We went looking for a coffee with a past, one that knows how to speak softly and still be remembered, and found ourselves on the slopes of Las Margaritas, where Café Granja La Esperanza has been perfecting obsession since the 1930s. Israel and Carmen started it with land, grit, and eleven children who learned coffee the way other kids learn their alphabet. Decades later, Rigoberto and Luis took the helm and turned curiosity into a vocation: varieties trialed, microclimates courted, processes tuned like a Stradivarius. The world noticed (they tend to, with trophies and whispered finals on big stages).

For this Valentine’s release, they did what they do best: precision with a little romance. Geisha, that slender-rooted diva, grown at Las Margaritas and treated to a Hybrid Washed courtship. Ripe cherries hand-sorted (again and again, because love is in the details). A first fermentation in whole cherry (19–22 hours, air allowed to flirt but not intrude). De-pulped without water, then a second fermentation in parchment (another 35 hours), temperatures watched like a heartbeat. Finally, a careful wash and slow, closely monitored drying. The result? Clarity with a halo. Structure with a wink.