In 1987, Isaías Cantillo purchased his coffee farm, La Esperanza, high up in the mountains of Southern Huila. Stumptown was first introduced to Isaías’ coffee in 2007, when a spectacular lot won first place in Colombia’s Cup of Excellence competition. We’ve purchased his coffee ever since.

This is a truly family-oriented operation. Over the years, Isaías has purchased additional land around the farm for each of his sons. Now all four of his sons manage their own coffee plots independently, and share the processing equipment at La Esperanza. As the Cantillo's coffee project has grown, we have started buying coffee from his sons' plots as well. This is why the coffee bears the name "Cantillo Family.” Throughout the harvest cycle, we receive samples of the Cantillos’ top lots – some of them representing only a few pounds of coffee – and build volume for this limited-release offering.

Coffee processing at La Esperanza is a methodical task, honed over decades and informed by constant quality control. Coffee is manually depulped, fermented, and washed. Isaías and his family nurture and protect their coffee at one of the most vulnerable moments: the drying stage. Coffee parchment is pre-dried at low temperatures for two to three days to wick water away, and then fully dried on covered patios. In 2020, Isaías constructed additional raised beds to improve the overall drying infrastructure. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Isaías roasts and cups a sample of every single lot produced on the farm. With such a close connection to the quality of the coffee, it’s no surprise that this offering seems to taste better, year after year.

When asked what part of coffee he enjoys the most, Isaías says: "The truth is, I don't have a favorite aspect of coffee, because I love it all. For example, to see the plants looking healthy is a beautiful thing. Then when the fruit ripens, and from there the different processing steps that follow - fermentation and washing - it is all beautiful. The entire process is something I enjoy very much.”