Jaime Ventura, Finca La Balastera

We always went there, even when I was a little boy, to play hide-and-seek or other games among the neat rows of plants. At that time, our property seemed infinitely large, in the eyes and imagination of the child I was. In reality, it was a tiny plot of land, barely enough to get by.

My father had learned to grow coffee from his own father. Back then, my grandparents mostly grew a variety called "Indian," a regional Arabica, and a Bourbon that grew five or six meters tall. They needed ladders to pick the beans. That's hard to imagine today.

Since 1986, I have been an independent producer, which means I grow coffee on my own small plot of land. My wife and I have one daughter, Silvia. Like me, Silvia grew up on our farm, and like me, she fell in love with coffee even before she could read and write.

I remember very well how he would sometimes get up in the middle of the night to water the plants that grew next to our house, when it hadn't rained for a week or more, because he was afraid they would die from the drought. He thought my wife and I didn't notice, but we could always hear the creaking of the wood beneath his feet, or how he almost tripped over the doorframe.

Now, Silvia is a certified coffee taster, in addition to growing her own coffee. We are incredibly proud of her, and she helps me select my best beans and decide how to dry and prepare each microlot. It's the only way we can survive. Coffee prices are so low now that we would have been forced to give up if we hadn't discovered the advantages of offering high-quality coffees to our partners.

The first year, I started with just 2 bags, as a trial, but little by little I became increasingly focused on premium and specialty quality, and in the 2019/2020 season I prepared 30 bags of honey from two varieties: Parainema and IH-café90. The highest SCA score I have obtained so far has been 87.5, but I am determined to continue refining my skills until I can do even better.

There are also many obstacles to overcome. The area where I grow my coffee is quite humid and cold, which makes drying difficult. I don't have enough solar dryers because I still lack the funds to build more, and I also have difficulty finding qualified people to work with me—people who can pick the best beans and have the patience and experience to help me with the drying and preparation. I also don't yet have my own storage facilities, so I have to take the coffee to Cafesmo often to ensure it's stored under optimal conditions.

In any case, in the more than thirty years I've been growing coffee as an adult, we've overcome pests, hurricanes, droughts, torrential rains, and a multitude of other problems. So no obstacle is too great, and I'm confident we'll continue to make progress in producing great coffees.

Over the next five years, I'm determined to convert my entire harvest into specialty coffee, earn enough money to build sufficient solar dryers, construct my own warehouse, and diversify into varieties that perform best under the climate, soil, and specific conditions of my farm. Meanwhile, I'll continue cultivating strong working relationships with roasters around the world, because ultimately, we share the same goals: to combine our skills and knowledge to deliver the best possible cup of coffee to our end consumers. To earn a living, of course, but even more so because it fills us with pride and joy.