Marta Lidia Alvarado, Finca Concepción

But he's better at administration, selling the coffee to the cooperative and taking care of the money, while I like being on the land to take care of the farm, keep it clean and, of course, harvest.

I've learned to pick the beans at their peak ripeness to get the sweetest and most complex flavor. In early 2019, I brewed our first microlot, and we scored 85.5. Incredible! It gave me incredible motivation to transform myself into a small supplier of specialty beans. After years of selling our coffee as conventional, obtaining Fair Trade and Organic certifications was a huge breakthrough, helping us stay afloat financially.

But if we manage to prepare a reasonable percentage of our coffees as premium and specialty microlots, we can enjoy a new level of satisfaction and pride in our work, while also earning enough income to stop worrying every day about whether we can feed and educate our children.

Even so, despite our family's early economic success, we're better off than our siblings, who stayed in the low-lying villages where my husband and I grew up. Thirteen years ago, we took a risk, leaving the comforting security of our familiar surroundings and moving to the town of Mercedes, at 1,400 meters, to grow coffee. But we haven't regretted it, because we're doing better than those who stayed in the valley.

We'll see what the future holds. This year and next, I'll continue focusing on specialty coffee preparations. I recently processed a natural batch of Parainema and am currently awaiting the profile. The Cafesmo taster has promised to taste it for us. It's exciting, and there's so much more to explore in this new area!