Rigoberto Mena, Finca Los Lesquines

I have many of these trees on my land, which provide a soft, protective layer of shade for my plants, and that's why I named my farm after them. In the more than forty years I've been growing coffee, I had never tried preparing a microlot; I barely knew what the term meant. Until Cafesmo showed me how it works and encouraged me to prepare one myself. And—to my own surprise—I managed to produce 10 bags of Paca and Catuaí coffee that scored 86 on my first attempt.

I'm thrilled. It fills me with hope and I feel rejuvenated because I'm learning so many new things after years of routine.

As a child, I helped my grandfather, who cultivated thick coffee trees six meters high (I wouldn't call them "plants") and my father, who taught me to milk cows long before I turned ten.

But they also encouraged me to finish sixth grade, which I'm grateful for to this day, since I learned to read and write, and I'm able to use the internet to look up coffee prices and other relevant information. Well, that is, when I go to the city, where I have internet access, since the internet age hasn't yet arrived at my farm or my house due to lack of coverage!

I love coffee, and I owe my life to it. If it weren't for coffee, I think I would have starved to death. There's nothing else in the world I'd like to do, and given my age, there isn't much more I could learn if, for some reason, I could no longer grow coffee on my farm.

That's why I'm so relieved to have learned how to prepare microbatches. It opens up a whole new world for me, and I can't wait for the next harvest to try more, and even better. I really feel like I do in my teenage years: filled with an impatient heartbeat of anticipation, hope, and a strong drive to reach for the sky. If I manage to sell my first microbatch of '86, I'll use the proceeds to build my own solar dryer.

Try my coffee, you won't be disappointed!