Since expanding to sourcing and roasting coffee in 2007, we’ve maintained strong relationships with incredible people across the coffee world. As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we aim to share their stories with you. Our first anniversary coffees come from Bella Vista in Guatemala. Ritual has been buying coffee from Bella Vista since 2010, and working with Melanie Herrera for many years.
Melanie takes on many roles at Bella Vista, including coffee sales, relationship management, and working with the Hunapú Producers Project—she’s responsible for coordinating with roasters all over the world who come to Antigua to get a chance to buy some of their amazing coffees!
Could you describe your coffee?
Our coffees are very balanced, sweet, chocolatey, easy to drink as a crowd pleaser but so complex for those who really know about fruit notes (stone fruit, berries, citrus), pleasant and not pungent acidity, well balanced with sweetness of caramel, chocolate, panela. A coffee you can drink every day, every time, time after time. Furthermore, our coffee now is synthetic inputs free, so no disruptors to your health, just a good load of amazing phytochemicals ready to nurture your body! Also don’t forget, they are produced, processed and prepared with a lot of love, with respect and honoring Nature! We love what we do and we truly believe this is a better way of growing coffee 🙂
What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in your time in coffee?
- Coffee Ecosystem’s resilience and thus, yields, It has changed drastically and I cannot think for everyone but for us it became a huge challenge. That is why we are where we are now. (environmental conscience which has become central to pricing and sourcing)
- The shift in the market from bright, clean, washed coffees towards acceptance of different profiles coming from different processings: fermentations, infused, co-fermented, etc. (innovation in processing methods)
- Regenerative certifications have gained traction, so more buyers and final consumers are seeking for that instead of Organic or Rainforest.
- The Q Grader licensing switching from the CQI to SCA, and the change of tool to assess the coffee (SCA cupping protocol to VCA tool).
What would you like to do on your farm/ in your work in the next few years?
We’d like to grow anything we can! Food, fabric/textile, seeds, anything we can in harmony with the ecosystems. And anything that brings wellness to anyone around us at the same time, making coffee a more sustainable business.
What do you want consumers to understand about coffee farming?
Great coffee is hard work, passion, it sustains livelihoods, and it binds us all together. Make sure you can shake the hand of the producer you buy from!
Describe your coffee region in 5 words.
BEST COFFEE IN THE WORLD 🙂
What is your personal coffee ritual – do you like drinking your coffee?
A nice brewed Aeropress, black coffee from Antigua. Every now and then, something fancy like Geisha. But I love solid coffees, like La Folie or Buena Vista.
Describe what a day in your life is like during coffee harvest.
Wake up very early (I normally stay at the mill), go see farms before sunrise with a nice cup of coffee, bread with black beans and cream cheese (of course, I harvest some clover to top my bread). Dig some holes around, check roots and flora diversity, and smell the soil. Come back to the mill and catch up with our visits for the week. Discuss coffee and then have fun with bananas, which is our newly added intercrop.
How did you start working in coffee, and what has made you want to continue working in coffee?
I am a fourth-generation grower of coffee. It is in our family history. It runs in the blood. But I also like it, and so much more now that I can grow many different things in the same area. It makes it more challenging and fun. I really want to work hard and understand how I can leave a resilient, sustainable business that my offspring will want to continue, even when I am not around.
