Hermel de Jesus Alvares

As with most of our beans, the careful sourcing was done by Valentina Duque, from Siruma Coffee. And our relationship with Siruma started after a visit to Colombia because of a bike race – as most things in Christoph Sauser’s life!

Valentina indicated that the beans of farmer Hermel de Jesus Alvares were of the highest quality. We then scheduled a visit to meet the farmer and his family, see the plantation and try the coffee in its home soil.

Coffee farming in the Caldas region is quite spectacular. The plantations start at 1500m above sea level on extremely steep slopes (even for a Swiss). Hand-picking is still the only way to harvest in this region given the angle of the slopes. Hermel’s farm is one of the biggest that we’ve visited in Anserma, but that is still very very small compared, let’s say, with a commercial farm.

We were invited to have a cup on his veranda, with a beautiful view over the valley and the plantation. The house is typically built with lots of bamboo and painted with vibrant colors. Hermel lives with his wife Gloria Cristina and his son Alejandro. Hermel is the son of coffee growers. His father was one of the founding members of Cooperativa de Caficultores. He’s truly proud of his coffee and his land and a true lover of the Colombian countryside.