Originally farming low elevation Catimor, Ariel Murcia was skeptical of specialty coffee at first. It wasn’t until he stepped into oversee the operation of his brother’s Rodelmiro due to unforeseen circumstances that something clicked for Ariel. The brothers went from having a wary attitude about specialty practices to investing considerable energy and expense into proper facilities and processing experiments. They’re keenly aware of what’s going on in the coffee market and in turn have experimented with naturals, honeys, and anaerobic processed coffees these last two years, to great success. An example of their dedication to quality came when Ariel noticed that Parainema under shade performed best on his farm. The following year, he then planted hundreds of shade trees. It’s this type of vision for success that has us looking forward to receiving their lots every year.