From sunrise to after dinner… sharing coffee is intrinsic to bonding and ingrained in our culture. Over coffee, we catch up, close deals, make important decisions, share sorrows, and celebrate.

While I love my adopted country, I struggled to find a coffee that could measure up to the one of my native land. I became a “coffee chaser,” always trying new brews but never finding one that captured Colombian coffee’s quality, flavor, and culture.

I had a eureka on a trip to Colombia!

I was sitting and talking with my family. The company, the conversation—and, naturally, the coffee—was a moment of pure pleasure. I knew then that my search was ending: The coffee I’d been seeking was right there, where I’d left it.

I knew I had to track down the source. I learned about the different varieties of coffee that are farmed, harvested, and sold in Colombia. I talked to small coffee growers and saw their pride in sowing, nurturing, maintaining, and harvesting crops. I heard their passion for every cosecha (harvest) in their voices.

I also heard about the “cafeteros” problems and concerns. Many of the farmers are women head of their household. This seemed remarkable from an American or Colombian perspective.

On my flight back to Boston, amid memories and images and stories, it struck me that behind every cup of coffee are the faces and lives of so many people—and with each of those faces is a story of pride, pain, worry, happiness, success and hope: a story worth sharing.

​Today, every time I brew a cup of El Colombiano coffee, I connect with my roots—my past, country,  people, and culture. My desire to bring the perfect cup of coffee to this country—while recognizing, supporting and nurturing the people and places it comes from—resulted in El Colombiano Coffee.