In October of 2025, Melanie Herrera took time out of her trip to visit our office and warehouse in West Oakland. We’ve known Melanie since she started at fourth generation Guatemalan producer, Luis Pedro Zelaya’s, Bella Vista Coffee, where we have been purchasing green coffeeGreen coffee refers to the processed seed of the coffee tree fruit. Coffee is a flowering shrub that produces fruit. The seeds of the fruit are processed, roasted,... ...more for nearly two decades now.
In this hour-long video, Thompson talks to Melanie about all things coffee, from how she got started at Bella Vista, her education at Universidad Zamorano, old and new practices in growing and producing coffee, a regenerative approach to farming, diversifying their crops, and many more ideas on coffee, now and into the future.
This conversation goes into depth on the increased awareness of soil health, the microbiome, and impact on coffee farming and ecology in general. Plus – some dog antics happening in Thompson’s cuppingCupping is a method of tasting coffee by steeping grounds in separate cups for discrete amounts of ground coffee, to reveal good flavors and defects to their fullest.... ...more room just to keep things interesting…
The video is available on our YouTube, also embedded below.
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2 Responses
Great interview! I always enjoy listening to the producers/farmers as there is always something to learn. I noticed you all didn’t offer any of her coffee lots in 2025. Were they difficult to get? Cupping quality not as good? Harvest issues? Just curious.
Hey Todd, last year’s harvest in Guatemala was incredibly low, and Melanie’s farm is so small that she didn’t have coffee to offer. We’re actually in Guatemala right now and expect to taste samples from La Parcela on Thursday!
Best,
Dan