Today I made another trip to San Juan, this time, accompanied by Carmelo. Along with visiting some more specialty shops and boutiques which could be potential wholesale partners for Sandra Farms, I was hoping to speak with the owner of Cuatro Sombras, in connection to my research of Puerto Rican farm recovery after Hurricane Maria. I had the pleasure of meeting the owner (& head roaster) of Cuatro Sombras, Pablo Munoz. He’s a veteran Q Grader of 10 years, and puts his training to the test by constantly sampling the coffee he purchases from his partner, small-holding Puerto Rican coffee farmers. He primarily offers coffee fro the region of Yuaco but has had to source additional coffee from Juayuya due to the devastation hurricane which demolished 80% of the crop. He has relationships with several small holding farmers in Puerto Rico, whom supply his cafe for beverage service as well as retail bags. Though this year has been difficult and misleading advertising from other brands which claim to be “cafe puro de Puerto Rico” has been frustrating, he has carved out a solid business for himself in San Juan and aims to honor the name of true Puerto Rican coffee. A beautiful setup, the street-facing side of his building is home to a bustling coffee bar, while the center offers a beautiful courtyard, and the back offers a relaxed lounge setting. While there, spoke and set up a meeting, but also stopped to watch the World Cup shootout between Spain and Russia. Afterwards, we joined him in the front of the shop while he roasted coffee--he had planned on being home today, but a busted sensor on the roaster forced him to come in and roast by sight--something that after years of experience, comes as second nature to him.
We also found out (rather ironically), that the abandoned farm Carmelo spotted earlier this week in Yauco formerly belonged to Pablo’s grandparents. His deeply rooted history helps to explain his admirable reverence for Puerto Rican coffee and efforts to provide it at a specialty grade. I’ll be accompanying him to visit one of the farms he does business with, later this week.
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