Inabel Abad Jimenez would like you to know that he loves taking good care of his beans. To him, it is “un sueсo hecho realidad” (a dream come true) to see them sold and appreciated by coffee lovers outside Peru.
He comes by his devotion honestly. Coffee growing is a tradition passed down from his parents. They taught him to respect the soil, grow the right way and believe in a little magic.
Inabel now lives with his own family in a community called Lord of the Miracles, hard by the city of San Ignacio. At the edge of the Andes, in a Peruvian province known for its coffee, honey and natural forests, Inabel works El Cautivo, a six-acre farm he named for the patron saint of living right.
According to sailing lore, El Cautivo was captured by pirates as a child and grew up to lead a chaste life without vices. Inabel named his farm for the child because he believes living right increases his chances of producing a memorable harvest.
Inabel lives in the birthplace of magical realism, the literary genre that gave us Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Columbia), Isabel Allende (Chile) and Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru).
The Andes, which Serge’s son, Charles, captured for us on our sourcing trip to Peru, are a little bit of magic -- so it makes perfect sense to us.
Inabel Abad Jimenez and family, El Cautivo farm, San Ignacio, Peru
