Roy Marín, Costa Rica

Buena Vida Specialty Coffee

Tell us about yourself:

I work for Buena Vida Specialty Coffee, an organic and regenerative coffee company. I have been working with Buena Vida for 3 years now. Since I started working with organic coffees, I have seen the importance of taking care of our planet and our soils. This means a lot for us, cause we depend on the Earth that provides us our food. I believe regeneration is the key to heal the soil and for that reason I wanted to compete and to represent all of the producers that want to take care of our planet. This is my first time competing in nationals and also in a world level championship.

A fun fact is that I never used to drink coffee before I started working in this industry. My first coffee job was in a company in Costa Rica that provides and sells coffee bags for roasting companies. The first time I started drinking coffee was because in "Plastico Tico" company, they have a laboratory that roasts and sells coffee beans and they used to provide coffee for the employees and in that time I was curious that they always changed twice the beans every morning and I noticed different flavors that I have never experimented.

Since that moment, I wanted to dig deeper in the coffee I was tasting every morning. One day I was offered to change my role in the company, and they transferred me to the coffee laboratory, where I fall in love with everything that surrounds the coffee industry. From producing to cupping, roasting and preparing coffee.

What are you excited to do while you visit Busan?

I want to visit and learn as much as I can from the Korean Culture. Also I want to eat as much food as I can :). My other objective is to visit coffee shops and learn as much as I can from Korean coffee professionals.

What are your interests outside of coffee?

I like to travel and visit different countries, places, beaches and mountains. Also I like dogs and I have a puppy that is named after "Geisha," because she is an Australian Shepherd breed and they are so beautiful and a race that is delicate and needs a lot of attention just like a Geisha coffee tree.

I'm also an outsider person, meaning that I like to do hikes, running trails, and everything that has relation to the nature.

I like beer and hanging out with my friends :)

Is there anyone you would like to thank or recognize or who helped you to prepare for the WBC?

I like to thank my team that supported me since the beginning of my competition journey and all of the people that believed in my concept, meaning that they are also guardians of the soil and Planet.

Of course I want to thank my family, mum, dad and sister for all of their love and support they provided me when I decided to compete.

I like to appreciate my colleagues and bosses that believe in me when I told them I wanted to represent Buena Vida in a competition like WBC.

Without all of this support I couldn't have done it, so THANK YOU very much.

With love,
Roy M