By traditional business standards, 15,000 pounds of coffee is a very small amount to produce. However, it is a major success for the Stiths, as well as the farmers of Los Planes, where the coffee was grown, harvested, sorted, and bagged.

The villagers of Los Planes have been producing coffee for nearly 60 years, Kollette says, but had always harvested the entire tree instead of sorting for prime berries. This type of harvest would be bought for a mere 2 cents a pound, and used for large quantity, low-grade coffee.

Because the farmers saw so little money coming in from the crops, the village was planning to cut down the trees and replant the fields with lettuce when the Stiths arrived.

"It really scared me that everyone was thinking of deforesting the area just for a crop that would still only make a few cents," Kollette says. "It was really sad to me. It had the richest soil I'd ever seen."

Although Jason and Kollette were sent to El Salvador to work on a plant-related project for the Peace Corps, they stayed after their allotted time to save the trees, organize the farmers, and get the coffee company off the ground to become a serious business.

"The community became family to us," she says. "Here, we drink a cup of coffee for $2, but they only make 2 cents for each pound. They see nothing of it. We had to do something."

Instead of stripping the trees like before, each berry was handpicked by the men of the village and inspected for quality. The women then began the process of cleaning and sorting the berries.

To ensure premium quality, each batch was washed only once. This maintains the meat of the fruit, which provides the final bean with a sweeter, fruitier taste. After curing the beans for three months, the women sorted through the crop again, inspecting each bean for perfection.

The workers were paid $1 per pound of finished coffee and $5 a day—a modest increase from what they had been making. "It's tricky because you must be careful not to disrupt their economy, but you also want to help out," Jason says.

However, it was not only the workers toiling in the fields and hunching over mounds of beans, sorting throughout the day. Both Jason and Kollette worked sunup to sundown, to help, manage, and guide wherever needed.

"I loved being part of the whole process and getting to experience all the aspects of it," Jason says. "At first we were such a novelty, but once we lived there long enough, we all become friends. I don't think they understand how much they've given us. This experience has opened me up emotionally, and I now have a notion of what goes on in the world."

"This coffee is a great way for people to be involved, and it does make an impact. If you pay $1 for a cup, a guy works two hours in the field to make that. With this, a part will go to him and it makes a big difference. It's about putting money where your mouth is," Jason says.

While working side-by-side with the villagers, Kollette and Jason also worked with the government for certification to export the coffee. After a tumultuous yearlong process, they were given permission to sell in the U.S. The coffee was measured out in 152-pound bags. The bags were hand-stitched and then hand-stamped with the Zona Alta Coffee logo—an image of a man and woman and two mountains—which Kollette created to represent her and Jason. It was a symbol of their journey together, which had begun several years previously in Virginia.

Kollette had moved from her hometown of Los Gatos to pursue her career in occupational therapy. Three months later, a friend introduced her to Jason, and the two quickly fell in love. In three years they were engaged, and it was on the night of their rehearsal dinner that they learned of their El Salvador assignment.

"I talked him into signing up and going and he loved it. It is so much better to share it with someone," Kollette says. "You can share the happy experiences, and when you do experience something hard, you don't have to endure it all alone. I couldn't have picked a better person to marry and share this with."

"It was fantastic for us as a couple," Jason adds. "You have a lot of time when you're in the Peace Corps, so nothing goes unresolved. It was a huge advance in our relationship, and a great experience to have early in the marriage, or any time at all."

In addition to the hardship of learning Spanish and working the fields, the couple also faced another obstacle—pregnancy. It was not until Kollette's seventh month that the couple flew back to America. "I was very in shape when I got home," she says with a smile. "I loved it when I was pregnant there. It was like a big family—everyone made sure I ate well and gave me lots of advice."

Now back at home, the journey continues, as the couple tends to 4-month-old Lucia and works to pay off the loan they took to buy the coffee outright from the farmers.

"We are sitting on a lot of coffee," Kollette says. "Hopefully our community will really appreciate it. It has been a struggle to get the coffee here. Now we have to work just as hard as in El Salvador to make sure we sell it all. This is actually the hardest part."

Fortunately, the outlook is good for Zona Alta Coffee, as local companies are praising the rich, flavorful brew.

"It is excellent—the coffee is very delicious," says Tim McKinney, who samples and selects all of the coffee for the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company. "We put this on the table with other coffees and it blew them away. It is sweet, caramel-y, and has a very nice fragrance and aftertaste."

To test each brand, McKinney uses a sample roaster, and tastes it unfiltered. "That is very unforgiving for most coffees," he says. "It shows every sourness. All of our coffee is put through a grueling test." McKinney samples the coffee hot and when it is completely cold. "If we can't drink it when it's cold, we'll never buy it," he says. "That coffee tasted just the same. It had all the components of what you look for in good coffee. It's rare—many farms can't produce a single blend like that. It's a good example of what that country produces."

In addition to the Roasting Company, which will likely carry Zona Alta Coffee through the holidays, the Great Bear Coffee Company is also buying up beans to roast.

"We tasted this against other Central American coffees and it just glittered," says Richard Trebbien, a lead taster for the Great Bear. "It was outstanding, and I immediately wanted to buy a bag."

Trebbien plans to blend the Zona Alta Coffee in with others' coffees to create a house blend, which is most popular on the public market. "A bold coffee like this is trickier to use; it's like a great spice. I think we can do things with blends that are very nice. But if we did sell more varietal (a nonblend, sole-bean coffee), I'd most definitely serve this one. It's really dynamite. I'd put this up in one of the top Central American coffees available."

If all goes well, Jason and Kollette will return to El Salvador in January for the next harvest season, in which they hope to bag 30,000 pounds.

"The villagers are still the owners of the farms, and now we will just go there during the harvest," Kollette says. "We are there to listen to what they feel is needed in the community, and show how to use their resources better. This offered a lot of jobs to people and they need it."

With a full-time manager on-site, the rate of communication between Jason, Kollette, and the village ranges from several times a week prior to harvest to once a month after collection.

"We want to help this community," Jason says. "We wanted to do this because it is good socially as a sustainable enterprise in this community, and it's also a great coffee." Indeed, Kollette adds, "It's what we can do to help out while also putting something out there that people like. Hopefully we can keep this going."

For more information visit http://www.zonaalta.org, email koljas2002@yahoo.com, or call 408.353.9433.