Meet Georgina González Castillo

March is Women’s History Month and all month long we’ve been featuring all the trailblazing women in coffee on our social media channels. It’s a chance to commemorate and celebrate some of the amazing women in our coffee industry. We sent out interview questions to our partners in origin and received a particularly lengthy – yet rightfully so – response from Mexico National Judge, Georgina González Castillo so we turned it into a blog post to ensure all her responses are shared. Enjoy the interview and get ready for Mexico Cup of Excellence 2021!

Meet Georgina González Castillo, Mexico Cup of Excellence National Jurist. 

Chemical Engineer by trade, Georgina is also Head of Production in the chemical process plant she works at.  She’s a certified professional cupper and belongs to the DESCAMEX cupping panel. She belongs to the multidisciplinary group of research and development of applied engineering to improve decaffeination processes in Descamex and finally, she’s part of the civil protection groups such as first aid, earthquakes, search and rescue, fire prevention also within DESCAMEX.

Q: How did you get into coffee. 

A: My entry into the world of coffee was in February 2004. At that time, the DESCAMEX company was requesting interns from Chemical Engineering career and I found out by pure chance on the 1st day that the advertisement was posted in the Faculty of Chemical Sciences of Orizaba, Veracruz which is where I studied … and because I needed to gain experience to practice my profession  I attended the interview and was accepted to do my professional internship … after more or less about 6 months passed, a vacancy was opened for the production area right there in the company and so I took advantage of the opportunity … of course I acquired the knowledge about green and decaffeinated coffee little by little at work and based on my own interest to know beyond the world of coffee. There was a day that I remember very much that it was the turning point for me to become more interested in the world of coffee; When I went to the laboratory to deliver samples, I only heard a noise that made as if it were a hiss and it caught my attention because I also saw that they sipped the coffee and spat it out, until one day I spoke with the General Director and asked him for permission to observe what they were doing at the table … and he told me that if I was interested, because every day at 1 in the afternoon was cupping time and that if I wanted I could try the coffees that were put on the table … and from there the direct contact with a world of new flavors for me about coffee and so I have been taking courses to become professional and thus give back with my knowledge and help my second family that has supported me so much that it is “DESCAMEX”.

Q: What’s one of your favorite parts about coffee?

A: My favorite part is being able to try various origins of green coffee that come to us at DESCAMEX and expand my sensory knowledge to see the advantages and disadvantages of Mexican coffee compared to other coffees from the main producing countries and give my points of view to provide feedback. to producers, clients and finally to train my staff.

Fun Fact: I am proud to say that I have been the only woman who has been present at all Cup of Excellence Mexico events in the national stages and in almost all international stages as support of the AMECAFÉ staff and Cup of Excellence Mexico and I have seen the positive change regarding the work of Mexican producers to improve coffee quality.

Thank you, Georgina! It’s great to get to know you a bit and we cannot wait for Mexico Cup of Excellence this year!