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If you are a coffee drinker and love the hot beverage’s taste and smell, you can thank former Buckingham County resident Dorothea Hescock.

Hescock is a coffee cupper.

“I jokingly say that my job is to slurp and spit,” she said.

Hescock, a 2002 graduate of Longwood College is currently living in Chesapeake, working for Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA as its senior manager of corporate quality and food safety.

As a coffee cupper, Hescock performs sensory analysis on coffee and oversees the quality and food safety programs for her company in North America, which includes facilities in Suffolk, Moonachie, New Jersey, and co-manufacturers in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

In addition, Hescock is certified by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) as a Q-Arabica coffee grader.

“I am also a certified coffee grader for the ICE Futures U.S. Inc. in New York City,” Hescock said. “In my spare time, I sit on the Global Education Council for the U.S. for the Specialty Coffee Association.”

Having been away from the area for a while now, Hescock says that she still loves Farmville and the surrounding communities for many reasons.

“Having lived in the D.C. area, York, Pennsylvania, and now Chesapeake, these areas, though wonderful, do not have the small-town feel where your neighbors are like family,” Hescock said. “Living in Buckingham County, where my next door neighbor was a few fields away, was so very different from the city life I live in today. I love the fact that the entire county would come together when someone was in need, because everyone didn’t just know everyone, but everyone was considered family. This was whether you went to school with them, they were your teacher, go to church with you, etc. I was blessed to have experienced this coming together of friends and family during the time my mother had cancer.”

The beauty of the area is also what Hescock says she loves about where she grew up.

“I never truly appreciated living in the area I lived in when I was younger,” she said. “Buckingham and the surrounding areas are such a beautiful rural area, with wonderful mountains, valleys and nature. I visited Farmville and Buckingham last December and took the time to drive around the areas. I have truly grown to appreciate the area I grew up in now that I have been away for over 20 years.”

Hescock credits her success today to her parents, whom she said were her No. 1 supporters.

“A close second to my parents are my teachers and coaches,” she said. “I was blessed to have such wonderful support surrounding me. My parents and teachers were supportive and helped me reach my potential.”

When Hescock is not tasting coffee, she can be found on area diamonds.

“I spend a lot of time on the baseball/softball fields,” she said. “I serve on the local baseball league board of directors, and when I’m not coaching softball, I am watching my son play baseball.”