Mexico Sierra Mazateca - Filter

Mexico Sierra Mazateca - Filter

Very pleased to present our Third Mexican coffee to be released, we have selected 4 lots from this years harvest, through our importer partners Ensambles. It comes from the Oaxaca region by an amazing group of around 200 small holder producers who bring their coffees to a central mill to be sorted and processed together.

This coffee is a perfect example of how these farmers Bio-dynamic approach create exquisite quality and delicious coffee while creating an educational and sustainable environment.

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• Producers + Mill:

Oaxaca is the fourth coffee producing state, with around 10% of the national production. One of the main draws to this region is the smaller producers here have vastly preserved the traditional Typicas and Bourbons which are known for their excellent cup profiles.

The land in this region is incredibly fertile and well managed by the indigenous populations there. With agroforestry management which help preserve the native ecosystems  along with above organic standards, the producers use no agro-chemicals and that they boast incredible biodiversity, organic matter, wildlife and shaded environments to help stabilise the temperatures. 

One of Ensambles partners in Oaxaca is a talented team called Terra Coffea Mexico which is led by a coffee professional, Q grader and Oaxacan coffee specialist called Frida Mendoza. 

Frida has worked with the communities there for 5 years, Frida and her team train local farm leaders in the area to help improve farm management, picking and post harvest processing. She also runs a lab where she can evaluate individual coffees and provide feedback to producers and seperate exciting micro-lots. 

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• Varieties:

Typica (also Tipica) forms the genetic backbone of much of specialty coffee today. The first coffee plantations grown in America and Asia were of the Typica variety and many of the most widely cultivated C. arabica crops today are descended directly from the plant.

In general, Typica is very similar in appearance to the Bourbon plant (of which it is a very close relative) although it has fewer secondary branches and the leaves are normally smaller than those of Bourbon. It is usually identifiable by its bronze leaf tips. The plants are tall (3.5 – 4m) and the berries have an elongated, oval shape.

Even though Typica has a relatively low yield it is known to produce coffee with high cup quality. It is, however, very susceptible to diseases and is becoming increasingly less common for this reason. (Info source: Mercanta)

Bourbon coffee variety dates back to the 1700s when French missionaries first introduced it on Bourbon Island in the Indian Ocean. The island is called Réunion today and the missionaries moved on to Latin America in the middle of the 1800s. It was first grown in Brazil around 1860 and cultivation spread from there throughout Latin America. Because the standard Bourbon variety is susceptible to coffee leaf rust, it does best at higher altitudes at or above 1,800 meters where leaf rust is less likely to occur. Bourbon produces a tall coffee plant, excellent coffee, and medium to low production. It much of Latin America, basic Bourbon has been replaced by offshoots such as Caturra, Catuai, and Mundo Novo.

But around Huila Colombia in the Andes Mountains, growers still specialize in growing Bourbon coffee and a cross-bred variety, pink Bourbon.Pink Bourbon gets its name from the fact that the ripe berries are pink instead of red. Coffee farmers around Huila, Colombia produce the variety by cross-breeding yellow and red Bourbon. It has greater resistance to leaf rust than either the yellow or red variety.

Caturra. This variety originates from Minas Gerais in Brazil. It was a natural mutation of Red Bourbon, Caturra is favoured as it is a high yielding plant (more cherries per tree) and is more resistant to plant diseases than that of Bourbon.

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• Process:

Once the cherries are picked at their ripest, Frida and her team at Terra Coffea recommend the farmers a double fermentation of the coffee, first 24hours dry in cherries and then 24 hours wet fermentation. Before they are pulped they are floated to remove low density cherries.

Once pulped, the parchment is dried on patios for 20-24 days. 

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• Region: La Caňada, Oaxca

• Producer: Small Holder Farmers (200 in the community, with 1-3 Hectares)

• Mill: Terra Coffea

• Importer: Ensambles

• Price (green ex Shipping): £12.44 pkg

• Variety: Typica, Bourbon, Caturra

• Process: Washed

• Altitude: 1600-1800 masl

• Amount Bought: 138kg

• Tasting: Fruity, Refined, Clean, High Sweetness, Balanced. 

• Flavours like: Lemon meringue pie, Bakes Chocolate, Panela,