We haven't had a Mexican coffee like this before, and the sparkling profile reflects something even more exciting – the first foray of the small, rural farming community Loma Ocotitlan into anaerobic washed coffees as part of their move toward more sustainable livelihoods.
Expect a coffee that actually tastes similar to a high-end Kenya: Think green grape, Ribena, and hojicha tea.
This coffee comes to us via Ensambles, one of our key importing partners/social value projects in Mexico who are doing amazing work to invest in communities like this for their future empowerment. As with all their coffees, the story of this community is an important one:
Loma Ocotitlán is a small village in Oaxaca, and the community that
produced this lot is made of 22 Mazatec families who grow their coffee in mountain or ‘rustic’ agroforestry systems, an ancestral, low-impact, and ecologically friendly model where the coffee trees are integrated into the forest ecosystem. On these farms, which can be accessed only by narrow, rugged trails, timber and fruit trees such as plantains, citrus, apples, peaches, pomegranates, and cuajinicuil diversify the landscape and local diet while providing natural shade, protecting the coffee plants from sun exposure and heavy rains.
With the support of Ensambles, Loma Ocotitlan growers ventured for the first time this year into anaerobic fermentation of washed coffees for more than 72 hours. This is part of their move toward the kind of improvements that can open doors to new buyers of their coffees and better incomes.
To support producers in the region, Ensambles established a local collection warehouse and a mobile lab to bring services closer to remote
areas in Oaxaca. Their team of field technicians works with farmers year-round, providing training in sustainable farming practices, wet processing, and post-harvest management.
We have been trying to buy more Ensambles coffees, but they had a smaller production this year of the natural coffees we would usually buy. We were delighted to discover this one instead.
Elevation: 1600-1900 MASL
Varietal: Typica, Bourbon, Mundo Novo
Cup Score: 87
Price paid per kg: £13
Process: Anaerobic Washed