Mexico – Regional Select – Chiapas B10183
Specs:

Source:
Mexico
Region:
Chiapas
Farm:
Various smallholders
Variety:
Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, Mundo Novo
Elevation:
1200–1800 masl
Processing:
Fully Washed
Program:
Regional Select
Notes:
"Mellow, sweet chocolate, peanut butter, with a grapefruit like citric acidity."
Score:
Price/Bag:
$3.78 per lb
$189.00 per bagOut of stock
Background:
In a country which has historically produced more "standard" coffees, we felt that somewhere in the mix of the 5-million bag annual yield existed great coffees that were just getting blended together, so every year we travel and learn; cup and visit, cup, drive and cup. We offered better prices for top-cupping coffee, we held a quality contest with 10 roasters cupping the best coffees of the year. We attended the first and second CoE, and visited the winners and contenders and were constantly asking where the great coffees are.
We found that there is a difference in style and substance between regions and microregions. In Coatapec, producers tend to deliver cherries to the mill, but there are many small producers with micromills and raised beds—where in Chiapas you find small producers depulping by hand and drying wherever they can, to deliver dry parchment to a central repository. Chiapas is also home to cooperatives, both Fair Trade and not. Many organic producers and large estates are entirely self-contained, and efficiently producing their own electricity to run their own wet mills, dry mills, and support their housing.
With this experience, we decided to launch the "Regional Select Mexico" project. This project aims to highlight the special, unique profiles we have found inherent in specific regions and microregions within Mexico due to microclimate, processing style, variety, and overall terroir. The regions we will begin by highlighting are Veracruz, Coatapec, and Chiapas.