Green Coffee Offerings : Central America : Mexico |
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View Our Current Mexican Coffees |
Upcoming Crop CommentsI found one good Mexican coffee - a wet processed lot - that ought to be on the list by the end of August. In general, I have not been that excited about Mexican offerings lately - they don't really stand out when you cup them against origins like Costa Rica, Guatemala or Panama. So it is hard for me to justify buying them. |
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About Mexican Coffee
  Shade cover for Oaxacan coffee  Hurricane Damage from Mitch in Chiapas, 2 years later! |
Mexican coffee originates from South-central to Southern regions of the country. For that reason, coffees from Coatepec and Veracruz are much different from Oaxacan Plumas, which are in turn much different from the Southernmost region of Chiapas. The later is a growing region bordering the Guatemalan growing area of Huehuetenango, and you will find similarities between those coffees. In general you can expect a light-bodied coffee, mild but with delicate flavors ...But there are exceptions of course. Mexican is one of the largest producers of certified organic coffees, and because of the US close proximity, we receive the bulk of fine Mexican coffees in this market. Mexican coffees are worth exploring for the variety of cup characteristics they present, and their great price! Mexicans are moderately priced, lighter bodied, and wide-ranging in their cup character. For this reason, you need to explore coffee selections from each of the regions to get a good sense of the possibilities of Mexican coffee. Unfortunately, I rarely approve of the cup quality of coffees from Coatepec and Atoyac, and have never carried a Veracruz. Most of the impressive coffees I find are from Oaxaca and Chiapas. It may seen to fly in the face of espresso-blending laws, but try an espresso made with 100% Oaxaca Pluma coffee, such as the Tres Flechas, Loxicha, Tres Oros ...it is excellent roasted just a bit into 2nd crack. In general, it has become harder, not easier, for me to find great Mexican coffees from Oaxaca and Chiapas. While other origins have improved their visibility, and their skills to produce specialty coffee, Mexico remains quiet on the subject, having no promotional competition or related auction. Mexico has relied more on the Organic and Fair Trade model to attain better prices, rather than looking for a reward in quality. That can work fine, and I support both efforts (as you see on our offer list). But they leave behind those dependent on private farms ... and that part of the market has (I believe) become more volume-oriented. I was in Chiapas recently for a brief trip, looking into a project to identify, separate and evaluate the coffees of small producer-groups. Here's some comments and images from this short trip. |
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Our Mexican Coffee Offerings:
Please refer to our Reference Page for definitions of terms and cupping numbers used below. Check out the Sweet Maria's Coffee Home Roasting Forum for more conversation about home roasting this and other coffees.
| $5.70 | $10.83 | $24.80 | $47.31 | $87.78 |
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El Triunfo is located in the Sierra Madre del Sur and is a large ecologic reserve. It represents a critical area for biodiversity and water resources, but is known mostly as the last and largest contiguous cloud forest habitats in Mexico. At last count 12,000 people, mostly indigenous live within the reserve and coffee farming has provided an economic source that can exist in some degree of harmony with maintaining the ecology. Conservation International has taken a lead to make sure the coffee exported with the name El Triunfo comes from registered coops in the area, including the producer of this lot, Union Ramal Santa Cruz. To maintain their status a coop must have a yearly inspection, accepting recommendations to maintain forest shade over the coffee plantings, and process the coffee without contaminating the watershed. I have had a lot of trouble finding Mexican coffees that are of a quality worth offering alongside our great Central American lots. Mexico suffers from lower altitudes, spotty wet-processing and drying methods, and difficulties to ship coffees promptly. A great wet-processed Mexican coffee is a mild affair, light in body, with clean acidic brightness. But so many I cup have high defect counts in the green coffee, and off taints in the cup favors. I understand that all the coffees from the El Triunfo reserve are not that well-picked and processed, but I was happy to find this lot. I feel it shows what a really nice Chiapas region coffee can be, a great exemplar for this particular region.
The lightest roasts of El Triunfo were clean and bright, but had a green taste I can only describe as fresh-cut grass. At City+ roast this turned to a clean, lightly fruited brightness, so I recommend at least C+ roast on this coffee. The dry fragrance has a crisp caramel scent, with a trace of red apple. Wet aroma is nutty, with the scent of bread in the oven, honey-vanilla, and just a little maple and apple. The cup has a mild and delicate acidity that gives a sense of refreshing brightness, but low in intensity. There's a grainy sweetness in this coffee; light roasts have a bit of toasted oats flavor. Darker roasts have a aromatic wood note, a bit less sweetness, but greater body. It's a mild coffee, short-lived on the palate, but zesty nonetheless: Simple, sweet, mildly bright.
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Archived Reviews
To view reviews for out of stock coffees, visit our Mexico Coffee Archives.
2005-2006 | 2004 -2003 | 2001-2002 | Pre-2000 Tom's Sample Cupping Log | Moisture Content Readings This page is authored
by Thompson Owen and Sweet Maria's Coffee, Inc. and is not to be
copied or reproduced without permission
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