Mexico – Fair Trade Organic

• Origin: Mexico
• Region: Chiapas
• Varietals: Typica and Mundo Nuevo
• Altitude: 3,300 – 5,600 ft.
• Process: Wet
• Drying: Sundried on patio
• Harvest: February – June
• H/G: High Grown – see Altitude for more information

Certification: Fair Trade, Organic
Roast Level: Medium
Tasting Notes: Dark chocolate, roasted nut, stonefruit with medium body, mild acidity
Suggested Brew Method: Drip, French Press

Varietal Notes: Mundo Novo, a cross between Sumatra (Typica) and Red Bourbon, is distinctly tall and productive. Typica is a low-yielding plant with high quality fruit and the heirloom varietal from which many industry hybrids and mutations have developed.

Origin: Union Majomut was founded in 1981. Today it consists of approximately 1,000 families of coffee growers in 35 indigenous Chiapas communities comprised of the Tzotzil and Tzltal ethnic groups.

The coop was originally founded with the goal of improving the lives of coffee producers and their families in these small communities. An important early step was becoming Fair Trade certified in 1992, helping to establish minimum prices for its farmers, improved working conditions and better relationships between farmers and consumers, as well as dispensing with oversight from transnational coffee conglomerations that weren’t in any way invested in the community.

Union Majomut’s investments include a Farmer’s Micro Bank focusing entirely on its own members savings and credit services. In 1996 it established a women’s group initiative to help promote organic coffee production, chicken farming, food safety and health care. It has also developed programs supporting small-scale coffee production, small-scale coffee roasting and a milling business that helps generate revenue for all of Union Majomut.

More about coffee history in Mexico →