Mexico Oaxaca Santa Maria Ocotlan

Our November coffee of the month is a washed coffee from smallholder farmers in San Miguel de Guerrero in Oaxaca, Mexico. We roast this coffee to a medium-dark color to bring out the chocolate and soft roasty notes. This is a medium-bodied cup with a great balance of acidity and bitterness and a very smooth, long milk chocolate finish.

The cup starts with notes of sea salt milk chocolate that serve as an undertone throughout the entire cup. In the middle, cooked pear joins the chocolate, adding a slight sweet acidity. In the finish, creamy, roasty notes of cashew butter add a nice richness before fading into lingering chocolate notes.

Roast Color: Medium-Dark

Cupping Notes: Sea Salt Milk Chocolate, Cooked Pear, Cashew Butter

About the coffee of the month: We feature a new coffee every month. This allows us to explore more of the world of coffee outside of our normal offerings. It is available this month only, while supplies last. 

Story: This particular lot comes from families living in the community of Santa María Ocotlán community within the municipality of Santa Lucía Monteverde Municipality. This community of families cultivate this coffee on farms with just a few acres. The journey there travels along progressively steeper and curvier roads through villages, eventually arriving at a lush forest intercropped with coffee, bananas, corn, beans, and fruit trees. This Oaxacan coffee growing region, known as the Mountainous Package, is peppered with small coffee farms like this.

During the harvest, each producer follows a strict protocol which includes picking cherries at optimum ripeness, hand sorting, floating to remove damaged and undeveloped beans, depulping and fermenting. After fermentation, the parchment is washed and placed on patios or raised beds to slowly dry to 11%. Producers work with Garra de Jaguar, which facilitates transportation of dried parchment to the dry mill facility where coffee is received, cupped and selected for export. Garra de Jaguar preparation ensures traceability and quality control throughout the post harvest process, which is a vital resource for establishing higher prices for producers.