Seasonal Feature
La Concordia Cafe Delas
MEXICO
$21.00 – $95.00
WEIGHT 400g
PRODUCER Various smallholders
VARIETY Typica, Costa Rica 95, Obata, Oro Azteca, Marsellesa
ELEVATION >1000m
TASTE Toffee, green apple, pear
ROAST DEGREE
RECOMMENDED BREW METHOD
ESPRESSO
DRIP
FRENCH PRESS
HARIO V60 POUR OVER
The Cup
Starting with a touch of citrus, the taste develops into toffee with a hint of toasted nuts and pear or green apple notes, depending of the brewing method.
About The Coffee
This is a washed micro lot grown and processed in the La Concordia region in Mexico. The La Concordia region is known for producing excellent coffee due to various factors, such as the agroclimatic conditions of the area, altitude, soils, great diversity of natural interactions and of course, the people who through effort and care are able to produce the “Oro Verde” (green gold as it is called).
The Process
The small farmers in this region take an artisan approach to their production, taking their coffee from seed to dry parchment. The coffees are picked ripe, de-pulped and fermented for 12-17 hours. After the fermentation process, the coffee is then washed and sun dried on farmers’ yards or zarandas in order to deliver the best qualities and high-end profiles required.
The Producer
This lot comes is composed of harvests from 40 women producers in the Villa Corzo area. Café Delas sources green coffee from farming operations owned by women, who are paid directly for their coffee. Perhaps most importantly, the Café Delas program does not only search for circumstances where women are the decision makers behind a coffee, but also actively provides support and education to women involved in coffee to equip them to be leaders of their community.
History of Coffee in Mexico
With seeds from the Caribbean, cultivation began in Veracruz, where custom house records indicate a few hundred bags of coffee were exported as early as 1802. But these exports were apparently anomalous because after 1805 coffee would not be exported again for twenty years, after the war of independence. Production did increase over this period, presumably for domestic trade and consumption. In 1817, a planter named Don Juan Antonio Gomez started “intensive cultivation” further south, where coffee thrived at high altitudes. By 1826 there were half a million trees in Cordoba and Mexican coffee was being exported. In 1828, seeds—or possibly plants—from Arabia (Yemen) were planted in Uruapan, near the Pacific coast west of Mexico City, by Jose Mariano Michelena. Trees were brought from Guatemala to be planted in the southern state of Chiapas in 1847, and Oaxaca would become the third largest producer of Mexican coffee by 1889.
Growing Coffee in Mexico
Mexican coffee grows in 15 states throughout the southern half of the country but over 90% comes from four states: Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Puebla. Specialty coffee comes from the highlands of Veracruz on the gulf coast, the mountains of Oaxaca and Chiapas at the southern tip of Mexico. In Veracruz coffee grows from 1,100-1,660 m.a.s.l. In Chiapas coffee grows from 1,300-1,700 m.a.s.l. In Oaxaca coffee grows from 900-1,650 m.a.s.l.
Coffee is grown by more than half a million farmers, 95% of these being smallholders cultivating less than three hectares and 85% of Mexico’s coffee farmers are indigenous Mexicans. Most Mexican coffee is grown under shade and Mexico is one of the world’s largest producers of certified organic coffee and Fair Trade coffee. Most Mexican coffee is Bourbon, Catura, Maragogype, or Mundo Novo, though other varieties can be found. Mexico grows almost no Robusta.
Brewing Recipes
Drip
95g of medium ground coffee (Grind #7 on EK43)
2.5L 86 Degree water
Brew time 4 minutes
French Press
32g of coffee ground on coarsest setting (Baratza Vario)
500ml of 200 degree water
Brew time 4 minutes
Add 32g of coffee to carafe. Pour 500ml of water over grounds.
Stir and make sure all the grounds are saturated. Steep for 4 minutes.
Plunge and serve!
Pour Over
23g of coffee ground on #7 (Baratza Vario)
360 ml 200 degree water
Pour 60 ml of water saturating grounds let sit for 20 seconds
Add remaining water in one steady pour starting from center and circling out.
Stir water lightly