Mexico Huatusco

Mexican coffee is not a favorite around here. The really nice ones almost all go to Germany, and the fairly nice ones are hard to come by, and the inexpensive ones -- ugh, too bright, too harsh, too nutty. Just don't have much demand for it. So we don't give Mexican coffee much love. But we do try to find a nice one to bring in right when they come into season.

The two main regions of Mexican coffee are Chiapas and Oaxaca. Both can be nice, but the Chiapas is close to the border of Guatemala and in general has a better reputation than Oaxaca coffees. This one is the lesser known Huatusco which is the northern most growing region, close to Mexico City. We liked it because it has a slightly different profile than a typical Mexican coffee, and because the beans have been sorted very well, with very few defects and above average bean size. At a medium roast, you have a peanut butter taste with slight chocolate. Take it a little darker and you get more chocolate. Take it a little lighter and you get more lemon/orange.

Mexican coffee is pretty easy to roast. It can handle a variety of roast levels and can also be blended with good result. We roasted this bean everywhere from very light to very dark, and found that the two middle roasts were our favorite, but all four roasts were drinkable. In particular, I would suggest roasting this one right before 2nd cracks. It gives it a muted acidity, peanut, citrus, chocolate flavor, creamy body, sweet aftertaste. I would still drink a Costa Rica or Guatemala before a Mexico, but a lot of customers have been asking for Mexican coffee beans, and they are in season, so we picked this one out and recommend it.

Came into the US June 2017.