Mexico Chiapas

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. You want the ones high up the mountain, which this one is. It's from the town of San Cristobal and is referred to by locals as the "Magic Town" It also has organic certification. The farm is called Finca Nuevo Mexico. We sent a buyer to the farm in March and bought our favorite lot of coffee from the trip.

Mexican coffee is pretty easy to roast. It can handle a variety of roast levels. The lighter roasts are nutty and bright, and the darkest roasts are richer and smoother, and both are useful in blends depending on what you are trying to achieve. We roasted this bean everywhere from very light to very dark, and found that the middle roast was our favorite, but all roasts were drinkable. In particular, I would suggest roasting this one about 10 seconds into the 2nd cracks. It still has a bright acidity that almost translates as a spiciness, but then it has a hot chocolate taste and creaminess, and a little bit of orange flavor with only a little bitterness. Lighter roasts than this are more orange-y but more acidic, darker roasts than this taste more bitter.

US Arrival: July 2023