Mexico Chiapas Serrano Coffee

Farm: Producers associated with Productores Serranos de café de Motozintla (Serranos)
Region: Chiapas
Process: Washed
Variety: Bourbon, Typica, Caturra
Elevation: 1500-1750 masl

In Chiapas, the word "Everest" comes to mind when looking to describe this impressive, organic Mexican coffee.

Though Productores Serranos de Café de Motozintla has production reaching an impressive 1750 meters above sea level near the El Triunfo biosphere reserve, elevation is not what is being referred to when this coffee is described as an "Everest." Rather, the reference is to the level of difficulty in cultivating heirloom varietals like bourbon using organic practices despite the devastating toll of leaf rust throughout Mexico. Like clockwork though, Serranos has yet again produced the cupping table with the near impossible.

Serranos is a group of nearly 200 growers spread throughout 22 communities in the southern end of the Sierra Madre mountain range in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. High elevations and an unwavering commitment to organic practices is the common bond among the Serranos group of growers. Each producer processes coffee with their own micro-mill and dry the coffee in the sun on patios before transporting the coffee in parchment to a centrally located dry mill facility where the coffee is prepared for export.

Most of the farms have less than 10 acres of coffee cultivation, which makes farm level production of organic inputs, like Bokashi, an achievable means of maintaining proper plant nutrition. These organic practices also provide a protective buffer for more than 800 plant species and 390 bird species that make their home in the El Triunfo biosphere reserve.