The Mexico El Capo Single Origin Coffee Beans Are Flavour Packed with Hints of Chocolate & Fruity Acidity

THE COFFEE BEANS

Coffee beans grown in the Chiapas region of Mexico, include arabica varietals like Catuai and Bourbon. The climate, volcanic soil, rainfall and the warmth of its people make Chiapas an ideal place to get the best coffee, with altitude ranges between approximately 1,000 and 1,800m above sea level.

Typica is the main coffee varietal that other Arabica cultivars have been developed from.  The coffee tree reaches 3-4m in height, with one main vertical trunk and secondary branches that are vertical and grow on a slight slant. Typica coffee has a very low production, but has an excellent cup quality.

Bourbon is a parent to a variety of Arabica varieties, named after Bourbon Island (now known as Reunion Island) where it is derived from. It’s a short tree with many secondary branches and on average produces 25% more coffee than the Typica variety. The Bourbon variety is renowned for its exceptional sweet/acid balance.

Catuai is a cross plant between Mundo Novo and Caturra varietals. It’s another short plant with mainly primary branches, and is a high yielding plant that is suitable for heavy weather environments.

The Mexico El Capo single origin coffee will work well in espresso as a black coffee, and other black coffee styles of brewing like plunger or AeroPress.

Tasting Notes: Fruity with notes of apricot, juicy melon, bright acidity and medium body. Has surprising hints of chocolate with a clean finish.

LOCATION

In 1914 a Spanish immigrant named Miguel Lavin acquired the land and introduced the Typica Arabica varietal. The land was sold in the 1930’s and the new owners introduced bourbon varieties and built a wet mill and patios for sun drying.

The state of Chiapas produces some of the best coffee in Mexico. It sits on the border near Guatemala and shares the same mountain range with Huehuetenango, one of the best coffee regions from Guatemala.  It is known to be one of the safest states in Mexico and has a national cloud forest park: El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve with Quetzals and Horned Guans.

THE FARM

The Mexico El Capo Finca El Chorro is a USDA Organic Certified farm in the heart of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas coffee growing region. The state of ‘Chiapas’ is Mexico’s main coffee producing area, although it is also Mexico’s poorest state.

At El Chorro, the coffee is primarily “shade-grown”, which uses ideal shady conditions to grow the coffee. The farm covers 294 hectares of the state of which 27 hectares are dedicated as a wildlife reserve and the balance used for coffee production. The flora and fauna are preserved and given the right conditions to flourish, with local varieties maintained naturally (shade from the trees provides temperature control and the forest style of growing provides natural compost for the plants to keep them healthy).  

BEAN PROCESSING

This single origin is processed with a fully washed process. The coffee cherry is pulped by a pulper machine, then left to ferment in water with its mucilage for a few days, sometimes longer. Then the mucilage is washed from the beans. This process is often used to produce a higher quality coffee, though it does require a lot of skill and a lot of water.