Tasting Notes:
Amber Honey
Dried Apricot
Date Squares
Farm: Finca El Mango
Producer: Graciela Nape
Region: San Jose Rio Bravo, Zapotitlan de Mendez, Puebla
Processing: Washed
Variety: Garnica, Costa Rica, Mundonovo
Altitude: 1250m
Description: Mexico has been producing coffee for centuries, but it’s only recently gotten the attention it deserves, often being given the slightly misleading title of “emerging origin”. Coffee is grown in almost half of Mexico’s 30 states, but exports are dominated by Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Veracruz. Even though Mexico is getting more and more popular amongst roasters and cafés, what we have access to is still just scratching the surface of Mexico’s potential. That’s why we were so excited to see Red Fox (the exporter responsible for most of our Mexican offerings) add coffee from Puebla to their rotation. Located in south-central Mexico, the state of Puebla shares a mountain range with Veracruz. It’s still an underdog in the Mexican coffee landscape (it’s not uncommon for producers from Puebla to truck their coffees over to Veracruz where there’s better odds of selling their product to an exporter), but production has steadily increased over the years, outpacing Oaxaca this season.

Red Fox has started working with a network of motivated producers in the Zapotitlan de Mendez region of Puebla to grow their sourcing program there. Graciela Nape is one of the producers in this first main purchase. She grows Garnica, Costa Rica, and Mundonovo varieties on her 1-hectare farm, Finca El Mango, named for the massive mango tree in the center of the coffee trees. Her coffee is sweet and refreshing, subtly fruity but not overpowering.