MEXIKOTEJAO

About coffee

La Mazateca maintains its historical cultivation of typica and bourbon, two varietals now very rare within Latin America due to its susceptibility to roya. Coffee cultivation is very largely organic. The farms maintain a culture of minimal intervention; producers are quite reluctant towards pruning, and are proud of their 2-3 meter-high, 40-year-old typica trees. Coffee is produced in agroforestry meaning within different levels of shade and amongst other crops & wood. The variety of corn is also very impressive.

Tejao, in the mazateco name of the town of Huautla, is a blend of nanolots from 127 producers of the region. All nanolots went through Ensambles’ careful QC. A single producer’s lot in their warehouse weighted on average 63 kgs of parchment, so each producer delivered less than a bag of coffee each on average.

Farmers process their coffee until dry parchment. Cherries are usually harvested and left to rest overnight. They are sometimes floated using a plastic container filled with water and a sieve to take out floaters (low density fruits). Next step is depulping, usually manual, depulped beans are then left to ferment without water in a wooden tank for 24, 48 sometimes 72 hours, due to the cool climate and cold nights. This extended fermentation very likely enhances the coffees’ flavours and creates its complexity. Drying occurs on patios, usually on top of the house.