Description

Chiapas Zafiro Strictly High Grown (SHG) is a regional blend from one of Mexico’s largest and oldest coffee-producing areas, with some farms dating back a century. Specifically, it comes from the nearly 2,000 producers who deliver to the Chicomuselo and Comalapa buying stations. These neighboring villages at the Mexico-Guatemala border are just below Lake Angostura.

Chiapas benefits from the mixing of the Pacific Ocean’s climate to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Combined with the slopes of the Sierra Madres, which divide the state and reach up to 1,600 meters near the border with Guatemala, countless microclimates are created, cultivating a distinctive cup quality.

Coffees in Chiapas may come from large estates, but the majority are produced by smallholders, usually in association with cooperatives. Most producers hand-pulp their coffees, ferment the beans in small tanks and rake and dry them on small patios on their properties.

Q Graders at Exportadora de Cafe California, our sister export company, helped create this blend and the Zafiro profile, which is full-bodied, round and highlights the distinctly chocolatey cup profile produced by this specific area, in the southern split of the Sierra Madres, at the edge of the El Triunfo national park.

Cupping notes: Chocolate, herbal, lime, sweet hay; winey acidity, smooth body.

Characteristics

Region: Chiapas

Growing Altitude: 1 100 – 1 600

Arabica Variety: Catuai, Tipica

Harvest Period: January – April

Milling Process: Hand picked, hand pulped, dried on patios

Flavor: Herbal, citrus, chocolate

Body: Full, round

Acidity: Spicy, winey