Santiago Atitlan | Oaxaca, Mexico

Origin

• 🇲🇽 Mexico

Tasting notes

Character

• Clean
  30

Notes: Fuji Apple, White Grape, Almond Fudge & Spice Community: Atitlan SmallholdersSmallholderA farmer growing coffee on a small family plot — often under two hectares. Most of the world's coffee is grown this way, typically pooled at cooperatives or washing stations. Area: Sierra Norte, Oaxaca Varietal: BourbonBourbonOne of the two foundational arabica varieties (with Typica), named after Île Bourbon (Réunion). Sweet, balanced, caramel-leaning; parent of countless modern cultivars., TypicaTypicaThe oldest cultivated arabica lineage, ancestor of most Latin American coffee. Low yield, clean and sweet cup; the baseline other varieties are measured against. Elevation: 1450-1600 masl Process: Fully washedWashed processThe fruit is removed from the seed before drying, usually with fermentation and a water rinse. Tends to give clean, transparent cups where origin character shows clearly. Source Partner: Red Fox Coffee Merchants Santiago Atitlan Oaxaca’s Santiago Atitlan region is marked by dense forests and heavy mists, with pronounced rainy seasons.Found in the Sierra Mixe district of the Sierra Norte province, the coffees that come from here reflect communal hard work, great altitude, preserved local varieties, rich soil, and the slow maturation that the area’s cooling mists and strong shade cover offer. To get to Atitlan, we have to drive from Oaxaca for 4.5 hours. Most of the route is paved but the last half hour consists of dirt roads. In Atitlan, the houses are mostly roadside while the farms are up in the mountains, accessible only on foot or by mule. The road from the houses to the farms can take up to an hour’s climb in many cases. Atitlan’s producers are extreme smallholders, farming 1-2 hectares on average. They carry out harvest among their families and community. The farms are located in altitudes ranging between 1400 and 1600 masl. Producers here mostly grow Typica and Bourbon varieties. Most producers plant corn, timber trees, and bananas as supplements to coffee. They also raise farm animals for family consumption. Atitlan's producers have their own washing stations at their houses, where they ferment their coffee in wooden tanks for 12-20 hours, then dry them for 8-10 days on patios. They usually keep a distance of 2 meters between rows and 1.5 meters between seedlings. Between each row, the producers place a plant that serves to separate the rows and keep the coffee trees apart. Producers use native trees such as ice cream bean trees and avocado to shade their coffee trees. These trees provide not only shade, but also various benefits such as food, ornamentation, medicine, construction materials, nitrogen fixing, and water retention. The producers i