Mexico Chiapas Organic - Seleccion Yajalon Tzotzil (2022 Crop)

Toffee, sweet, graham cracker, raisin cookie
On Sale
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Bag Weight 69 KG BAG
Harvest Season 2021/22
Status Spot
Lot Number P609359-3
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About This Coffee

The organic farming system in Yajalon is performed under partial shade of native trees varieties & intercropped with beans, bananas, pumpkin and citrics and plums. The coffee cherries are picked ripe, de-pulped and fermented for up to 17 hours. They are then washed and sun dried on farmers' yards or zarandas. 

Yajalón is a municipality located in the Tulijá Tzeltal Chol region, nowadays comprised of more than 37 thousand inhabitants, most of them from Tzeltal indigenous origins. Cajpe (coffee in Tzeltal) is the main economic activity in the communities and is the main link for the community with the international markets. Coffee being the main cash-crop, is often produced with food staples like corn, beans, and spicy chilies mainly for consumption. Olam is a key partner for the region.

Country of Origin Mexico
Harvest Season 2021/22
Coffee Grade MEX CA WA HG
Bag Type Grain Pro / Ecotact
Plant Species Arabica
Processing Washed
Variety Bourbon, Pacamara, Marsellesa
Region Altos de Chiapas
Farm Name Various smallholders
Certifications Organic certified
Growing Altitude 1300m - 1700m

History of Coffee in Mexico

With seeds from the Caribbean, cultivation began in Veracruz, where custom house records indicate a few hundred bags of coffee were exported as early as 1802. But these exports were apparently anomalous because after 1805 coffee would not be exported again for twenty years, after the war of independence. Production did increase over this period, presumably for domestic trade and consumption. In 1817, a planter named Don Juan Antonio Gomez started “intensive cultivation” further south, where coffee thrived at high altitudes. By 1826 there were half a million trees in Cordoba and Mexican coffee was being exported.  In 1828, seeds—or possibly plants—from Arabia (Yemen) were planted in Uruapan, near the Pacific coast west of Mexico City, by Jose Mariano Michelena. Trees were brought from Guatemala to be planted in the southern state of Chiapas in 1847, and  Oaxaca would become the third largest producer of Mexican coffee by 1889.  

Growing Coffee in Mexico

Mexican coffee grows in 15 states throughout the southern half of the country but over 90% comes from four states: Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Puebla. Specialty coffee comes from the highlands of Veracruz on the gulf coast, the mountains of Oaxaca and Chiapas at the southern tip of Mexico. In Veracruz coffee grows from 1,100-1,660 m.a.s.l. In Chiapas coffee grows from 1,300-1,700 m.a.s.l. In Oaxaca coffee grows from 900-1,650 m.a.s.l. Coffee is grown by more than half a million farmers, 95% of these being smallholders cultivating less than three hectares and 85% of Mexico’s coffee farmers are indigenous Mexicans. Most Mexican coffee is grown under shade and Mexico is one of the world’s largest producers of certified organic coffee and Fair Trade coffee. Most Mexican coffee is Bourbon, Catura, Maragogype, or Mundo Novo, though other varieties can be found. Mexico grows almost no Robusta.  

  • Region Altos de Chiapas
  • Farm Name Various smallholders
  • Processing Washed
  • Bag Type Grain Pro / Ecotact
  • Plant Species Arabica
  • Variety Bourbon, Pacamara, Marsellesa
  • Min Growing Altitude 1300m
  • Max Growing Altitude 1700m
  • On Sale Yes
  • On Sale Text pallet discount
  • Top Lot No
  • Status Spot
  • Certifications Organic certified
  • Coffee Grade MEX CA WA HG
  • CTRM Contract Number P609359-3
  • Country of Origin Mexico
  • Warehouse The Annex