Our last release of this years Mexican coffees comes again from the Oaxaca region. It's a super versatile and tasty espresso, bringing stone fruits, bakers chocolate and medium acidity with high sweetness!

• Producers + Mill:

The Chikon (owner of the land, lord of the Mazatecs), an emblematic character of Oaxaca, emerges from the depths of local mythology to become the owner and protector of the majestic mountains that dominate the landscape of the municipality of Huautla de Jiménez, cultural epicenter of the Mazatec region.

In Huautla, the most important Chikon is the Chikon Nindo Tokosho (“the güero owner of the hill of worship”). The güero (a term used in Mexico to call people with light skin) is represented as a rider with light skin and blonde hair, mounted on an imposing white horse; attributes that distinguish it and give it a unique aura in the Mazatec tradition.

Chikon Nangui or Chikon Tokosho lives inside the Mazatec hills. His way of life emulates the characteristics of peasant life: he surrounds himself with fields planted with corn and coffee, forests, pastures and cattle, and even the people who he takes with him.

Some locals explain that this character is like a king who rules in the mountains, who shepherds the wild animals, which he cares for and maintains as if they were his livestock.

Oaxaca is the fourth coffee producing state, with around 10% of the national production. One of the main draws to this region is the smaller producers here have vastly preserved the traditional Typicas and Bourbons which are known for their excellent cup profiles.

The land in this region is incredibly fertile and well managed by the indigenous populations there. With agroforestry management which help preserve the native ecosystems along with above organic standards, the producers use no agro-chemicals and that they boast incredible biodiversity, organic matter, wildlife and shaded environments to help stabilise the temperatures.

• Varieties:

Typica (also Tipica) forms the genetic backbone of much of specialty coffee today. The first coffee plantations grown in America and Asia were of the Typica variety and many of the most widely cultivated C. arabica crops today are descended directly from the plant.

In general, Typica is very similar in appearance to the Bourbon plant (of which it is a very close relative) although it has fewer secondary branches and the leaves are normally smaller than those of Bourbon. It is usually identifiable by its bronze leaf tips. The plants are tall (3.5 – 4m) and the berries have an elongated, oval shape.

Even though Typica has a relatively low yield it is known to produce coffee with high cup quality. It is, however, very susceptible to diseases and is becoming increasingly less common for this reason. (Info source: Mercanta)

Bourbon coffee variety dates back to the 1700s when French missionaries first introduced it on Bourbon Island in the Indian Ocean. The island is called Réunion today and the missionaries moved on to Latin America in the middle of the 1800s. It was first grown in Brazil around 1860 and cultivation spread from there throughout Latin America. Because the standard Bourbon variety is susceptible to coffee leaf rust, it does best at higher altitudes at or above 1,800 meters where leaf rust is less likely to occur. Bourbon produces a tall coffee plant, excellent coffee, and medium to low production. It much of Latin America, basic Bourbon has been replaced by offshoots such as Caturra, Catuai, and Mundo Novo.

But around Huila Colombia in the Andes Mountains, growers still specialize in growing Bourbon coffee and a cross-bred variety, pink Bourbon.Pink Bourbon gets its name from the fact that the ripe berries are pink instead of red. Coffee farmers around Huila, Colombia produce the variety by cross-breeding yellow and red Bourbon. It has greater resistance to leaf rust than either the yellow or red variety.

Caturra. This variety originates from Minas Gerais in Brazil. It was a natural mutation of Red Bourbon, Caturra is favoured as it is a high yielding plant (more cherries per tree) and is more resistant to plant diseases than that of Bourbon.