Say hello to Enchanter, our newest brew from the lush Chiapas Highlands of Mexico. Expect a sweetness reminiscent of a Danish stroopwafel (oh yes), layered with honeyed richness and a bright, citrusy orange acidity. 

This coffee comes from a remarkable group of indigenous Tzeltal women producers in Los Altos de Chiapas from Tenejapa, Chenalhó, and Oxchuc. The farmers proudly sell under their own names, earning the recognition long overdue to women in coffee. Using traditional “rusticano” and milpa systems, they cultivate coffee beneath native trees alongside corn, beans, and vegetables; sustaining biodiversity and cultural traditions in harmony with the land. These ancestral methods increase resilience to threats like leaf rust, preserve biodiversity, and provide vital ecosystem services that sustain Indigenous communities and their agroecological way of life. 

A word from our Head of Coffee, Siala: 

In February this year, shortly before joining the Elsewhere team, I travelled to Mexico with Ensambles (a Mexican coffee exporter/importer I’ve been working with for a few years now). It was my first time in Chiapas having visited and bought coffee previously from Oaxaca & Guerrero. We were around Tenejapa for three days, about a 90 minute drive from San Cristóbal. Here I met many incredible coffee producers, including the women in El Pach. The communities had faced a hard season, with unpredictable weather events (including one area experiencing a month’s worth of rain in one night), and the skyrocketing c-market (it hit the at-the-time’s historic high of over 400c per pound while I was out there). But more on this in a longer newsletter, for now it is suffice to say we saw experience, resilience as well as precariousness and uncertainty. The indigenous Tzeltal community in El Pach is led by Samaria López Jiménez, whose skill and strength of character are evident across all she does. Not only does she grow and process her coffee, she roasts and sells it as another revenue stream. As in many beautifully biodiverse farms, fantastic honey is also produced and sold. However, many a visitor has sadly found their delicious jars confiscated latterly by zealous and unyielding airport security, vigilant in enforcing the liquid bans in hand luggage.

Normally, the coffees produced by the women here would have been blended into a larger community lot from the region, but after speaking with Aïssa at Ensambles, who had led the trip, and also hoped to create this women's lot, we were able to keep the coffee separate and secure it especially for Elsewhere this year. If it's a success, hopefully more demand will mean next year more of this beautiful coffee can be sold to buyers as Mujeres de Los Altos. Part of what drives me in my work here is creating pathways for coffees that deserve recognition, but have suffered from misinformed consumption habits in specialty. Both of these lots are exemplary of the excellence
that exists if you are willing to open your eyes - and mind - to look for it.