México Finca Santa Cruz

This coffee is outstanding. It comes from Finca Santa Cruz, a farm run by the innovative Pepé Arguello. This farm is already achieving widespread notoriety in just its third year running. Last year, Pepe won the Cup of Excellence competition in Mexico for his Geisha lot. On the farm, he has planted varieties of Bourbon, Typica, and Yellow Caturra alongside some of that award-winning Geisha. Pepe ́ 's father actually was a well-known producer in Chiapas, and when Pepé purchased Finca Santa Cruz, he decided to build the business around the specialty. With land at 1700 masl on the Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, his farming practices reflect his desire for a more precise, agronomically advanced, and conservation-focused approach. He harvests cherry according to Brix (measuring the sugar content of the fruit), ferments according to pH (the actual acidity of the fermentation), and generally seeks experimentation, growth, and collaboration. The farm’s area is biodiverse, filled with native Inga trees that also provide shade, allowing the coffee to grow in harmony with the surrounding reserve rather than in conflict with it. In fact, the local community helps harvest the farm’s cherries. Once harvested, Pepe first floats the cherry in water, then ferments for 20-72 hours in concrete tanks depending on outside factors like weather and ambient temperature, using pH as his guide. He then dries the washed parchment on raised beds with a mesh covering for 17-25 days. He uses a hydrometer to measure the level of moisture in the coffee during drying. Pepe’s goal is to slowly increase production as well as quality and gain wider international recognition. We love the care, passion, and quality of this coffee. It is a phemenomal representation of Mexican coffee.