Mexico Oxom - Espresso

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Producers + Mill:

Oxom pays tribute to the traditional kitchens of Los Altos de Chiapas, where Tseltal indigenous communities keep alive the custom
of making café de olla (pot coffee ) in clay pots. This coffee is shared with family and visitors as a symbol of hospitality.
In 2022, we explored this region and discovered its incredible potential. Most of the area is home to Tseltal communities, which have
gained recognition in the specialty coffee industry. The high mountains and preservation of traditional varieties, like Typica and
Bourbon, allow for the production of complex and distinctive coffee flavours in every cup.

Agriculture in Los Altos is unique because it still follows traditional practices, with polyculture farming systems. Here, coffee plants
grow under the shade and protection of other tree species. These ancestral systems are more resilient to diseases like coffee rust,
help conserve biodiversity, and provide environmental services that economically support the Indigenous people who care for these
agroecological ecosystems

In Los Altos de Chiapas, we work closely with farmers year-round. Our Field Technicians train our producer partners in sustainable
farming techniques, better harvesting and post-harvesting methods, and eco-friendly production systems. During the harvest
season, the coffee s are evaluated in our cupping labs located in Oaxaca and Coatepec, Veracruz. Through this process, producers
receive scores for their coffees, which gives them an understanding of their coffee s and therefore better negotiation power. They
also receive personalised recommendations to improve the quality of their crops in future harvests. Our goal is to highlight the
unique qualities of the coffee , position the region in the specialty coffee market, improve the families' quality of life, and tackle
the challenges of climate change.

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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.

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Process:

Once the cherries are picked at their ripest, The mill recommend the farmers to do a double fermentation of the coffee, first 24hours dry in cherries and then 24 hours wet fermentation. Before they are pulped they are floated to remove low density cherries.

Once pulped, the parchment is dried on patios for 20-24 days.

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Region: Los Altos de Chiapas
Producer: Ejido Sibactel community
Importer: Ensambles
Price (green ex Shipping): £7.85p kg

Varieties: Typica, Bourbon, Caturra
Process: Washed Process
Altitude: 1300-1500 masl
Amount Bought: 276kg

Tasting: Fruity, high sweetness, medium acidity, balanced
Flavours like: Blackcurrant, dark chocolate, treacle

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