Many of you know I lived and worked (not in coffee) in Mexico during most of the 1990s, and really got the "bug" for roasting back then, as there was a roaster across the street. Since most of the "good stuff" even back then was exported, we had pretty middling-to-modestly ok mud to drink; locals tended to drink Nescafe. The worldwide coffee industry was tumultuous then (and prior) and while clearly there was great stuff in Chiapas, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Nayarit, finding it was impossible.
Times have definitely changed...Mexican growers survived the crippling Roya outbreak of 2012 which savaged the Central American crop for years, and it really shows in the cup quality of late. Chiapas has always been my favorite region for sourcing, and 2022 harvest just rock.
Don't take my word for it! This was Coffee Review's assessment of the Chimhucum Semi-washed process, and the rest of the article is quite interesting and revealing.
Blind Assessment: Delicately sweet, subtly complex. Dried apricot, cocoa nib, freesia-like flowers, cedar, tangerine zest in aroma and cup. Richly bittersweet structure with balanced acidity; full, syrupy-smooth mouthfeel. Cocoa-toned finish with dried apricot and tangerine notes.
Notes: Produced by smallholding farmers in the Los Altos region of Chiapas from trees of the Caturra, Catuai and Sarchimor varieties of Arabica, and processed by the semi-washed, or “miel” (honey) method, in which in which the skins are removed from the fruit but some of the fruit flesh (mucilage) is allowed to dry on the beans. Badbeard's Microroastery is a Portland, Oregon-based small-batch roaster focused on quality and freshness. Badbeard's encourages its customers to "make great coffee at home." Visit www.badbeardscoffee.com for more information.
The Bottom Line: A quietly nuanced, honey-processed Mexico cup with dried stone fruit, cocoa and citrus.
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