The first fresh Mexican coffee of the season is a rich and creamy delight from the mountains of Bella Vista, Chiapas. I’m constantly blown away by the diversity of coffee within Mexico’s three primary growing regions (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz), almost three distinct origins in and of themselves, and the coffees from Chiapas harken to the famously crisp and textured lots from the storied Huehuetenango region of Guatemala. Which makes sense – “Huehue”, as it’s affectionately called, is only a few hundred kilometres away. As a lesser-known coffee-producing country, we love showing that the quality of Mexican coffee can stand up to the world-renowned farms just a stone’s throw over the border. This lot is a family affair, consisting of coffees grown by Eugenio Roblero, Froilan Roblero Cifuentes, Otoniel Roblero Cifuentes, and Omar Roblero Cifuentues, around the town of Bella Vista. All four farms are owned by the uncles and cousins of Rosalba Cifuentes. Rosalba grew up on a coffee farm in Bella Vista, where she and most of her family still cultivate coffee. She is also the founder of Mayan Harvest, an exporting/importing company aimed at uplifting her fellow smallholder producers from Bella Vista. She personally manages the export of coffee from Chiapas to the Bay Area, thereby providing higher access to the specialty market and higher transparency and traceability into the supply chain. In addition to this blend of her family’s farms, Rosalba has also created a group of small female-owned farms (5-hectare or less) who pool their production together and export as a collective. This has given access to higher prices and the resources required to improve quality. In Rosalba’s own words: “unfortunately, in the area… machismo predominates, so the producers are isolated… Taking this as a starting point, we want to try to improve the image of the producers by creating this group in order to promote their work.” We’re looking forward to future harvests from Rosalba’s family and neighbours.