Mexico Cup of Excellence #2

Producer Roque Sánchez Cruz
Farm Finca Momokiemo
Municipality Coapilla
State Chiapas
Region Sierra Norte

Sun Exposure Mixed
Farm Size 5ha
Altitude 1487 masl
Latitude 17.130884
Longitude -93.194485

Variety Marsellesa and Costa Rica 95
Process Washed
Fermentation 24hr Dry
Drying 20-25 Days on Concrete Patios

Flavor Dates, Fig Jam, Blood Orange, Grape
Descriptors Creamy Mouthfeel, Juicy Acidity

About this coffee This past May the Eleventh Mexico Cup of Excellence competition took place in the town of Cordoba, in the eastern state of Veracruz. It was here in the 1740s that Spanish colonists from Cuba introduced coffee, and it was fitting that the Cup of Excellence competition was held in an old sugar mill built just a few years prior to coffee’s introduction to Mexico.

Finca Momokiemo is located outside of Coapilla, Chiapas in the Sierra Norte mountains. This is a lush mountainous area covered in pine forests that has been the home of the Zoque indigenous people since time immemorial. Here on a small 5 hectare farm the Sánchez Cruz family cultivates Marsellesa and Costa Rica 95 coffee varieties intermixed with Jonote, Inga Jinicuil, Guachipilín, and Montezuma Pine trees. Starting in 2019 as part of a Sembrando Vida initiative, the Sánchez Cruz family implemented several sustainable practices such as organic compost fertilizer, land terracing to preserve soil erosion and water, and planting nitrogen fixing plants. The goal was to return the land to a more agroecological state, as prior the land was used mostly for livestock grazing and monoculture farming. As a result of this work, the coffee planted by the Sánchez Cruz family has flourished and the rewards of that work are starting to pay off.

This is a traditional washed coffee. After picking the ripe cherries, the coffee is pulped and floated before undergoing a 24-hour fermentation in water. After, the coffee is moved to covered raised beds where it is dried for 20-25 days before being bagged and rested for another month to ensure homogenization of moisture.

Peter joined approximately 20 jury members last year for the CoE Mexico program, and over the course of five long days and hundreds of cups, he fell in love with all the coffees in the washed category. We split this lot with Geroge Howell Coffee.

Approx 80-85% of the FOB price returns to the producer in CoE auctions. Each country incurs different costs and the in country partner will retain 15-20% to cover the cost of the program.