An effort of collaboration; made easy with friendship.
Crafted by the expertise and knowledge of Cafeología.
Farmers: Beneficio Comunitario San Pedro Genaro Gómez, Manuel Gómez & Mariano Ruíz
Region: Aldama
Process: Washed
Variety: Typica, Bourbon & Caturra
Sensory Profile: Black currant, lychee, piloncillo, dates, prunes, grapes, molasses, juicy acidity, creamy body, caramel aftertaste.
“If I could take a work model with me to the end of the world, it would be the Beneficios Comunitarios”
- Cafeólogo
A NOTE FROM CAFEóLOGO:
Beneficio Comunitario is a relationship model that began in 2018 with a group of coffee farmers in their community. This relationship is an ongoing exchange of knowledge and learning. Work partners—that’s the relationship we aim to foster daily with the coffee farmers—rather than just a commercial relationship of supplying and paying for a product or service. Work partners listen, ask questions, contribute, collaborate, support, and sometimes forge personal connections that further strengthen our relationship.
Cafeología’s agronomy team works inside the Beneficio Comunitario 365 days per year. Inez Vázquez is the Tzotsil woman who leads the Beneficio Comunitario. She was born and raised in San Pedro Cotsilnam and lives there now with her family. During the harvest, they join her in the labor, along with friends, volunteers, family members, and coworkers who want to be a part of this relationship model.
There are 169 coffee farmers from Cotsilnam and 8 nearby communities involved. These coffee farmers grow traditional coffee varieties (Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, and recently Garnica) with good cup profiles, using largely organic or low-intervention practices.
They are small-scale coffe farmers with several plots of low production and low planting density; in most cases, the harvesting labor is provided by family members. During this harvest, around 63 tons of fresh cherries were processed.
The municipality of Aldama is one of the 125 municipalities in the state of Chiapas, located in the center of the state. It is a region known for its mountainous terrain, with elevations ranging from 900 meters to 2,200 meters above sea level.
This region is characterized by the presence of rain almost all year round, with three types of climate: warm, semi-warm, and warm humid. Its predominant vegetation is cloud forest,
covering 50% of its territory.
The Tzotzil community where we are located is called San Pedro Cotzilnam, which means “Rooster of the Lagoon” (Kots - rooster, Na’m - lagoon), situated at 1,445 meters above sea level. As of 2020, it had a recorded population of 1,048 inhabitants. In this community, sugarcane was traditionally grown to produce aguardiente (a type of distilled liquor).
It was from the 1970s onwards that coffee projects began, featuring classic varieties such as Typica, Bourbon, and Caturra, supported by government aid and buyers with organic certifications.
It is a developing community, improving its communications, access roads, and social organization.
A Note from Idle Hands:
When Jesus and Ricky begun exploring how this collaboration may come about, Ricky pitched an idea of Trust; where Idle Hands would purchase, roast and share the coffee of Jesus’ choosing. And Jesus put forward the questions WHAT the coffee is, and WHY we collaborate.
The WHAT is easy to describe yet hard to execute: this is a beautiful coffee, processed with skill and dedication. The WHY, in short, is perhaps the opposite, harder to describe, yet easy to do: this is the reward of trust and friendship. It includes a love of collaboration and the idea that we can trust our friends to select their favorite coffee, and that the trust is reciprocated in which we have been given the opportunity to present that coffee in a beautiful way. It was easy to do.
We’re honored to know Jesus and have been long time fans of his work at Cafeólogia in Chiapas. To be able to invest into this friendship further is nothing shy of rewarding. What is to come, and how this will shape our efforts and purchasing in the future, excites us.
