t o n x . o r g

The final and much-condensed (but photo-rich) chapter of my coffee adventure in Mexico…

John from Royal, Doug, Geoff, and Paul from Intelly and myself took the overnight bus from Oaxaca to the city of Huixtla in Chiapas and from there made our way to the mountain city of Motozintla, the “land of squirrels”. The mountain roads are still messed up from last October’s Hurricane Stan, and we encountered reconstruction everywhere. The deforestation that has occured in parts of this region over the years leaves the area vulnerable to intense mudslides, and with Stan the devastation was big.

We visited the offices and dry mill of UDEPOM (Union de Ejidos Prof. Otilio Montaño) an FLO certified organic coffee growing cooperative with around 600 members. The dry mill saw a great deal of damage from the hurricane and much of the equipment had to be salvaged from the mud, moved into a different warehouse and made ready for the seasons coffee. Their sample roaster and production roaster were still caked with mud and inoperative. Some importers and roasters helped out the coop with money for relief efforts and funds to repair their milling equipment in time for the harvest.

The folks at Bellingham based roaster Tony’s (no relation) had donated to relief efforts and Tom and Wendy from Tony’s arrived in Motozintla, touring the mills and farms with us. The next day we piled into the back of a truck for the long but beautiful ride into the mountains to visit with a group of farmers. Riding standing in a truck bed up narrow, muddy, broken mountain roads is actually pretty fun, pausing for the occasional cow or massive boulder (which Wendy valiantly tried to move).

We had a lunch of chicken mole at a sort of general store high in the mountains. I dodged the chicken, having remained mostly vegetarian on this trip (except for that bite of goat and those grasshoppers) but enjoyed the mole and fresh tortillas. The store sold only a few items - some canned goods, cup-o-noodles, the ubiquitous coca-cola, some spices, a bucket of machetes and white-out (which I assumed must be used as an inhalant as other office supplies were not to be seen).

We toured a farm where most of the trees (typica and bourbon cultivars) were in bloom. I’ve heard many people wax poetic on the smell of coffee flowers before and I’ve sniffed the scent vial from the Nez du Cafe kit, but I was truly astounded at the beauty of this fragrance. Jasmine-like but with a fruity fullness just this side of intense. More than any photo, I wished there was a way I could have brought this scent back with me.

Though it would be another 9 months before these flowers would turn to fruit, Tom spotted a couple of late ripe cherries and I indulged in my first taste of coffee pulp. It was honey sweet and not at all unpleasant and I’ll be curious to see if Geoff makes good on his scheme to someday bake a coffee cherry pie. The mechanics of de-pulping cherries has always confused me, but the ease with which the mucilage covered seed emerged from the torn cherry made the process seem pretty clear.

Here each farmer has about 10 acres of coffee trees with the labor of harvesting and wet milling shared among the members of each subgroup, with technical assistance being shared throughout the entire coop. Each plot has its own small patio and washing tank and depulping is often done with hand cranked machines. Much of their model (like a 10 acre limit) is based on the strict requirements of the FLO (Fairtrade Labeling Organization) and many other aspects of their agronomy are dictated by their organic certification. The farmers themselves come from a strong political and philosophical tradition of respect for farming and for the land and they pride themselves on the depth of their engagement with sustainable practices.

We had the opportunity to speak candidly with these growers and hear their concerns. Coffee growing is hard work, with much forward investment in a crop that offers only a small margin above the cost of production (particularly in Mexico) and a good deal of risk. The fairtrade price controls are a help but, as one of the younger farmers expressed, there is frustration with how the price has remained static even as costs have risen and the quality of their crops has improved. The older farmers are concerned that their children will see no future in farming and flee to the cities as many others have done. Geoff spoke at length (in his rapidly improving spanish) about his plan to significantly increase the amount paid to these farmers and build a long term relationship to continue improving the quality of the coffees. Ideas that will be elaborated on as Intelligentsia launches its new Direct Trade model (which you can hear more about in this recent NPR piece).

Team Intelligentsia and I piled into a minivan for the two hour trip over the mountians back to Huixtla (did you know you can fit 17 people in a single minivan? - what fun!) and took an overnight bus to a surfer town on the Oaxacan coast. A beautiful place to enjoy our last days in Mexico and pick up the requisite gringo sunburn. The whole trip was a tremendous learning experience for me and I owe a debt of gratitude to Geoff and Doug for making it possible. There is still so much to learn about coffee, and undoubtedly, so much to do.

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