Yoloxochitlán
Yoloxochitlán is a small village nestled high in the slopes of the Sierra Mazateca, in the rural north of Oaxaca. The indigenous Mazatec people make up the majority of the population here, in this remarkably remote and inaccessible part of the country. The farmers here face many challenges. Due to high altitudes, the Sierra Mazateca is very cold at night, and together with the dense native forest cover, this leads to very low yields. Much of the plant stock throughout the region is very old, mainly of Typica and Bourbon varietals, compounding the problem. Many of these problems stem from the farmers’ lack of access to market and to reliable agronomic advice.
Many here speak only the ancient Mazatec language, and don’t understand Spanish, so access to outside influence can only take place through experienced translators. Leaf rust has also been a huge problem here, with old trees of traditional varietals particularly susceptible, and access to advice on dealing with the disease difficult to come by. All of this means that yields in the Sierra Mazateca are often as low as 100 kg per hectare, compared to the Colombian standard of 2400 kg.
The other side is that many of these factors lead to very high quality. Shade-grown, high altitude, traditional varietals. The cool temperatures here also lead to long and slow fermentations, leading to a clean and crisp cup profile in washed lots like this one.
Coffee is processed at the individual farms, all using these long fermentation washed processes, then cupped and selected by the team from Raw Material coffee. Raw Material are investing heavily in these producers, giving them better access to market, to agronomic advice, and to methods of increasing yields, such as new seedlings.
This lot was selected from lots with a richly sweet and bright citrus-driven profile, with the brightnesss balanced by a sugary sweetness.
