Mexico: Altura Finca San Carlos
This satisfyingly complex single-origin, consists of four heirloom varietals grown at Finca San Carlos over the last century. Bright and rich with a thick mouthfeel, this is our go-to when seeking a traditional “coffee” flavor. Sweet and nutty with a creamy finish.
Our organic decaffeinated coffee translated so well earlier this year, that we were asked by our community to additionally carry a caffeinated Mexican coffee. So, naturally, we went back to the same family producer, Finca San Carlos. Set on the slopes of the Tacana volcano, in Chiapas, bordering Guatemala. It was first planted in 1896, and has been fully restored and revitalized by Alfred Klein. The Klein family is committed to sourcing the regions best coffee, while also taking care of migrant workers on the farm, offering housing, education and healthcare to all who work for them. They have also put in a water purification system and bio-digester so that after processing coffee, the water is released clean, back into the community.
Alfred Klein’s story starts in 1996 when the grandson (Otto Hotzen) of the man who planted the first coffee trees at San Carlos offered to sell the farm to Alfred. Alfred had made his reputation in the coffee world as the guy who could restore old mill equipment. For the next two decades Alfred worked hard to pay Otto, but San Carlos suffered from every possible consequence of climate disaster (wind, hail, and hurricanes), peso devaluation and skyrocketing inflation. By 2012, more than 85 percent of San Carlos had been destroyed by leaf rust. However, with his gift for restoring heirlooms, Alfred immediately began an aggressive plan to renovate San Carlos to its original luster, vintage mill equipment and heirloom varietals all included.
Processing coffee at San Carlos has no compromises. Coffee cherries are carefully sorted, depulped with vintage vertical pulpers, slowly fermented for 48 hours in cold spring water, then double washed with a 48 hour soak before slowly drying the coffee on patios and raised beds (so you can imagine the care that additionally goes into the decaffeination process of these same varietals!).
Although there is an abundance of spring water, Alfred has configured the mill to operate with 5,000 liters per day, which is recycled several times and then returned downstream, clean, pH balanced, and oxygenated thanks to a state-of-the-art water purification system and bio-digester. Alfred also runs his own dry mill using a series of 3 vintage catadores (wind channels) to classify his coffee. He’s explained that cherry selection and classification at the wet mill is so good that he does not need any more equipment in his dry mill to sort the coffee. Alfred’s wife handles all the export logistics from Tapachula, including refrigerated banana containers, which defy all the regular conventions of moving coffee across Mexico to Veracruz for milling and export. To which it is then shipped with care to us directly here in Phoenix, Arizona, and roasted with the utmost care.
We’ve roasted this to a nutty, chocolate perfection. Creamy and sweet, that tends to reveal those silky, milk chocolate notes as your cup cools. This Mexico has also been the backbone to our Cold-Brew blends the last few weeks, rich and balanced, letting the fruity aromas of other Central American and African coffees that make up our house blends, shine.
