processing: washed variety: typica, yellow bourbon elevation: 1,600m
location: Triunfo Verde Biosphere Reserve, Chiapas
tasting notes: cactus fruit, plum, green grape, cacao, and baking spice
Long before Rafael Solis was growing the towering typica and yellow bourbon varieties surrounding his home in the Triunfo Verde Biosphere Reserve, he was a trail guide and steward who led tourists through this protected land. That deep familiarity shows — he moves through his acres like it's in his blood, and every plant, from the lemon trees to the coffee, thrives under a dense canopy of shade.
The coffee cherries here are harvested, washed, and dried by hand with water pumped from the river. The closest road is a three-mile hike, so the coffee goes out by donkey and motorbike. It's a labor of love that requires more physical work than almost any farm we've visited, and the cup reflects it: balanced and structured, with cactus fruit, plum, green grape, cacao, and a warm thread of baking spice.
