LIMITED EDITION: Sierra Madre Reserve
Great Coffee from a Great Source
The Coffee: Sierra Madre Reserve
We hope that you enjoy our limited edition Sierra Madre Reserve, a Full City roast with light spice, baked apple notes and dark chocolate with a sweet and enduring aftertaste.
Flavor Profile:
AROMA: spicy, floral, baked apple, dried plum, and brown sugar
FLAVOR: sweet, baked apple, dark chocolate, caramel, and molasses
MOUTHFEEL: dense and expansive
ACIDITY: bright and refined
AFTERTASTE: enduring and sweet
The Source: CESMACH Co-op
What makes this coffee so special is not only the amazing cooked apple and spice flavors, but also the co-op’s work to understand, develop and enhance the craftsmanship of their 235 members. Their work in specialty coffee will serve as a model for small farmers all over the world for years to come. If you have been reading our blog over this last year, then you may be familiar with their inspirational story.
In the highlands of Chiapas, CESMACH is at the forefront of understanding the factors involved in producing a stellar cup of coffee through technology. Over the last two years, the technical staff has captured specific information about each coffee farm. This group of agronomists and organic promoters utilized GPS (Global Positioning System) technology to map the altitude and location of each member’s farm. They interviewed the coffee farmers about their processing techniques, looked at the shape and condition of all processing equipment, investigated all species of coffee grown on the farms and extracted soil samples to complete a full analysis of the nutrients and types of soil in the area.
While the technical staff was out in the field collecting data, the quality team was hard at work in the laboratory analyzing the appearance of the green coffee, roasting the samples and cupping the coffee from each farm, not once, or twice, but six times! The quality team rated the coffee samples and grouped them by flavor attribute. And all of this information was collected and entered into a database with the objective to draw conclusions about the way the coffee tastes from each farm.
They looked at the correlation between altitude - a known factor in the development of the sugars created during the process of maturation in the coffee cherries - and the temperature of the environment. In addition, they looked at the type of soil found on each farm and distinguishing attributes found on the cupping table. This information created a visual map that divided the co-operative into two parts, one with Cambisoles soil, which offers a variety of chocolate flavors, and Litosoles soil, which presents citric flavors like orange, lemon and lime. This information in combination with the myriad factors previously mentioned, like altitude, temperature, variety and processing methodology, led the co-operative to identify unique attributes on each farm.
This confirmed much of the work the co-operative was doing to promote quality and also uncovered areas of potential. Now the co-operative has the information to give to their members, provide recommendations to the farmers and make necessary investments in specific parts of the co-operative in the coming years. CESMACH has been an important partner for Equal Exchange and we applaud their efforts to advance specialty coffee for small farmers in Chiapas.
Shop for Sierra Madre Reserve on our retail webstore, available for a limited time!
We would like to invite you on a trip to visit our friends in CESMACH on Google Maps. Please click the link below for a short ride down to Antonio Diaz Perez's farm (see sidebar) and to check out the surrounding El Triunfo Biosphere.
View Sierra Madre in a larger map
This map displays the location of each farm and some of the attributes found in the flavor of the coffee (image courtesy of CESMACH).
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