Monte Alban is a thousand-year-old Zapotec ruin visible from the coffee farms nestled in the mountains around the site. Located near the city of Oaxaca, a renowned culinary destination in Mexico, the area's food culture has been influenced and perfected by its long and complex history.
Monte Alban was one of the earliest major urban centers of the Mesoamerican classical period, reaching its peak between 200-600 AD before declining around 800 AD. The Zapotecs, an advanced ancient civilization, made significant advancements in astronomy, writing, and medicine. After their mysterious departure, the site was used by other groups, including the Mixtecs, who recognized its spiritual significance and used it for burials.
This rich and intricate history lends a sense of magic to the region, connecting the past with the present through culture, artifacts, and the delightful coffee produced there. Coffee growers in this region have been cultivating coffee for more than three generations, using traditional and mostly organic methods. Our import partners, Caravela, have been working with these small communities to help certify their farms and add value to their products.
The organic farmers contributing to Monte Alban primarily depend on coffee cultivation as their main source of income. In addition to coffee, many farmers migrate to the coast during the off-season to grow corn or raise cattle, which are essential for their sustenance. Oaxaca, with its rich cultural diversity, includes farmers who speak Mixtec, Zapotec, Mazatec, and Spanish.
Caravela began working with this group in 2018, starting with 55 independent organic farmers in the Sierra Sur de Oaxaca. As they expanded their Growers Education Program (PECA) across the state, they reached more remote communities, including Los Naranjos, Tierra Blanca, Malvarisco, San Pedro Pochutla, and Santa María Ozolotepec. By 2019, the reach had grown to 245 partner farmers, including communities like Lagunilla, Loma Canela, Ozolotepec, San Antonio Xanagua, San Antonio Ozolotepec, San Marcial Ozolotepec, and San Antonio Guivini, among others.
Today, all the farmers are certified organic, relying on traditional farming methods and processing without chemicals, and producing their own organic compost. For them, farming is a heritage rooted in generational knowledge and shaped by their unique culture and identity. The certification, funded by Caravela, is free for all associated farmers, enabling them to enter the specialty coffee market and secure better prices.
Over the years, the farmers have improved their processing techniques with guidance from Caravela's PECA educators. Initially, they mixed ripe and unripe coffee fruits and fermented them for 8 hours, drying them quickly to sell the parchment coffee at market of below market prices. Through the PECA program, they refined their harvesting practices, focusing on optimal ripeness levels and extending frmentation times from 8 hours to 24-40 hours, depending on weather conditions and available fermentation medium, such as concrete or plastic tanks. This led to a fruiter coffee and a more complex cup profile.
Additionally, drying practices were improved, extending drying times to 7-10 days. The farmers' locations provide about 12 hours of sunlight daily, with temperatures rising slightly between 12 and 2pm due to humid or cloudy weather. They use this window of time to dry the coffee on concrete patios or palm mats, a method typical in mexican coffee culture.
