Mexico
Finca árboles De Guajes
Hermenegildo Ragoza & Aurelia Carrera

The Árboles de Guajes farm takes its name from a native tree that grows in the area. It is commonly known as the blood tree. Hermenegildo is very grateful to know roasters have in their hands a coffee proudly grown by an indigenous Mazatec family.

Washed process Typica

Flavour: baked plum, lime, berries

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

The ‘Árboles de Guajes’ farm takes its name from a native tree that grows in the area. It is commonly known as the blood tree, also considered sacred.

Behind this farm and coffee are Hermenegildo Marin and his family. For him, coffee production began with his parents who taught him how to cultivate the land. Back then, it was the only source of income they had. When his parents passed away, he inherited the plot. Today, Hermenegildo grows coffee alongside his family. His sons mainly supervise tasks such as pruning, planting, renovations, and shade management. He and his wife Aurelia Martinez take care after the harvest and drying stage.

Two years ago, he started working with a quality-focused approach. Now, he is very motivated by knowing he can improve the plantation and constantly learning better processing practices. During the harvest season, they carefully pick the coffee and float it to remove lower-density beans and achieve a cleaner cup. On the same day, they remove the coffee pulp and ferment it for 24 hours to finally dry it for 12 days on average.

He says growing coffee and taking care of the land is a reminder of his parents’ words “the land is to make it produce and make a living from it”.

Hermenegildo and his family are very grateful to know roasters have in their hands a coffee proudly grown by an indigenous Mazatec family who loves coffee and their country.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: Hermenegildo Ragoza & Aurelia Carrera
Country: Mexico
Region: San Lucas Zoquiapan
Altitude: 1500m above sea level
Variety: Typica
Process: washed
Importer: Caravela
Body: Medium
Acidity: Balanced
Tasting notes: Baked plum, lime, berries
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Variety

Typica variety

Considered to be one of the ‘genus’ varietals from which all other varietals have mutated from

The location

Coffee from Mexico

While Mexico is in the top 10 coffee-producing countries, its most commonly associated with commodity coffee used in lower-grade blends. Thankfully this is changing as more smaller producers show what’s possible with quality-focused picking and processing.

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.