Ozolotepec is a small town, high up in the Southern Sierra Madre Mountains, 3 hours south of Oaxaca City. Many of the producers who have contributed to this lot are native Zapotec. The Zapotec civilization was one of the highly developed cultures in pre-Colombian Mesoamerica which, among other things, included a writing system and what archeologists consider the first city of ancient Mesoamerica, at Monte Albán, dating back to 1150 BCE. Â
Our export partners at Caravela have been working heavily in the region since 2018 and have seen participation in their education programs grow quickly, to over 100 producers. Growing mostly Bourbon and Typica varieties on small 1.5-3-hectare farms, farmers wash their coffees and dry them on concrete terraces covered in palm mats, which is very traditional for the area. This coffee is sweet and approachable, with gentle notes of citrus and stone fruit. Â