LCC Roastery

Balanced flavors, brown sugar sweetness, chocolate, caramel cookie, moderate brightness

Don Sergio Orantes’ farm, La Grandeza, is located in Cerro Brujo, Chiapas. The town is named after the mountain slopes it sits on (translates to “Sorcerous Mountain”), not only well known by rock climbers, but also for high altitude coffee. La Grandeza sits above 1500 meters above sea level and is planted in Costa Rica 95 and Marsellesa, both disease resistant coffee varieties that also produce good cup quality; especially when grown at higher altitudes.

Sergio has been producing coffee for more than 30 years and has tried his hand at many different types of processes over the the years (honey, anaerobic, dry process etc). This is his traditional, wet process style. After depulping his coffee cherries, Sergio ferments the fruit-covered seeds for a day to 36 hours in order to break down the sticky mucilage, then washes away the fruit before drying. The result is a sparkling clean, wet process coffee with saturated sweetness and fairly moderate perceived acidity for coffee from Mexico.

Medium roasts are where the cup has the best balance of flavors. A soft sweetness of brown sugar backs pleasing roast tones, and has a flavor profile like semi-sweet chocolate with that bittering note in the back end. The cup has moderate brightness for Mexico coffee, which adds to a textured mouthfeel. As the cup cools, caramel, cinnamon and almond notes accent the sweetness, bringing out flavors that remind me of those thin, crisp, caramel-almond lace cookies, and coffee “Nips” candies too.

• Origin: Mexico
• Region: Cerro Brujo, Ocozocoautla, Chipas
• Producer: Don Sergio Orantes’ farm
• Altitude: 1500m
• Cultivars: Costa Rica 95, Marsellesa
• Grade: SHB
• Processing: Wet Process (Washed)
• Drying: Patio Sun-Dried
• Sourcing: Sweet Maria’s