GTN Natural Peaberry, Mexico

Our roaster Beeno spent 6 months in 2022 working at CAFESUMEX, a subsidiary of Grupo Terruño Nayarita (GTN). A collection of efforts from seven producing societies within this tight knit community helped create this beautiful coffee. Produced ethically, processed naturally and free of violence and corruption pervasive in the region, this magical cup is beaming of cherimoya fruit, sparkling wine, and a rich buttery mouthfeel.

From the importer San Cristobal Coffee Importers:

Community of Origin - La Yerba

The town of La Yerba is a small community on the northern side of the San Juan Volcano. The community was originally founded under the name of El Astal, but in 1969 the town was relocated to border a highway as a newly formed Ejido and was named La Yerba. To this day the community remains integrated by 35 Ejidatarios* with a total of 786 inhabitants; 383 women and 403 men, according to the census of INEGI, 2013.

La Yerba is home to the ASTAL society, with whom San Cristobal has been working for the past 8 years. The economy of La Yerba is tied to its two most important crops, coffee and avocados. With one harvest immediately following the other, there are only a few months a year where farmers have guaranteed income. By working with San Cristobal and CAFESUMEX, farmers receive a price adjustment based on the quality and sale price 4 to 6 months after the harvest of their coffee, in addition to the price they receive for their coffee in cherry form.

*An Ejido is a community comprised of communal lands designated for agricultural production. Each Ejidatario (joint land owner/farmer) has individual rights to a parcel of land or parcela, these rights can continue indefinitely and be passed on to their children, as long as the land is under consistent cultivation. With its ideology dating back to the calpulli system of the Aztecs, the Ejido system was established by the Mexican government in 1934. The establishment of an Ejido would begin with landless farmers who typically leased lands from wealthy landlords petitioning the government. The government would then consult with the landlord, and redistribute the land if the Ejido was approved. The Ejido would then be established, designating the original petitioners as Ejidatarios with individual rights to the land. Each Ejido is registered with Mexico's National Agrarian Registry (Registro Agrario Nacional). The Ejido system was eliminated in 1991, citing low productivity of communally owned land. While existing Ejidos were not disbanded and remain to this day, it is largely viewed that their elimination was a direct result of the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) of 1994.

Producing Organization -

Grupo Terruño Nayarita (GTNAY) is an enterprise that delivers consistently high-quality, socially and environmentally responsible, internet traceable coffee from Mexico.

GTNAY stockholders are independent democratic coffee producing societies scattered throughout the state of Nayarit. These societies range in size from 15 to a hundred producers. And while each society develops its own infrastructure and elects its own leaders, they are equal participants in the GTNAY structure, agreeing to not compete with each other and to implement proven best practices. Founded in 2015 there are currently there are 600 members.

A unique stockholder of the GTNAY organization is Cafés Sustentables de Mexico (CAFESUMEX, www.cafesumex.com (http://www.cafesumex.com/)). CAFESUMEX is the quality assurance member, assisting with dry mill, logistic, and export services.

CAFESUMEX was founded by James Kosalos in Tepic, Nayarit in 2003.

CAFESUMEX employees help their fellow GTNAY member producers acquire and accumulate the background and quality assurance data needed to obtain certifications, promote sales, and directly export their coffee. CAFESUMEX is also the co-inventor and manufacturer of the FincaLab Quality Management System along with its fully equipped professional portable Coffee Evaluation Laboratory. CAFESUMEX uses the FincaLab system to evaluate coffee lots, dispense immediate quality feedback to farmers, design blends to meet export contracts, and print bag labels with barcodes and serial numbers that provide full internet traceability for the coffee.

Grupo Terruño Nayarita (GTN) (http://www.gtnay.com/)

Producing Societies - ASTAL

This organization was created with the help and support of CAFESUMEX and San Cristobal Coffee Importers on January 9, 2012.  By working with CAFESUMEX, and producing the highest quality coffee, ASTAL is helping ensure a better and more stable price for its members.

ASTAL is located in the community of La Yerba, where the economy is based upon the annual harvest of its two most important crops—avocados and coffee. With one harvest immediately following the other, revenue is only generated for part of the year. By working with CAFESUMEX and San Cristobal, farmers receive a price adjustment four to six months after the harvest in accordance with the quality of their coffee. This comes at a very important time when farmer's economic options are limited. As a newly formed society, ASTAL has not had the chance to build a wet mill. The coffee they produce is instead processed as a dried natural. Instead of removing the pulp and mucilage from the coffee cherries, the coffee is only rinsed off then immediately set out to dry while still in cherry form. This process is very similar to drying a grape into a raisin. By allowing the coffee to dry as whole cherries, many flavors and characteristics are imparted onto the coffee bean. Naturally processed coffees are known to have a heavier mouth feel, lower acidity and distinct fruity characteristics. 

ASTAL is also one of the first societies to implement a system of premiums for coffee produced by women:

“La ASTAL actualmente se implementó la certificación a premios de mujeres ya que somos una sociedad con varias socias mujeres, que nos dedicamos al cultivo de café.”

"ASTAL is currently implementing a certification for women's coffee since we are a society with several women members, who are dedicated to growing coffee.”  - Andrea Flores De La O, President of ASTAL

 

Wet Processing Mill - Arrocera

Operator - Antonio Ibarra

The Arrocera Wet Mill consists of multiple drying patios located in the town of Compostela close to the El Duende Dry Mill. It is where the coffees from La Yerba and Huaynamota come to be naturally dried. The beans are first partially dried on site in their cherry form before being brought to Arrocera for final drying and processing. Natural coffees represent a small portion of Mexican coffee but an increasing portion of the coffee from Grupo Terruño Nayarita. Natural coffees are known to be complex, smooth, sweet and heavy in body.

The patios are also used to dry parchment produced by Grupo Terruño Nararita societies at peak production time in large harvest years when the group’s wet mills may become saturated and patio space is at a premium. Alternatively, in times of low harvest, such as the 2017-2018 season, the Arrocera Wet Mill may not even be used at all. 

Dry Processing Mill - El Duende

Operator - Antonio Ibarra

Owned and operated by CAFESUMEX, the El Duende Dry Mill is where all of the coffee comes to be hulled, cleaned, sorted, prepared and bagged for export. Once lots are sampled, roasted and cupped using FincaLab, the Quality Control Team uses the resulting scores to develop a work order that is sent to the famous Antonio Ibarra--who has run the mill for the past fifteen years. The work order contains information as to which lots to blend and how to process them. 

There are also three large African drying beds (“camas africanas”) located at the El Duende Mill. These are used only when all other wet mill patio space is saturated; or if FincaLab grading results indicate a lot needs to be pulled from dry storage for continued drying. 

• Each lot comes to the mill in parchment form (washed coffee) or as a dried cherry (natural or un-washed coffee).
• A work order is made from FincaLab’s SCA-standard grading and cupping results to contract requirements; this work order entails how to mix and process each lot.
• When blending is required, the bags in the lots to be mixed are laid out in rows according to the work order ratios.
• The blended coffee passes through a mechanical huller that removes the parchment or dried cherry from the bean. Once the parchment or cherry skin is removed, the coffee is placed through a winnower (or catador in Spanish) that helps to clean the coffee by blowing air though the beans to remove chaff and lightweight fragments.
• Now clean and green, the coffee is placed on a Brazilian Pinhalense mechanical screen sorter (one of a handful in all of Mexico) that separates the beans based on size and shape (flat sided or peaberries).
• The coffee is then separated based on density (the denser the better) by the “gravity table.” This machine uses vibration and a rising column of air to partially levitate the beans and sort them by density.
• The coffee is then separated into different grades (Grade 0, 1, 2, 3 etc.) based on defect content.
• Finally, the coffee passes through a Satake compact optical sorter in order to also categorize the beans by color. Here, otherwise undetectable defected beans (normally yellow or black in color) can be removed to further improve quality and broca (insect damaged) beans can be targeted for removal.
• Once the coffee has been mixed, graded, and bagged, a 100% internet traceable track-your-coffee label is attached to prepare the coffee for export!