Higher Grounds Trading Company
Roasting 100% Fair Trade and Organic Handcrafted Coffees
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Meet the Farmers: Mexico
We are proud to serve the finest Mexican coffees, produced amidst an ongoing struggle for indigenous rights and preservation of diverse cultures in the Mayan Highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Our beans come from two Chiapas-based coffee cooperatives: Maya Vinic (meaning "Mayan Man"), and Yachil Xojobal Chulchan ("New Light in the Sky").
In Perspective
Coffee first achieved prominence in the beginning of the 18th century when formal plantations were established in Chiapas, Mexico, to supply a modest internal market. By the middle of the 19th century, German and Italian farmers settled in Chiapas along the Pacific Coast plateau. Creating large plantations ("haciendas") devoted to the production of coffee, the the European farmers depended on the indentured servitude of native Mayan Highlanders. The Mayan people eventually left the oppressive plantations to form their own grower-owned and -operated cooperatives.
Today, coffee accounts for two-thirds of all organic acreage in Mexico. Fifty percent of all organic coffee in the country is produced by indigenous farming groups, and ninety percent of all coffee growers in Mexico are small-scale farmers with less than 12 acres of land.
A Quality Cup
Now, after years of farmers selecting the best seeds and carefully cultivating the crops, coffee from the Mayan Highlands of Chiapas is among the fullest-flavored, smoothest coffee in the world. The coffee harvests flourish here, surrounded by dramatic mountains and lush valleys punctuated by waterfalls.
Our is a well-balanced coffee with a sweet, nutty aroma and very subtle hints of cinnamon rounded out by mild acidity and a clean finish. Our is thick and rich with a dark chocolate finish.
