Mexico San Mateo Yoloxochitlán

This month's Roaster's Choice is the product of a partnership between Terra Coffeas México, exporter Galguera Gomez, and the community of San Mateo Yoloxochitlán. Together, they're able to bring high-quality Oaxacan coffee to market and earn higher wages for their hard work. Farmers gain access to post-harvest strategies and cupping expertise, which has helped bring more producers into specialty coffee. Essentially, Terra Coffeas México hands the reins to the community and serves as a guide throughout production. Each family tends only a few acres, making for more traceable, transparent lots.

Between January and April, things really get going in the fields. Only the perfectly ripe cherries are picked before being hand sorted and floated in saline to weed out damaged or underdeveloped beans. Following a 48-hour fermentation, the beans are depulped before being fermented underwater for an additional 24 hours. Fermentation helps accentuate and fine-tune a coffee, helping to refine sweetness, acidity, and body. Microorganisms break down sugary pulp into cellular energy, which can bring wine-like brilliance to the cup. After fermentation, the cherries are washed and placed on patios or raised beds to dry down to 11% total moisture content.

We're bringing this Marsellesa, Typica, and Bourbon beauty to a light roast—a coffee as experimental as this deserves nothing darker. We want the nectarine and pistachio notes to honor their homeland, so the only real addition roasting will bring to this coffee is mild salted caramel to round out the brew. This is a coffee you'll regret missing out on, guaranteed. As a Roaster's Choice member, you'll receive a brand-new bag of coffee every month from some of the most exclusive and rare lots on Earth. This is what separates the coffee likers from the coffee lovers. Give it a try. It may just be the best coffee you've ever had.