Mexico Cup of Excellence Winner, 12th Place
Francisco Javier Montiel Valencia
There was the most beautiful sunrise this morning: I walked outdoors with my coffee in hand and snapped a picture. With the sun peeking over the hill a few minutes later each day, I’ve enjoyed pouring my coffee, and lighting a candle in the predawn shadows. Fall is beautiful that way. I wish I could say that the morning remains as calm as those early minutes, but the reality is that the rush of getting out the door to go to school/work is often chaotic–so I especially appreciate the moments of beauty.
Vacuum packed with care–much different than the usual burlap.
Today is National Coffee Day. We think coffee is always a reason to celebrate, but today the rest of the nation joins us. We saved a spectacular bean to share with you today. This coffee was one of the winning cups in the Mexico Cup of Excellence, and finished at 12th place–the top 22 winners are graded for auction. So out of 233 coffees submitted to a panel of international judges (including two from our broker, Royal Coffee), this was one of the top lots. It is truly an amazing coffee.
The winning farms in the annual Cup of Excellence, according to their website, here, are “coffees scoring 86 points and above in each cupping by both the National Jury and the Cup of Excellence International Jury. These coffees have each been cupped a minimum of five different times during the cupping process.” This farm is located in the state of Veracruz, near the municipality of Cosautlán de Carvajal. This is steep country, and the beans are grown at over 4000′ elevation.
There is a great interview with Francisco Javier Montiel Valencia, along with a picture of him, here. Reading it you understand how much it means to win the Cup of Excellence, and how it will change his life to sell his coffee at a higher price point. He and his family have worked tirelessly to improve the quality of their coffee, and it paid off, literally. He is hoping to use the extra money to build a cupping lab and take Q grader classes. Beyond all that, my favorite image was how he takes his breakfast with him to the farm, and eats it on a hillside that he likes, overlooking the coffee. It’s an image of starting his day on the other side of the globe–similar to the way I start mine.
As you would imagine, this is a meticulously processed coffee. It is a whole family effort, and they together take care of almost everything on the farm, from weeding and fertilizing to picking and processing. They even paint their fingernails red to match the colors of the ripe cherries to enable perfectly ripe picking. And then they float the coffee beans to check for the correct density before the beans go to processing. Each step is done with care.
We were all excited to try this coffee yesterday, and it was just as spectacular as anticipated. It had a floral nose, but the initial taste was buttery and nutty, like butter toasted peanuts. It finished with a sweet acidity, reminiscent of green grapes or melon. We want you to be able to taste this too, but because of price constraints we’re going to give away a four ounce taste this week. Come on in and try it out with the code morning moments*. It will be on sale for $5 off per pound this week too, so if you love it as much as we do, now is your chance to procure some.
On a different note, check out the Outside Inn blog giveaway today in honor of National Coffee Day. We have a great local coffee community who contributed to the fun. You can find that post here. Enjoy!
–Holly Fike
*Code good for a 4 ounce taste of our Mexico Cup of Excellence Winner. Code expires on 10.5.17. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value