Today I have the pleasure of introducing an outstanding, high-grown (1,500 meters plus) certified organic, Fair Trade coffee from the UDEPOM Co-op. Unión de Ejidos Profesor Otilio Montaño, Mexico (UDEPOM) Co-op is a collective of 608 individual family farmers, each tending a small coffee farm of between 1 – 10 hectares (2 – 20 acres) of ridiculously steep rainforest in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost State which shares a border with Guatemala.

Chiapas is a region that has traditionally suffered from poor infrastructure, unemployment, high illiteracy rates, and low life expectancy. Local coffee farmers from diverse ethnic groups formed UDEPOM to combat these problems by seeking stable, fair prices for their coffee by directly accessing the US market. The co-op pioneered organic agriculture in the area, and the indigenous Mayan co-op members use traditional knowledge as the basis for their organic farming methods.

The coffee is distinctly different from the Oaxaca Pluma we roasted earlier this year, this is brighter, sweeter, and bear some resemblance to the Huehuetenango coffees of Guatemala. A fresh hot cup of this coffee is wonderfully light and bright with stunning medium-body, distinct sweet sharp caramel flavors and a touch of sweet almond and dark bittersweet chocolate.