Mexico.. conjures up tacos, guacamole, mezcal, beaches, warm seas, drug cartels, la dia de los muertos and coffee.
I’ve been telling people over the past few years that there are two origins that I feel for a long time I’ve underrated and undervalued. Peru is one, the other is Mexico. We’ve had a number of good all day everyday drinkers from Mexico and some super processed bangers from the well known Finca Chelin. Most of these coffees have come through importer Raw Material via their in country partner Red Beetle Coffee Lab. Late last year Raw Material asked if I’d be interested in joining their Mexico trip visiting small producers Red Beetle work with and tasting some fresh harvest coffees before they’ve been prepared for export. Essentially to get ahead of the curve and possibly commit to some coffees prior to them landing in the UK and made available generally.
Given the timing, after having moved Crankhouse to it’s new location at the end of 2025 and settled in nicely I was keen to visit a new origin and see how things were done in Mexico and hopefully concrete my perception that it was underrated and undervalued.
Red Beetle is run by two business partners, Thomas from Germany and Shaun from the UK. Their stories behind the how and why Red Beetle came about are super interesting and in the 12 years they’ve been operating they have clearly made an impact in a couple of growing regions and given a voice to many small holder producers in the speciality world.
I was joined on the trip by roasters from Etude, Elsewhere, 17grams, Exemplar and Milk Shed. Some of you might remember that 17grams were the Brighton based company that bought the Petroncini from us before Loretta arrived back in 2022, so I had a strong connection with them. Most others I knew from the industry but only through fleeting conversations over the years at various coffee events.
The itinerary began with meeting our hosts Raw Material and Red Beetle in Oaxaca City (phonetically pr. Wahaca) and immediately the energy and vitality of this Latin American culture became evident. First stop was the UNTAO dry mill where all of the lots that Red Beetle export pass through for final preparation. I’ve seen many dry mills over the years and this struck me as being very small and very quiet. The harvest season only recently started and therefore the lots that were in the warehouse were the very early ones from lower altitudes. Many of the coffees that will pass through here are still to be harvested or dried to a point ready for export, and of course assessed for quality and selected for use as very small microlots, larger sized lots (small compared to other origins) and blenders (small lots of similar profiles that will be blended into union representative coffees). It was immediately obvious that the lot sizes we were typically talking about for the blenders were tiny.. less than one 60Kg sack in many cases. That might be the entire production of a particular producer. We were starting to understand the differences between Mexico and other producing countries.
We were also beginning to understand how tasty the ‘basic’ street food is. On the street about 50m from our small hotel were two street vendor stalls. One open in the morning, the other afternoon and evenings, advertising ‘Netflix Street Food Latin America’. Our dinner Monday night was Quesidlillas with either chicken, beef or pork (Chicarrone or Chorizo) with salsa, lime juice and chilli. Simple and absolutely delicious.
We headed south out of Oaxaca City and before our first visit to a coffee producer we stopped at another form of producer. Emigdio is a Mezcal producer and as we neared close to El Nanche the terrain became densely populated with Agave plants of all shapes and sizes. Thomas seemed to know his way around the different species and their traits and flavour characteristics quite readily. Some high yielding and quick growing (Espadin takes 10 years to maturity) used more for commercial grades and some small, low yielding that take 30 years (Tepeztate). Unlike most crops, the Agave grows until it produces a flower, then dies. The harvest time is right before it flowers where the carbohydrates in the heart of the Agave are at their most concentrated. As we arrived there was a huge pile of smoking Agave hearts that looked like massive pine cones. Depending on the variety and size, some of the hearts can weigh as much as 300Kg. Once they’ve been roasted in a pit, they are pulverised to squeeze out the sweet juices. Emigdio uses the traditional method with two large bulls pushing a grinding wheel, with the juices flowing through a hole in the centre of the pit down to one of the fermentation tanks. Then a microbial mix created from previous fermentations is added (sounds very familiar) to allow the sugars to be broken down and the alcohol to be produced. Once fermented the liquid passes through a still (twice) to concentrate the alcohol .. and presto.. Mezcal. Of course we were offered samples, from different species and different lots. I was polite and happily accepted.
On leaving Emigdio’s place, Thomas took us on a little detour to see what he described as an oasis, where the water source from the mountains had created a lush vibrant microclimate. As well as being known for its Mezcal production, Oaxaca has in it’s past been a centre for textiles and ceramics, and we stopped at San Agustín Etla where the majestic and impressive textiles factory built in 1900 by Jose Zorilla Trapca stood. The building and the grounds were beautiful and evidence of its former glory. These days part of the site is used for art installations and exhibitions.
Our first coffee visit was to Tierra Blanca community of San Pedro de Alta, one of eight Union San Pedro communities in the region. The association is managed by Salomon Garcia and this particular group comprises 26 producers each with somewhere between 1 and 4 Hectares of land. The production varies between 50Kg and 930Kg of parchment and the average amongst them is the highest across the eight communities. We walked amongst the trees of one of the producers and one thing that struck me was how tall and spindly the trees were. These are mainly Typica varieties, mostly a local variant called Pluma Hidalgo after the town of the same name. The cherries looked ripe and ready to pick and I suspect if we hadn’t been there all the producers would be working in the fields. The other thing that struck me is the scale of things here and what ‘small holder producer’ really means. These are subsistence farmers and have been given access to a much wider market place through the work of Salomon in partnership with Red Beetle Coffee Lab and Raw Material. Every lot is kept separate and submitted to Red Beetle for assessment, which is graded, roasted and cupped. This gives a quality and cup profile range which will determine if the lot is separated for sale as a micro/nano-lot, or is combined into a larger blend from a number of producers from the community (with a similar profile and cup score). Most of the production from the Union members is washed coffees, with the producers having their own small pulper. Again under the guidance of Salomon, some are now also producing naturals and honeys. We sat and had lunch with these generous people to which they’d all contributed something towards, meat vegetables (incl a delicious roasted pumpkin), fruit etc. After we’d finished we were told that ordinarily Red Beetle would make a financial contribution towards lunch as a large visiting group. In our case they were happy to host us and cover the cost of our lunch themselves since they were very grateful of the work of Red Beetle Coffee Lab. Another reminder of the financial chasm that exists between small holder farmers and visiting roasters and baristas. Quite humbling.
Over the following few days we had a daily cupping session at the Red Beetle Coffee Labs HQ as well as farm visits. This included visiting the famous Finca Chelin from which we’ve had some stunning coffees over the past few years owned and managed by Enrique Lopez (aka the professor). Enrique employs modern processing techniques and has planted some exquisite varieties including Geisha, Pink Bourbon and a new one on me.. Soloc, an Ethiopian landrace that found its way to Indonesia and now to Finca Chelin. I was told it was quite special but that the entire lot had been reserved already by a previous visitor. Ahh .. you snooze you loose ! That’s one of the major advantages of coming on these trips. You get to taste coffees as they’re harvested and processed way ahead of them being available to the wider marketplace. If there’s something you particularly like then a short conversation is all that’s required to reserve a lot.
Whilst at Chelin we were introduced to another visiting group from Huupa Coffee from Sanora. They were there in numbers and had brought a media agency, a design agency and a social media influencer ! In their checkin luggage they’d also brought Kg’s of beef steaks and boxes of Mesquite wood to bar-b-que it as well as all the necessary accompaniments (including their own coffee beers). We were invited to lunch behind the drying patios and the food was incredible. Taco’s, ribs and some caramel filled pastry things with something to wash it all down. I told them they were incredibly generous people and they responded.. we’re Mexican.. we’re born to feed people.
A few of us stayed in a magical roadside spot Restaurant El Mirador and it's name couldn't have been more appropriate. The views were spectacular. Doña Yolanda owns El Mirador and had built it some 50 years ago and up until recent years it was the main road heading to the coast. She still serves breakfast (Desayuna), lunch (Almuerza) and dinner (Cena) seven days a week and is open 24hrs a day. She said she grabbed a little power nap when she could. These days the highway takes most of the traffic and she's a lot quieter and has added some nice rooms for people to stay. Lucky us. Her food was wholesome and delicious and Doña Yolanda definitely left a special mark in all our hearts.
Every coffee farm we visited was special and unique. We visited Saloman’s own farm and it was another world to anything else. We descended through thick damp forest to his processing area and came across vanilla, cardamon, orange and banana trees. All harvested for commercial use. We ate bananas straight from the tree and they were the sweetest bananas I’ve ever tasted. Alongside the nursery there was a pile of pale coloured ’stuff’ which was used as compost. This was the ‘Bokashi’, containing manure, parchment , pulped cherries, worm compost juice and fermentation juice. In the fermentation tanks we didn’t find cherries fermenting but more organic fertilisers to treat various macro and micro soil deficiencies. These bins were so alive with yeasts and bacteria it felt like a living breathing mass of goodness (obvs not for human consumption). No synthetics here.. nor anywhere amongst these producers.
One final standout producer mention goes to Serena, Beneto and their son Santiago’s beautiful farm. So incredibly well organised with Santiago’s woodwork on display everywhere (as well as a fabulous little truck made entirely from wood). The whole group were in love with Serena’s farm and I suspect someone had that little conversation and secured some of her delicious coffee right then and there.
During one of the many car journeys with Thomas the conversation got around to favourite process and origin. Ie. imagine you were stranded on a desert island and could only drink one coffee from a specific origin and process for the rest of your life. I opted for a washed Ethiopian, another for a washed Peruvian, another for a natural Ugandan and another a washed Kenyan. Thomas was last and said he’d have a solid 85 point washed Mexican from the Mazateca region. Specific and detailed. We discussed why we made our choices and Thomas was convincing. This style of coffee is clean and sweet and lacks any process influence and just tastes good. Little intervention grown in a climate well suited to good quality and low risks of pests and disease in healthily soil. Clean enough for a filter, and enough body and sweetness for an espresso. When you think of the other choices they’re all more.. more acidity, more floral notes, more funk, or just more risk of ‘off’ flavours due to the conditions, varieties and processing. He’s not wrong.
I’ve finished previous trip reports by saying it’s as much about the people you share the experience with as it is the places you see. This trip was no different. It was a pleasure sharing the experience with my fellow roasters, Alexx and Thomas from 17grams, Siala from Elsewhere Coffee, Corinne from The Milk Shed, Amir from Etude and Phil from Exemplar (and Raw Material). Smart and enthusiastic coffee people that were fun to be around. A huge thanks goes out to Thomas and Shaun from Red Beetle Coffee Labs and their lovely families for their warm and welcoming hospitality. You are doing something special.
As always, these trip reports are my own little summary of the experience. I'm happy to discuss or be corrected in any of the details in this report and if anyone would like to know more about why I feel these origin trips are important to me and my business then please reach out.
Hasta luego todos y hasta la próxima Mexico
Dave
3/3/2026