Leodegario Lopez, Mexico

Description

New Arrival (2026 Harvest) from Leodegario Lopez Santiago. This is our fourth year purchasing the entire harvest from Leodegario. It would not be hyperbole to say this coffee blows us away year after year. It is consistently one of the best coffees we source from Mexico and this year is no exception. In fact, I would say this is the best this coffee has ever tasted. The flavor profile is incredibly fruity and floral. It definitely breaks the mold of what many expect of a coffee from Mexico. You’ll want to drink as much of this while you can. Leodegario’s farm is incredibly small and while we purchase the entire harvest, it never lasts long enough for our liking. Leodegario Lopez Santiago, Mexico Variety: Typica, Bourbon Elevation: 2000 masl Taste: Cantaloupe, fruit punch, jasmine Process: Washed Region: Mixteca, Oaxaca Leodegario López is a 28 -year-old coffee producer and member of Grupo Yukucafe in Oaxaca, Mexico. His farm, La Cascada, is located in the community of Santa María Yucuhiti in the Mixteca region at 2,000 meters above sea level. Santa María Yucuhiti takes its name from the Mixtec words for “hill of the pine” ( yucu for hill, itifor the native ocote pine), and this landscape continues to define how coffee is cultivated here. The Mixtec people have farmed these slopes for centuries, relying on traditional systems where coffee grows under native shade, soils remain healthy without heavy inputs, and biodiversity is preserved. On La Cascada, Leodegario cultivates Typica and Bourbon. Cherries are handpicked only at peak ripeness and processed using a washed method. After de-pulping, they ferment for 24 to 48 hours depending on local temperature and humidity, then are washed until the water runs clear. Drying takes place on petates, woven mats that allow airflow and even drying, for about five days under mountain sun and cool night air. Nothing in this process is designed for speed; everything is designed to preserve the distinct character that comes from this specific combination of altitude, climate, soil, and accumulated knowledge. Our team found notes of cranberry, cherry, red plum and pineapple. This coffee carries the weight of its place, not as another generic product from Mexico’s coffee regions, but as something that could only come from these pine -covered hills of the Mixteca, where tradition and environment remain inseparable.