The Mazateca is located in the state of Oaxaca, one of the most diverse states in México, both biologically and culturally. The Mazateca gets its name from the presence of the indigenous group, the Mazatec, which is a Nahualt name that translates to “the deer people”. However, in their own language, Mazateco, the group is called Ha Shuta Enima, which means “those who work the hills”.
The land is found between the regions from La Cañada and the Papaloapán Valley, at the northern tip of the state of Oaxaca. As part of the Sierra Madre Sur and the Sierra Oriental, the land is surrounded by high mountains, cliffs, and hills of mainly mesophile forest, bathed by constant rains, and the intermittent presence of mist.
The Mazateca is an important indigenous region where 92% of the population speaks an indigenous language, mostly Mazateco, with a few Nahuatl and Mixtec speakers also. The locals show a connection to their ancestry through their celebrations and traditions, such as celebrations for each town patron, day of the dead, local seed sowing traditions, and many others.
The region is also one of the most lacking in health and education coverage of the country with an alarming poverty and illiteracy level. It is made up of small and isolated communities where the main economic activity is small-scale agriculture, since few people own more than a couple hectares of land.
There is an important tradition of coffee growing in this region. The steep landscape makes for hard work but is also the reason for the outstanding cup quality, which for a long time got lost in huge blends. By separating and cupping the small lots individually though we are able to separate the outstanding, the good, the not so bad, and the plain right ugly.
The weather, the land, and the producers together generate extraordinary coffees in this region. The varieties mainly cultivated are Typica, Mundo Novo and Caturra. Most of these plants tend to be over 40 years old which is a major contributing factor for the low yields.
Most coffee producers in the Mazateca have between 0.5 to 5 hectares of land with the average producer working on less than one hectare. This means that, as in much of Oaxaca, production is very small and yields are lower here than in other areas of the state. The Sierra Mazateca mountain range is located to the north of Oaxaca city and forms much of the state’s border with Veracruz. The region is very remote, hard to access, with many in Oaxaca not even knowing of its existence.
Today the region is rarely visited, and even in the coffee world it is often neglected due to the challenging conditions, remote locations and small production. Even by Oaxaca’s low standards production yields are tiny here in part due to the cool temperatures. Coffee is generally grown at 1500 metres and above in the Mazateca and at this latitude, these altitudes experience very low temperatures making frost damage a real issue for producers.
This climate and these altitudes also contribute positively to the cup profile and in general, coffees from the Mazateca are among the most complex and highest quality in all of Mexico. Many producers here do not speak Spanish, and Mazateco is the first language for the vast majority of people in the region. This can make organisation and coordination a little tough, but the quality and potential make the Mazateca one of the main focuses of our work in Mexico.
Lotecitos, aka the teeny, super tasty coffees from the impeccable Sierra Mazateca. Many producers in this very remote part of Oaxaca grow barely any coffee on their land. Some produce not even a single sack per season. However, the cup quality of these almost nominal amounts is super high.
And so, the Lotecitos (or tiny lots) were born. The Lotecitos are microlots in their super high quality, whilst being a blend of coffees from several smallholders in the region. Their cup score on purchase meant that high prices could be paid even for the low volume that each producer could provide.
