Origin Story
Representing roughly 2% of global coffee production, Mexico is well-known for its coffee grown in the Chiapas and Oaxacan regions, situated in the southern reaches of the country. Coffee first arrived in Mexico with the Spanish colonists in the 18th century. After independence from Spain, the country, although in turmoil, began to slowly cultivate coffee plantations in the southern states.
Chiapas is situated in the southern reaches of Mexico, with rich biodiversity and climbing altitudes – this region is known for its healthy soils and ideal climates for coffee production. As one of the five Mayan States in Mexico, Chiapas has a wealth of archaeological and cultural history. It is within this region that the Grupo de Agricultores Positivos S.P.R. (GRAPOS) was founded in 2007.
Throughout the Chiapas region, specifically in the El Porvenir and Llano Grande municipalities, are collections of smallholder coffee producers. The GRAPOS organization was initially comprised of 90 producers, growing to 300 the following year, and has expanded to the 2,708 producers involved today, 772 of which are females.
GRAPOS seeks to provide each of these producers with the necessary guidance to produce high quality coffee. This comes in the form of technical assistance, free seedlings to replace damaged trees, in addition to various educational programs.
The Decaffeination Process
Mountain Water Decaf process is a method of decaffeination that is entirely chemical-free. This unique decaffeination process is so named because it uses pure waters from the glaciers of the Pico de Orizaba Mountains in Mexico.
The process involves immersing the green beans in water to extract 99.9% of the caffeine content together with all the essential flavour components of the coffee. This coffee extract is then passed through a filtering process where activated charcoal filter removes just the larger caffeine molecules, leaving the original flavour characteristics of the coffee.
The Mountain Water Process is certified organic and 100% chemical-free.