Mexico
Organic, Pluma Real, Finca Olivo, Lot No. 02

Borogove’s current organic Mexican coffee comes from a highly-regarded farm called Finca Olivo, in the State of Oaxaca.  It is a genuine “Pluma,” a term that is widely overused to label Oaxacan coffee, but Finca Olivo is actually on the Pluma Hidalgo Road, outside the town of the same name.  This is a beautiful and lush area, high on the gentle slopes rising from the Pacific Ocean.  The coffee is estrictamente altura, or “strictly high-grown” from an elevation above 1,200 meters.  There, the intense sunlight and rarefied atmosphere produce a bean with greater complexity and depth of flavor.  

Finca Olivo grows the Typica variety of the arabica coffee species, an heirloom variety brought from Guatemala more than a century ago.  Typica plants are more delicate and lower-yielding than other varieties, but the flavor that they produce in the cup is deep, rich and redolent.  The plants flourish beneath a canopy of shade trees that protect them from over exposure to the tropical sun.

The finca is owned by Arturo Lujan and his family, who are held in high regard by the people who work the farm, as well as their neighboring cafeteros.  They have earned their organic certification from the Organic Crop Improvement Association with diligence and integrity, and all of the coffee sold under the Finca Olivo mark is actually grown on the farm.

Personal Appraisal: A really delightful and classic Oaxacan Pluma – light, bright and uncomplicated coffee.  The cup is sweet and fine, with caramel, floral and vanilla notes.  Medium body, soft acidity and a lovely angora texture going down.