Finca Chelín
Enrique López Aguilar talks about his life as a farmer: “Coffee growing began in 1910 in Candelaria Loxicha in Oaxaca. Over time, my parents, Jaime and Graciela, bought farms in Chiapas and from there began another story of coffee growing. In 2000, when my father died, I went to the farms to learn how to grow choice coffee and took a year to learn how to harvest coffee. I knew nothing and didn’t even drink it, I was 33 years old at the time and I started reading a lot of books about coffee, its history and how it was processed in different parts of the world. I learned that you can do a lot of things in fermentation, and I went on to work on the Santa Cruz and Las Nubes farms and became a Q Grader. I have won many competitions for best organic coffee and several Cup of Excellence awards. In 2012 I left the farms in Chiapas and decided to start my own farm in Oaxaca, specifically in Candelaria, where my mother is from. Since then, I have been focusing only on the production of select coffees in micro-lot.”
COUNTRY
Mexico
LOCATION
Candelaria, Oaxaca
FARM
Finca Chelín
ALTITUDE
1500 – 1780 m
SIZE OF THE FARM
50 Ha
COFFEE TREE VARIETIES
Geisha 50 %, Bourbon Rosado 20 %, Typica 10 %, Maragogype and 5 % SL 28, Obata, Anacafe 14 etc.
ABOUT THE FARM
At the beginning was an abandoned farmhouse, which Enrique bought and began to renovate. Gradually, he began to plant varieties that he already knew were of very high quality and that, with proper care of the soil, would become tolerant and resistant to rust. The flavors that emerge in the coffees are citrus and floral, thanks to the processes by which the coffee is processed and fermented on the farm. It develops new flavors, but without losing the original and basic flavors. Above all, at the Chelín farm, the focus is on purity in the aftertaste.
“The advantage of the farm is that on a small scale I am copying everything I learned in Chiapas and I have more control over the production of so-called pure coffee.”
Enrique adds that the farm is not yet reaching full production, but thanks to good nutrition and good work, it is close to the production he expects. We worked with Enrique for the 2022 Barista World Championship and the way Enrique grows the coffee and continues to communicate with clients is very professional. His coffee is truly unique and the intricate processing process matches that.
Pink Bourbon - carbonic maceration, washed
“The fermentations that we carry out on washed coffees are usually long, lasting more than 36 hours and are always controlled. Over time, we have started to carbonically macerate all the coffees, thus promoting the best possible profile. This lot of Pink Bourbon is no exception. The long drying process is then important.” The coffee is picked and left to age, usually overnight, in a GrainPro bag. It is then de-husked using a wet mill and carbonic macerated without air for approximately 36 hours with controlled carbon dioxide. The coffee is then washed and gradually dried. The profile of the coffee is: forest fruits, raspberry blossom, herbs that gradually give way to rose and dark grapes, creamy body, clean pleasant floral aftertaste.
Garnica - black honey
This lot of the Garnica variety was processed first by carbonic maceration for approximately 40 hours, followed by the Black Honey process. This is a process where the top layer of the cherry is peeled off the bean and as much of the pulp is left on the bean as possible to impart sweet to honey notes to the coffee through fermentation. The profile of the coffee is: honey, tangerine ice cream, white chocolate, pecans, grapefruit clean aftertaste.
Typica - hydronatural natural
The Hydronatural Natural processing method is such a typical coffee processing style for Enrique. It is a multi-day process where the coffee is carbonically macerated in the whole cherry for several hours and then dried gradually and over a long period of time. The coffee then has a very complex and clean flavor, as well as a creamy and yogurt-like body. The profile of the coffee is: blueberries, blackberries, sweet like a berry jam, lightly spiced and almond/marzipan clean aftertaste with a hint of liqueur.
