Hermenegildo García Pérez
Hermenegildo, or as his friends call him Gildo, is a family dad whose life has been accompanied by coffee since birth. He represents the third generation of farmers in his family and represents it very well. In fact, Gildo has managed to group together a few farmers from the Yucuhuti and Mixteca area, about 2 hours away from the town of Tlaxiaco in the state of Oaxaca, where the farmers, mostly indigenous to these areas, grow their coffee at their own pace and style. Gildo has been training farmers in coffee growing and processing, processing beans from these areas from different farming families, grading, and has an excellent coffee roastery that offers local coffee, among other things.
COUNTRY
Mexico
LOCATION
Mixteca, Oaxaca
FARM
Zaragoza Itundujia
ALTITUDE
1350 m
SIZE OF THE FARM
3 ha
COFFEE TREE VARIETIES
Geisha, Typica, Bourbon
ABOUT THE FARM
The farm is located in the settlement of Yucuhuti, very far from the city and without any connection. There are indigenous people who speak their own language, Mixteca. The small farms are scattered in the surrounding hills and it is more like one big wilderness.
The Gildo groups producers from small farms of no more than 2.5 hectares, each producer having their own mill and drying process. Gildo then checks the quality, advises the farmers on what to improve and how much to sell the coffee for, or brokers the sale directly.
“The unique combination of ecosystem and altitude makes the coffee unique, both in taste and aroma. The coffee is like bubblegum, hazelnut, red fruit, chocolate, medium to high acidity and a uniquely clean cup.”
ABOUT THE PROCESSES
There are few fermentation experimenters in this part of Oaxaca, and Gildo is no exception. He processes coffee in the traditional washed or semi-washed way. This makes his coffee incredibly pure in flavor. Mexican coffees tend to go for red orange, grapefruit and honey and Gildo encourages exactly these flavors in his coffee.
Yucuhiti
This lot is a blend of Týpica and Bourbon varieties, this coffee is processed in the classic washed way. The ripe cherries are harvested gradually and after further sorting are left to ferment for at least 24 hours. They are then washed and gradually dried in net dryers or African beds. The coffee was processed in the village of Miramar in the Yucuhiti region of the Mexican state of Oaxaca by the Gilda family. The coffee is sparkling and full of fruit and herbs. The profile goes into a sweet marmalade of yellow fruit, black tea, pecan and Lotus biscuits.
Mixteca
Lot was harvested by the indigenous people of Mixteca, Sierra Norte, farmers Juan Perez, Guadalupe Perez, Hugo Santiago and Teobaldo Tomas Santiago from the communities of Buenavista and Yagila. The Typica, Bourbon and Marsellesa coffee varieties were then processed by Gildo using the washed method with controlled aerobic fermentation. The farms are located at an altitude of 1,350 metres. The coffee profile is carrot cake, sugar cane, biscuit, chocolate covered cherries, pecan, baked fruit, and apple acidity.
Bourbon - red honey
Like the Mixteca lot, this lot is harvested by farmers from the Mixteca region, Zatagoza Itundujua (1450 m above sea level), where coffee is grown by indigenous people. This lot was harvested by Armando Lopéz Sandoval and Marcos Nuñez Jose, and the cherries were then processed and dried by Gildo on his farm using the black honey process. He peeled the top layer of the grapes, leaving as much flesh as possible. He continued to ferment the coffee beans for approximately 72 hours to make them as sweet as possible. Coffee profile: figs, honey, flowers, elderflower honey, gingerbread, black tea, lemon cookie, yellow fruit, yellow melon.
Bourbon, Typica - washed
This lot is from the farm of the García Perez family, Gilda’s parents. The coffee was processed using the classic washed method, where the cherries were fermented first in bags for 36 hours and then in water tanks for 24 hours. The profile of the coffee veers into herbs, floral honey and pineapple with a nice sparkly acidity and medium body.
Geisha - washed
Another lot where the coffee cherries were grown on one farm and processed on another. This time the coffee was grown by farmer Sofia Peréz Hernandez at an altitude of 1650 m in the Oaxaca Mixteca subregion. This Geisha is a beautiful example of the impact that quality soil and care during harvesting have on cultivation. Although the coffee was not processed by any experimental method but by the classic washed, 36 hours fermentation in bag, 24 hours fermentation in tank, it is wonderfully complex, sweet, full of forest fruits especially raspberries and dark grapes, with Geisha attributes such as peach, flowers, green tea and lemongrass with a marzipan aftertaste.
