Toca, espresso from Mexico
Toca - Espresso from Mexico
A neo-classic espresso with notes of rock candy and coconut. Structured with a mild acidity and balanced with a rich body. For an uncomplicated espresso with a sophisticated taste and a caramel cappuccino. This coffee comes from our Tlapajti project, where we support a cooperative in Veracruz on the path to organic certification and long-term production.
Toca - Green Coffee Information
Origin: Sierra de Zongolica, Veracruz, Mexico.
Producers: Asociación Rural La Esperanza
Varieties: Guernica, Typica, Bourbon, Catimores.
Post-harvest process: depulped, fermented with water, washed
Arrived at the roastery: annually in August/September
All our coffees are sold as whole beans
This is how we would prepare the Toca
Why does coffee taste the way it does?
The coffees from the region around Zongolica have a medium to high body. The area around the community of Ixpaluca, where the producers live, is often submerged in rain clouds that are pushed inland from the Atlantic. It is often cool, the coffees ripen This slow growth gives the coffee its complexity, a citrusy, delicate acidity and a high basic sweetness.
Tell me more about Toca
The official name of the project in Mexico itself is " Tlapajti " - which means "those who heal" in one of the indigenous Nahuátl languages spoken in the project region. The name came from a producer in the community itself. She said that they are now healing Mother Earth and are therefore "tlapajti". In spring 2022 we started the Tlapajti project in Mexico with Ensambles Cafés Mexicanos.
What is the Toca project about?
First, a cooperative was founded, which was reconstituted in 2024. Now ensembles are in the process of getting the producers to organic certification. The first producers should have the certification this year. For the 24/25 season, we are founding a microbeneficio with the producers, ensembles and our friends from the Black Hen roastery: a coffee processing plant that the producers will operate themselves. And finally, the producers should become independent of external inputs - the focus is on producing their own organic fertilizers and focusing on strong agroforestry.
How do we roast this coffee?
As a 30kg batch in our roaster, we use the drum to its full capacity. With a roasting time of 15 minutes, the coffee is one of our longest roasts. This way we accentuate the more classic notes such as rock candy. The development time is 15%. We start with a soak, so leave the gas at minimum for 1 minute before going up to 70% energy. After that, we let the coffee and the roaster do the work themselves and only intervene again after 10 minutes and gradually reduce the gas.