Toca. Coffee with Impact
Since 2022, we have been supporting a young organic cooperative on its path to self-determination with the Toca Project in the Sierra de Zongolica. In 2024, the producers took major steps: They built a microbeneficio, now process their coffee cherries centrally, and are continuously improving quality. Through a co-investment, we evolved from buyers to partners – the potential is enormous, and sustainable change is possible.
More resilient ecosystems
What is this project about?
Mexico is a special coffee country. It has preserved a great deal of biodiversity, and much of its coffee grows in forests, like its original ancestor in Africa.
While many countries rely on monocultures, agrochemicals, and high yields, indigenous communities in Mexico continue to produce crops in diverse polyculture systems. They produce less but better food in sustainable ecosystems.
But climate change is also affecting them: coffee rust, extreme heat, and rain are causing crop failures and reducing quality. Previous solutions, such as the use of chemicals or cultivation at higher altitudes, are not long-term solutions. The only answer lies in more resilient ecosystems.
The project in the region around Zongolica (Veracruz) is a collaboration between Nahua coffee producers, Ensambles Cafes Mexicanos, the coffee makers, and the Black Hen roastery in Saarbrücken.
The goal is to transition from conventional agriculture to regenerative practices. The goal is to strengthen soils, stabilize temperatures, and protect water – without synthetic inputs.
The El Equimite Ensambles farm in Coatepec serves as a laboratory. Permaculture and biodynamic methods are tested there and then implemented in the project.
The group in Zongolica benefits from Ensambles' many years of expertise. Lalo, a producer and agronomist himself, is the contact between Ensambles and Citlal Kaffeen. He is part of the cooperative and available as a daily contact person.
Gibran Cervantes
"We believe the solution lies in resilient ecosystems. But creating them is not an easy task."
Toca Project
Milestones
What was a loose idea in a conversation between Gibran and Philipp in 2017 became a project that the producers are proud of and see a future in.
Start of organic certification in 2025
Half of the cooperative members are ready for organic certification in spring 2026.
Founding of the cooperative in 2024
As a group, Citlal Kaffen is now efficient in administration and has expanded market access.
Commissioning of the wet mill in 2024
The cooperative now processes the coffee cherries itself and dries them on its own patio for full control.
Philipp Schallberger
"I've never seen a group of producers with this drive, this level-headedness, and this motivation."
Toca - Green Coffee Info
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Flavor Profile |
Dark chocolate, rock sugar, citrusy |
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Bean Origin |
Sierra de Zongolica, Veracruz, Mexico |
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Producer |
Citlal Kaffen Cooperative |
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Varietals |
Guernica, Typica, Bourbon, Catimores |
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Post-Harvest Process |
Pulped, fermented with water, washed |
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All our coffees are sold as whole beans. |
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How we would prepare the Toca
Tell me more about Toca
The official name of the project in Mexico itself is "Tlapajti" - which means in the locally spoken Nahuátl language of the project region: "Those who heal." The name came from a producer within the community itself. She said that they are now healing Mother Earth, and therefore they are "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 newly established in 2024. Now, Ensambles is working to bring the producers to organic certification. The first producers achieved organic certification in spring 2025. The current roasted coffee is not yet organic certified. In 2024, we established a microbeneficio with the producers, Ensambles, and our friends from Black Hen Roastery as a co-investment. The microbeneficio is a processing plant for coffee. The producers built it and now operate it themselves. They can now offer processing services to other producers in the region and diversify their activities. Next on the agenda is the gradual establishment of a small biofábrica, where the cooperative will produce its own organic fertilizer.
Why does the coffee taste the way it does?
The coffees from the Zongolica region have a medium to high body. The area around the community of Apixtepec, where the producers live, is often engulfed in rain clouds pushed inland from the Atlantic. It is often cool, and the coffees ripen slowly. This slow growth gives the coffee its complexity, a citrusy-delicate acidity, and a high underlying sweetness. The soft texture comes from the careful selection of the cherries.
How do we roast this coffee?
We roast the Toca as a 30 kg batch in our roaster, so we fully load the drum. With a roasting time of 15 minutes, this coffee is one of our longest roasts. This emphasizes the more classic notes like rock sugar. The development time is 15%. We start with a soak, meaning we turn the gas down to minimum for 1 minute before increasing it to 70% energy. After that, we let the coffee and the roaster do their work and only intervene again at 10 minutes, gradually reducing the gas.
How do we describe Toca?
Import coffee details to Beanconqueror
Pickup available at Kaffeemacher:innen
Usually ready in 24 hours
Toca, espresso from Mexico
250 g
Kaffeemacher:innen
Otto-Lilienthal-Straße 13
46539 Dinslaken
Germany