Familia Carranza - Filter Coffee from Mexico

A fruity-berry filter coffee from Guerrero, Mexico. Fermented and dried as natural, from a family who for many years didn't know how good their coffee actually tastes. Notes of fresh strawberries, gum-like, meet a juicy acidity and a chocolatey base note. Precision work by the Carranza family with the help of our partners at Ensambles.

Coffee Info

Roasted for: all common filter methods such as: hand filter, AeroPress, French Press and Cold Brew

Origin: Colombia de Guadalupe, Guerrero, Mexico

Producers: Carranza Family

Varieties: Farm Blend: Typica, Bourbon, Mundo Novo, CR 95 - 100% Arabica

Post-harvest process: Coffee cherries fermented in barrels, dried as natural (Anaerobic Natural)

Arrived at the roastery: July 2024

All our coffees are shipped as whole beans.

Brewing Recommendation by David: Familia Carranza V60

David used the following equipment to develop the recipe:

Water: Total hardness 3 °dH , alkalinity 1.5 °dH (more on the topic Coffee Water)
Grinder: Kinu M47 Classic
Dripper: Hario V60 Glass Filter 02
Filter paper: Hario V60 Paper

Tell me more about the Carranza Family

Gaudencio Carranza is a man with wit. He and his family belong to the Me'phaa ethnic group, an indigenous group in western Mexico. He started growing coffee 18 years ago. Today he does it with his family. For a long time they sold coffee on the local market to middlemen, anonymously, without knowing how good their coffee actually is. Then Miguel came from our partners at Ensambles, who himself is from Guerrero. Miguel noticed that Gaudencio also produces Chicha, a fermented corn drink. And if someone knows how to ferment well, why not try it with coffee, Miguel thought. This coffee is the result, tasting so precisely crafted, as if the Carranza family had always done it this way.

Why does this coffee taste the way it does?

We're working with a coffee from Guerrero for the first time. Slightly further south is Pluma Hidalgo, from where we bought several coffees over the years. What both coffees have in common is their weight and a chocolatey base note. The cultivation altitude of 1450m a.s.l. of the Carranza farm and the cultivation in the forest lower the ambient temperatures, allowing the coffee to grow slowly. The beans are dense and bring plenty of acidity. The fermentation process is precise and gives the coffee fresh, strawberry notes that are contrasted by the chocolatey base note.

Why did we buy this coffee?

In April 2024, Philipp tasted this coffee in Mexico in a blind cupping at our partners at Ensambles. The coffee really stood out because on one hand it was so delicate-fruity, showed a chocolatey base note with juicy acidity, and this combination simply tasted great. Then it turned out that the coffee was actually already sold. But then the other buyer from England was generous and handed over 350kg to us - thank you Dark Arts Coffee. The coffee from the Carranza family is not only sensorically complex, but stands for the potential of a region otherwise permeated by organized crime from cartels. New markets for coffee producers can help outline ways out of existing patterns. Ensambles works on site and helps pave alternative paths - and we're happy to support that.

How do we roast this coffee?

We roast the coffee as a 12.5kg batch on our 30kg Giesen roaster. The roasting time is 8:25 minutes with a development time of 30 seconds, at a low final temperature. We enter the roast with low energy and gradually reduce it until the end. This less aggressive roasting method helps the coffee, which lost much of its density through intensive fermentation, to develop clear aromas with a light roast.

Import Bean