Mexico Carlos Cadena Natural Anaerobic

Carlos Cadena

"In our family, I represent the fifth generation of coffee growers. In fact, it was my father who began to remake the classic cultivation of commodity coffee in his own image and began to slowly change the family farm. From transplanting, to planting new varieties, to pruning coffee trees. I only got a glimpse into my parents' coffee business after completing my bachelor's degree, when I returned to the farm.

In 2012, I started participating in the Taza Excelencia Mexico competition, where I came in 6th place. That was a big turning point for me and a new revolution came. We started researching varieties and experimenting with new processes. This was followed by a thorough sorting and identification of all our fields and sorting the lots according to what processing suits what. We are still educating ourselves in coffee. I completed one of the coffee processing courses at the Chelín estate. As for competing, we continue with that and aim higher. In 2023, I won 3rd place at the Cup of Excellence with a mixture of gesha and pacamara.

My grandfather acquired the farm around 1950, then he died suddenly and my mother, who was very young, took over the reins of the farm. With my grandfather's death came a lot of challenging situations. My mother took over the farm in its original state and continued the traditional way of growing. She kept the varieties that were already planted, such as the typica. When my parents got together, my father took over the family farming. I then started separating the varieties and changing the coffee processing methods. I believe that the typica from this particular farm is very special and different because of its unique flavor profile. It is a very stable floral flavor that is both sweet and balanced. Our farm is on the edge of a ravine, the soil is soft and airy. It rains a lot here and the ravine is surrounded by many trees, such as Jinicuil and Pahua."