Mexico Finca Huehuetepan – Typica – Natural Microlot

Carlos Cadena is a 5th-generation coffee producer in Cosautlan. His great-great-grandfather began coffee production in the 1890s. He was processing coffee cherries with wooden tanks at that time. Then gradually his family expanded by acquiring nearby farms, and currently Carlos, together with his family, owns 6 farms with a total production of approximately 3,150 quintales. Notably, some of these farms produce exceptional batches of Mexican coffee microlot originating from Mexico, recognized as Mexico microlot coffee by specialty buyers.

For him, coffee isn’t “work” but a “hobby.” When asked, “What do you like to do in your free time?”, he said, “Cupping, and I like to do it every day.” Even though his family has a long history of coffee in Cosautlan, Carlos is the only one who keeps living in Cosautlan because he loves working in the coffee industry. All the others live in Xalapa, which is the capital city of the state of Veracruz. Interestingly, Carlos is extremely devoted to the specialty microlot segment, especially Mexican coffee microlots, helping to build its reputation.

He got interested in specialty coffee in 2018 when he noticed that some farmers were selling at much better prices than the market price. Carlos has been participating in the Cup of Excellence since 2012. This gave him familiarity with common ways to improve quality, but since 2018, he started to separate by variety to compare the cupping profile. At the same time, one of his customers shared information on different processes, such as Natural and Honey. Since then, he has been exploring different combinations of processes and varieties to achieve the best cup of coffee. That’s how he won 3rd place in the 2023 Cup of Excellence in Mexico and first in the 2024 auction in the experimental category. To highlight, Mexican coffee microlot producers often excel in competitions like these.

He is also extremely focused on conservation and sustainability. Carlos tries to reuse and repurpose as much of the waste as possible from coffee production, including composting coffee pulp and building his water re-capture system to both conserve water and also irrigate the fields. Additionally, these sustainability efforts are closely linked to the production of high-quality microlot coffee from Mexico. Furthermore, sustainability has become a strong aspect of Mexican coffee microlot farming practices.

Finca Huehuetepan

Finca Huehuetepan, a 23-hectare farm at 1350 meters above sea level, cultivates varieties such as Typica, Gesha, and Anacafe 14. It was founded around 1955. His mother inherited the farm after his grandfather passed away; he began cultivating coffee on those lands. The Typica variety has been growing there ever since, and he has used seeds from those same plants for new plantings (he still has the original ones). Above all, Finca Huehuetepan is renowned because its best lots are recognized as Mexican coffee microlot offerings, and they are sought after by enthusiasts for their quality.