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$14.00
Mexico Puebla Lucio Perez
Coffee Roots
Lucio Perez has spent his whole life producing coffee in Totomoxtla, a small community in the Cuautempan municipality in the distant Northeastern Sierra of Puebla. Lucio's farm Ocoteno is named for the Nahuatl word referring to the small pine trees that grow there in abundance. Ocoteno occupies 3.15 hectares, planted with pure Marsellesa variety. Don Lucio uses the native leguminous ice cream bean trees for both shade and nitrogen retention. Coffee processing on Ocoteno begins with harvest, done by hiring "cortadores" (harvesters) and with the support of neighbors. The coffee is then fermented for 72 hours in cement tanks and dried in raised beds for 4-10 days depending on climate. Since trucks canāt access the farm, Lucio and his family transport the coffee using āmecapalesā (tumplines), making the journey several times a day. One of Don Lucio's 2 passions is coffee and the second is teaching. He is bilingual (Spanish and Nahuatl) and teaches at a primary Nahuatl school in the extreme south of the state of Puebla. During harvest he tries to balance his teaching job and his work in coffee. His wife is also a bilingual teacher and teaches in the community of Totomoxtla. They share a 12-year-old son in whom they instill love for coffee and books alike.
