Coffee arrived in Mexico at the start of the nineteenth century, although it wasn't exported in significant quantities until the 1870s. The Mexicans themselves consume over half the coffee produced in their country, with the US being the largest foreign customer, receiving over three-fourths of the exported coffee.
The coffee-producing regions of Veracruz and Chiapas account for 70% of the Mexican coffee crop, with another 10% coming from Puebla and the remainder from other states, among them fertile Oaxaca. Nearly all of the coffee growers in Mexico work on farms of 25 acres or less, a far cry from the real and imagined coffee plantations of yesteryear.
Mexico also has a long history of offering organic and fair-trade coffees, something that helps set it apart from countries just recently coming into the organic coffee market. Currently Mexico is the main producer of organic coffee in the world, according to the Mexican Coffee Council.
It is estimated that about three million people are involved in coffee-related activities in Mexico, with more than 280,000 growers taking part. Many farms are co-ops, and many of the countryÕs farmers are indigenous peoples of such groups as Amuzgos, Zapotecos, Nahuas and Tepahuas.
Mexican coffee is typically light bodied and nutty, but can have a heavier body, brighter acidity, and overtones of chocolate. Just like its non-organic counterpart, this Mexican coffee is grown at a high altitude and has good aroma and acidity.
