MEET YOUR FARMER
BENANCIO CHÁVEZ MONTEJO
ROAST
- ORIGIN
- AMATENANGO DE LA FRONTERA, CHIAPAS, MEXICO
- ELEVATION
- 1,130–1,300 MASL
- VARIETIES
- BOURBON, CATURRA, ANACAFÉ 14
- PROCESS
- HONEY
- WEIGHT
- 11 OZ / 311 G WHOLE BEAN
- ROAST
- LIGHT
- PRICE
- $23
In the far south of Chiapas, Benancio Chávez Montejo grows coffee at Finca Santa Elena, in Amatenango de la Frontera, between 1,130 and 1,300 meters above sea level.
Benancio is one of the newest members of SIPRO, the growers association in that part of the state. Across his land he cultivates six varieties.
He recently built drying tunnels on the farm. For a small producer that is a significant investment, and it changes what is possible: instead of drying on whatever surface and whatever weather allow, he can decide how the coffee comes down. He has been using that control to experiment, and it is his honeys and naturals where the results are showing most clearly.
NERDA selected Benancio’s honey lot — Bourbon, Caturra and Anacafé 14 — for its sweetness and the story it carries: a coffee shaped by careful drying and patient experimentation.