Isavel Lopez Pablo is a small organic coffee grower and member of an indigenous community located in San Juan Ozolotepec in Oaxaca state. This region is nestled around high mountains, with favorable conditions for coffee and other staple crops. At Finca Bajo del Cerro del Rayo, Isavel works diligently on her parcel El Macahuite, which has been named after a common tree. Here Isavel grows only the Typica variety. For over 40 years, she has been working with coffee. These pasts two years, she started to sell it as specialty coffee after joining the Caravela Coffee Growers Education Program in Mexico. Isavel shares that she is motivated to continue producing exceptional coffees at higher prices and accessing training and education. She works together with her husband, Francisco, and her daughters. For example, her husband oversees the coffee plantation, her daughters the harvest, and she supervises pulping, washing, and drying.
All the coffee from Finca Bajo del Cerro del Rayo is traditionally processed and fermented with no water added (dry fermentation) for 30 to 36 hours, depending on weather conditions and temperature. Each daily lot dries in concrete patios on straw mats or carpets that avoid direct contact with the ground for ten days. For the next harvest, she plans to experiment with longer fermentation times to explore how the coffees can change and improve.
