MEXICO MARCO ROMERO | RED BOURBON NATURAL

Marco Romero Santiz grew up in the Tzeltal community of Emiliano Zapata in Chiapas, where coffee has supported his family for three generations.

Today he works both on his own farm and at Beneficio Edelmira, the local micromill where he oversees processing and supports surrounding farming communities.

In recent years Marco has been mapping coffee varieties across farms in the region. This work revealed that some cultivars were performing particularly well but were being lost in blended community lots. By separating these varieties and processing them individually, he has begun producing coffees with a clearer identity and distinctive flavour profiles.

This Red Bourbon lot is one of those experiments, a carefully produced coffee that highlights the character of the variety and the work happening across the La Concordia community.

Natural with controlled fermentation

• Hand-picked cherries harvested at peak ripeness (~24° Brix)
• Floatation sorting and cleaning
• 36-hour anaerobic rest in sealed GrainPro bags
• Slow drying for around 20 days on shaded raised beds
• Stabilisation period of approximately 60 days before milling

This careful process helps develop structured fruit sweetness while maintaining clarity and balance in the cup.

Coffee in the La Concordia region of Chiapas is largely produced by smallholder farming families. Through Beneficio Edelmira, producers like Marco Romero Santiz are able to process smaller, more traceable lots that better reflect the work done on individual farms.

By separating cultivars and improving post-harvest processing, producers are moving away from bulk commodity production toward coffees with clearer identity and stronger market value.