Veracruz | Mexico
La Laja is a family farming and milling group in Veracruz, Mexico. The farm began in 1920 when Hermilo Sampieri bought his first coffee farm in Huatusco. Eventually his son (also named Hermilo Sampieri) joined the business and started the milling and export side. Over the years, the family farms grew to four farms in Veracruz - Finca La Laja, Finca El Mirador, Finca Las Palmas, and Finca La Veracruz which grows the robusta variety - and three farms in the state of Puebla. La Laja also buys cherry from small producers in the state of Chiapas, so they offer a wide range of qualities, regions, and processing methods. Their wet mills are in Veracruz and Puebla and their dry mill and export office is in Veracruz.
La Laja also runs a nursery where they provide coffee seedlings to their own farms and to producers from whom they buy cherry. They have on-staff agronomists who provide technical training to producers, as well as a pre-harvest lending program to support smallholder farmers with loans. La Laja has Rainforest Alliance and Utz certified coffees.
La Laja’s honey coffee is a blend from two farms: Finca La Laja and Finca El Mirador. After depulping, the coffee was dried slowly on covered raised beds for 20 days. This coffee is supremely sweet with a mild orange citric acidity, chocolate and sugar cane flavor profile, and a big creamy body. It is very clean and consistent.
Producer:
Finca La Laja
Region:
Tlaltetela, Veracruz
Elevation:
1130-1250 meters
Harvest Months:
December-March
Varieties:
Caturra, Garnica
Processing:
Washed, Honey, and Natural
