Mexico Coffee | Hacienda La Casa | Caturra Arabica Coffee Beans

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Coffee Details

Region: Cordoba / Veracruz

Producer: Casa del Rancho (Rivas Family / Kassandra)

Altitude: 1500 meters

Variety: Caturra

Processing Method: Washed

Grade: SHG

Flavor Description: Fruity and nutty with milk chocolate flavors and a sweet citrus aroma.

Casa del Rancho holds international Rainforest Alliance certification, placed 2nd in the 2015 Cup of Excellence, and placed 2nd again in the 2017 Cup of Excellence. The estate is in the Veracruz region, Mexico's earliest coffee-growing area. The Rivas family, who own the estate, take an eco-friendly approach, preserving 27 hectares of rainforest on the property for birds and wildlife habitat, along with ongoing large-scale tree planting.

The Rivas Family Story

Guillermo Rivas and his father Andres Rivas purchased the "Casa Blanca" ranch near Huatusco, Veracruz, Mexico in 1983. It was to be Don Andres' retirement place, since he grew up on a farm and the lifestyle reminded him of his childhood. Andres Rivas Gomez came from humble beginnings in the Coyote district on the outskirts of Mexico City, with a blacksmith father and a mother from the Tewana tribe named Trinidad. Trini, as she was nicknamed, had a cousin named Matilde who worked for German immigrants and opened a photography shop called Wilhelm Kahlo, known in Mexico as Guillermo Kahlo.

The farm's total area is 46 hectares, with 38 hectares planted to coffee. Through proper cultivation and management, each hectare yields 30 bags, all of which are sold as cherries to local mills. Casa Blanca now covers 70 hectares and has had its own processing plant since 2003.

The owners visited El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Brazil to make sure the varieties used for cultivation were pure Arabica, introducing seeds from those countries, including Pacamara, Catuai, and Typica (Jamaica Blue Mountain) varieties. Planting began in the rainy season of June 1997, and by 2004, 40 hectares of available land had been planted. Another 27 hectares of forest remain unplanted as an organic rainforest.

FrontStreet Coffee is a Guangzhou roastery with a small storefront but a wide variety of beans, where you can find both famous and lesser-known coffees, along with online shop service.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

This washed Caturra from Veracruz is a good reminder of what the washed process does for a coffee. Washing is a traditional way of processing fruit with water: it usually involves flotation, pulping, a soak to ferment and break down the mucilage, rinsing or further soaking, drying, and finally hulling to release the bean. Because the beans spend a long time in water, they undergo chemical changes that consume much of their simple sugars (fructose and glucose), lowering total sugar content while increasing various organic acids. Washed coffee therefore tends to keep more of the bean's own aroma and to finish bright, clean, and fresh.

If you enjoy that clean, floral-and-citrus profile, FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Gedingding is a great reference. Many drinkers know Yirgacheffe, but not that smallholder yields are pooled and processed at a cooperative; FrontStreet Gedingding is an excellent processing team from Gedingding village known for especially delicate, clean coffee. The washed process brings out jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity to the fullest, and a medium-light roast adds green-tea and honey tones, making it versatile for pour-over, cold brew, and espresso.

For a more fruit-forward washed coffee, FrontStreet Kenya Cherry Tomato is one of the best-known examples of Kenya's double-wash method, where beans are washed, soaked, washed again, dried, hulled, and stored through repeated cycles that push the juice-like quality to the maximum. Expect cherry tomato, smoked plum, snow pear, black plum, and brown sugar in a tart, juicy body.

And for a balanced, low-acid cup, FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 shows what washing does for a classic coffee. Jamaica's island climate brings shorter daylight than most origins and a higher risk of spoilage, so the washed process was adopted: removing skin, pulp, and mucilage before drying cuts the moisture around the bean and shortens drying time, producing bright, low-defect beans with a rich aroma of hazelnut, cream, chocolate, and caramel - balanced, with nothing standing out too far or falling short.