Four decades on the same ground.
For more than four decades, Finca La Laja has been dedicated to producing coffees that reflect the terroir and coffee-growing heritage of Veracruz. Since acquiring the farm in 1980, its producers have combined sustainable farming practice with a commitment to quality, cultivating coffees as expressive as the landscape around them.
The 113-hectare farm sits in the mountainous region of Tlaltetela, where volcanic soil, high elevation and a warm, humid climate create ideal conditions for specialty coffee. Under the shade of native trees, Caturra and Gárnica varieties develop the sweetness, complexity and balance the farm is known for.
To bring out the character of each harvest, La Laja runs a range of processing methods — washed, semi-washed, honey and natural — each managed to preserve clarity while showing off what that particular lot does best. We buy the washed SHG EP, and the same farm supplies our decaf.
Two lots, one farm.
The same cherries take two paths: a conventional washed SHG EP, and our decaf, decaffeinated with water rather than solvents.
Selective hand picking under native shade, where slower ripening builds the sweetness the farm is known for.
Fully washed and graded Strictly High Grown, European Preparation — the cleanest screen the farm produces.
The decaf lot is 99.9% caffeine free — the caffeine is taken out with pure water from Mexico's Pico de Orizaba glacier, with no chemical solvents at any stage.
Because only caffeine is targeted, the decaf keeps the cocoa and nut character of the original — a full cup, not a compromise.
Our decaf drinkers get the same coffee.
Many roasters treat decaf as an afterthought — whatever lot is cheapest, decaffeinated however is cheapest. We do the opposite: our single decaf is the same Veracruz coffee we sell at full caffeine, from the same farm, processed by Mountain Water.
That is why the decaf tastes like something. Sweet cocoa, roasted nuts, real body. If you drink decaf in the evening, you are not being handed the leftovers.
Regular or decaf, same farm.
Mexican Chiapas is the everyday cup — balanced enough for drip, sweet enough for milk. Chiapas Decaf is the identical coffee, 99.9% caffeine free, with the caffeine taken out by water.
