Mexican Coffee: Regions, Flavor, Grades and How to Brew It

Mexican coffee is coffee grown in Mexico, almost all of it in the southern states of Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla and Oaxaca. Most of it is washed Arabica from small family farms in the mountains, and it is known for a mild, easygoing cup: light to medium body, gentle acidity, and notes of milk chocolate, nuts and caramel. Mexico is also one of the world’s biggest sources of certified organic coffee. If you want a smooth, balanced coffee that works for almost any brew method, Mexican beans are a reliable pick.

Mexican Coffee Regions and Their Flavors

Chiapas, Veracruz and Puebla together grow more than 80 percent of Mexico’s coffee, with Oaxaca a distant fourth. Each has its own character:

Chiapas is the largest producer by volume and shares its border, and much of its growing conditions, with Guatemala’s coffee highlands. It is also the heart of Mexico’s organic and cooperative coffee. Veracruz is where Mexican coffee began, and it grows both high-altitude Arabica and lowland Robusta. Puebla gets the highest yields in the country and is often overlooked. Oaxaca is famous for Pluma Hidalgo, a Typica-type coffee named after the town where it grows, and for its Indigenous farming cooperatives.

What Does Mexican Coffee Taste Like?

Most Mexican coffee is mild, smooth and sweet rather than bold or fruity. Expect milk chocolate, roasted nuts, brown sugar and caramel, with light, clean acidity and a light to medium body. It is the kind of coffee that tastes good black but also works well with milk.

High-grown lots from Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz can be more complex, with notes of orange, apple or stone fruit and a brighter finish. Honey-processed and natural coffees, still a small share, add more sweetness and fruit; see our guides to coffee processing methods and honey processing. Compared with its neighbors, Mexican coffee is usually softer and less acidic than Guatemalan or Costa Rican coffee.

Grades and Labels on Mexican Coffee

• Altitude grades. Mexican export coffee is graded mainly by how high it grows. From lower to higher: Prima Lavado (“prime washed”), then High Grown (HG) or Altura, then Strictly High Grown (SHG). Higher-grown beans mature more slowly and are usually denser and more flavorful.
• EP. “European Preparation” means the beans were sorted to remove most defects before export.
• Organic and Fairtrade. Mexico is one of the world’s largest producers of certified organic coffee, and cooperatives in Oaxaca helped launch the first Fairtrade label in the late 1980s. See our guide to coffee certifications.
• Mountain Water Process decaf. This chemical-free decaf method was developed in Mexico, at a plant near Pico de Orizaba in Veracruz. Read more about how coffee is decaffeinated.

Our guide to reading coffee bag labels explains how to use these terms when you shop.

A Short History of Coffee in Mexico

Coffee reached Mexico from the Caribbean in the late 1700s and was first planted in Veracruz. In the 1800s it spread south into Chiapas from Guatemala, and German immigrants built large estates in the Soconusco region late in the century. For much of the 20th century, the government’s coffee institute, INMECAFE, bought and marketed much of the crop. When it was dismantled around 1990, and coffee prices crashed after the end of the international quota system in 1989, small farmers formed cooperatives to sell their own coffee, many of them going organic and Fairtrade. That cooperative tradition is still a big part of Mexican coffee today.

Mexican Coffee Today

Mexico produces about 4 million bags of coffee a year, which puts it among the world’s ten or so largest producers. The coffee leaf rust epidemic that swept Central America and southern Mexico from 2012 cut production sharply, and farmers have since replanted large areas with rust-resistant varieties such as Costa Rica 95 and Oro Azteca alongside traditional Typica, Bourbon and Caturra. Robusta, grown in the lowlands of Veracruz, Chiapas and Oaxaca mainly for instant coffee, is a growing share of the harvest.

Mexicans drink a lot of coffee too, more than half of it as instant, and the country imports large amounts of green coffee to supply its instant coffee plants. Specialty coffee is growing fast in Mexico City, Oaxaca and other cities, and more Mexican micro-lots now reach roasters abroad. Many growers still earn little, though, which is why traceable and fairly traded coffee matters; see our guide to ethically sourced coffee.

How to Brew Mexican Coffee

• Drip and pour-over. A medium roast brewed at 1:16 brings out its sweetness and clean finish. See our pour-over guide and coffee-to-water ratio chart.
• French press. Brings out more body and chocolate. Our French press guide has the method.
• Cold brew. Mexican coffee’s low acidity and cocoa notes make smooth cold brew.
• Espresso. On its own it makes a mellow, sweet shot. It is also a common base in espresso blends.

Café de Olla, Lechero and the “Mexican Coffee” Drink

Mexico’s best-known coffee tradition is café de olla: coffee simmered in a clay pot with piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar) and cinnamon. In the port city of Veracruz, the Gran Café de la Parroquia is famous for its lechero: you tap your glass with a spoon, and a waiter pours hot milk from high above into your espresso.

Outside Mexico, “Mexican coffee” on a bar or restaurant menu usually means something else: a spiked coffee drink, a cousin of Irish coffee.

How to Buy Good Mexican Coffee

• Look for a region, not just “Mexico.” Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz or a named town such as Coatepec or Pluma Hidalgo is a good sign.
• Check the grade. SHG or Altura means high-grown coffee.
• Choose a medium or light roast to taste the chocolate and caramel sweetness. Very dark roasts hide what makes Mexican coffee pleasant.
• Look for a roast date, and brew within 2 to 4 weeks of it.
• Consider organic or cooperative coffee if you want your money to reach small farmers. Our guide to single-origin coffee explains what to look for.