A beautifully flavorful and complex coffee, Higher Ground's Mexican is grown in the Chiapas region's tropical rainforests. A well-balaned cup with notes of fruit and spice, this delicate coffee offers a light to medium body with a gentle acidity.

Higher Ground prides itself on its coffees that are all organic, Fair Trade, and shade-grown. Allowing the growers to keep their family farms, the Fair Trade certification ensures that these farmers benefit from economic and educational programs, while giving them the chance to grow a high-quality organic bean. The coffee plants grow in the forest canopy's shade—guaranteeing the continued survival of the forests and natural habitat for countless plant and animal species.

100% Organic, Fair Trade, Shade Grown Coffee 

FAIRER MEANS
Mexican coffee cooperatives emerged in the mid and late eighties when the Mexican coffee industry was in crisis. Coffee prices were so low that many small-scale farming families could not survive. In response to the Mexican coffee crisis, 16,000 small-scale farmers came together to address the situation collectively. They created an independent cooperative to bypass local middlemen and export their coffee directly. They now sell much of their coffee to the Fair Trade market and are guaranteed a price that will support the co-op’s member families. Higher Ground works with the families of the Ismam Cooperative, and through Fair Trade sales, they have been able to accomplish the following:

• Increase opportunities for education—all children of coop members attend primary school, and many have the opportunity to attend secondary school and beyond.
• Increase average incomes—thereby reducing migration, keeping families together, and preserving local indigenous culture.
• Purchase new equipment and build infrastructure for processing and transportation to the growing coffee market

Higher Ground wins ROAST Magazine 2008 Micro-Roaster of the Year award!