New Coffee from Oaxaca! Courtesy of our friends at Pipe & Tabor Coffee.

San Vicente Yogondoy is a lush, forested community in Oaxaca’s Sierra Sur (Pochutla district), where coffee grows under dense native shade on steep slopes facing the Pacific. The region’s distinct wet and dry seasons and cool ocean breezes create ideal conditions for high-quality coffee. While the town is about five hours by road from Oaxaca, farms are much harder to reach—often requiring 2–3 hours by foot or mule, as most producers live in town rather than on their land.

During harvest, families stay in temporary farm housing and transport coffee manually over multiple trips. Zapotec culture remains strong; “Yogondoy” means “River of Bees,” reflecting local beekeeping traditions. Farmers primarily grow Pluma, a local Typica mutation well adapted to the region, with many trees planted in the last five years. Encouragingly, many producers are under 30, though some youth still migrate for work.

Communal labor practices like tequio remain central, especially during harvest and farm upkeep. Farms are highly biodiverse, using native shade trees such as Cuachepil, Cuil, and avocado, which provide food, soil nutrients, and other resources. With careful spacing and ongoing investment, Yogondoy has seen rising yields and quality over the past eight years, now producing 1000–2000 kg of dry parchment per hectare—nearly double many other Mexican regions.