Finding Family in Coffee: Mexico Bella Vista Cifuentes Family

For Rosalba Cifuentes Tovia, her journey into the world of coffee was more than just a means to bring opportunities to her homeland—it was also a chance to reconnect with her family. Rosalba's early years were spent in the coffee-rich mountains of Bella Vista, Chiapas, but she was separated from her family as a child. The challenges she encountered during her youth inspired her to leave her home and pursue greater opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area. She took on various jobs in factories and restaurants, and during her daily commute, she began to notice specialty coffee shops. However, she couldn't help but notice the absence of Mexican coffees on their menus. After all, she had grown up savoring the delicious coffee from her homeland, and she knew firsthand just how exceptional they were.

A view of Bella Vista from Eugenio’s farm. Eugenio is Rosalba’s uncle.

Although Rosalba didn’t grow up with family nearby, she had a few small recollections of relatives who grew coffee in the region of Bella Vista. She decided to return for a visit and connect with coffee farmers, learn from them, and also to see if her family was still there. To Rosalba’s surprise, the first coffee farmer she spoke to in Bella Vista was her cousin, Froilan Roblero! From him, she learned about all the hard work it takes to grow coffee, and the struggles farmers experience. Rosalba also learned about how “coyote” middlemen would take advantage of farmers, telling them that their coffees were not good and would pay them less for their coffee. This motivated her to start her company, Mayan Harvest Coffee. She helps smallholder producers gain access to the special market by purchasing high quality coffees and offers them higher prices.

Rosalba’s cousin, Froilan, with his father—and Rosalba’s uncle—Eugenio. This photo was taken during our 2020 trip to Bella Vista, after Eugenio had finished showing us his farm.

Mayan Harvest focuses on three different lots of coffee. In previous years, we’ve featured both the community lot and the women’s group lot. Now, we’re excited to share coffee produced by Rosalba’s family: Eugenio Roblero, Froilan Roblero Cifuentes, Otoniel Roblero Cifuentes, and Omar Roblero Cifuentes–all of whom are uncles and cousins to Rosalba— contributed to this lot. Each family member has their own farm and processes their coffee at their individual wet mills where they depulp, wash, and dry their coffee in raised drying bed. In addition to managing their farms, they also help with operations of Mayan Harvest. Froilan is the Head Green Buyer for Mayan Harvest, ensuring that all coffees they purchase from the community meet their quality standards.

Otoniel, Rosalba’s cousin, showing us how he sorts out “floaters” (defective coffee cherries) before they get they depulped and put into the fermentation tank at the bottom of the photo. This photo was from our trip to Bella Vista in 2020.

The Cifuentes family lot is bright as it is comforting. It has a citrusy acidity similar to lemon, a caramel-y, creamy body that reminds us of dulce de leche, and sweet, nutty finish that makes us think of Mexican wedding cookies. Don’t miss out on this coffee–it’s a crowd pleaser!