Earlier this year, Corinne, Head of Coffee at our sister company The Milk Shed Coffee Roasters, travelled to Oaxaca, Mexico on an origin trip hosted by importing partner Raw Material and exporter Red Beetle Coffee Lab.

Origin trips are often spoken about with a certain reverence in specialty coffee and this one quickly proved why.

In February 2026, Corinne joined a group of roasters and industry guests in Oaxaca City, linking up with Thomas and Shaun from Red Beetle Coffee Lab and Phil from Raw Material, alongside producers and buyers from across the specialty coffee community.

Red Beetle Coffee Lab plays a vital role in connecting producers with importers, ensuring each lot is carefully analysed, roasted, cupped and graded so that farmers receive fair and transparent value for their work.

One of the first key meetings of the trip was with Romulo Chávez of Café El Zapoteco - a producer and buyer The Milk Shed have worked with for over four years. Romulo represents a network of local producers and supplies coffees including Cacalotepec, as well as El Zapoteco, which appears seasonally in Shed Brew, The Milk Shed’s signature house blend.

Meeting the people behind coffees that have been roasted and served for years brought a new weight to the work.

The group then visited Monte Albán, the ancient Zapotec archaeological site overlooking Oaxaca City, before continuing to Miahuatlán to meet mezcalero Don Emigdio,  a third-generation traditional mezcal producer.

Here, they witnessed the full mezcal process in detail: agave hearts weighing up to 200kg, slow-roasted in underground ovens for 5 -7 days, rested for up to two weeks, then crushed by a stone tahona pulled by bull, before fermenting in wooden vats and undergoing double distillation in copper stills. A process defined entirely by patience.

From there, the journey continued into the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains, arriving in San José del Pacífico, a cloud forest region sitting around 2,500 metres above sea level, surrounded by pine forest and mist.

By the third day, the group reached the Tierra Blanca community of San Pedro de Alto, part of the Unión San Pedro association, managed by Salomon Garcia. Across the 42 producers farming in this community, plots range from one to four hectares on steep, mineral-rich terrain.

What stood out immediately was both the scale of variation in production and the pride within the community. Yields vary significantly, yet this group collectively produces the highest average output across the eight Unión San Pedro communities.

The producers hosted the group for a shared lunch - each family contributing dishes, creating a moment of genuine collective hospitality that left a lasting impression on everyone present.

Later, at Red Beetle Coffee Lab HQ, the group cupped fresh arrivals daily - coffees described as sweet, structured and remarkably expressive of origin.

It was here that Corinne noted that the trip felt like it was only just beginning…

To be continued in Part 2.