Torque — Mexico Starmaya

Featured the week of January 12, 2026 — rated 9.8/10 by our tasting team.

We picked Torque’s Star Maya H16 from Alejandro Martínez because it’s the kind of “wait…Mexico can taste like that?” coffee that makes us start rambling to whoever’s nearby. Veracruz is North America, not Central America, and the cup proves it—black grape (with a little green-grape snap), chocolate malt, and sweet almond, all landing crisp, clean, and stupid sweet…with no citrusy squeal and no baker’s-chocolate bite.

Part of what makes this lot so special is the variety: Starmaya, a newer F1 hybrid bred for both quality and resilience. Here’s the cool bit: most F1 hybrids are difficult (and expensive) to reproduce at scale, but Starmaya can be propagated by seed, which makes it far more accessible for farmers and a big deal for the future of high-quality, sustainable coffee. Add Alejandro’s meticulous plot-by-plot approach—planting varieties separately so he can compare performance and cup quality—and you get a coffee that’s both innovative and beautifully dialed.

Brew it to let the grape-and-malt thing strut. For filter, go pour-over at 1:16, medium-fine, 202–204°F, 40–45s bloom, aiming for ~3:00–3:15 total. If you’re pulling it as omni espresso, try 18g in → 42–48g out in ~28–32s for extra clarity and that candy-sweet finish. Fair warning: you may find yourself saying “taste this” to strangers.

Process: washed • Varietal: washed

Written by the Angels' Cup tasting team.