El Equimite – Biodynamic Coffee Farm
El Equimite is a living, biodynamic coffee farm with a holistic approach. It creates the right balance between nature, people, economy, and culture to promote a new way of growing high-quality, specialty coffee.
This beautiful farm and conservation area is located in Coatepec, Veracruz, between the Gulf of Mexico and the Cofre de Perote National Park—a mountain range with peaks reaching 4,282 masl.
The area has a unique microclimate, part of a cloud forest, with misty days and cool temperatures—perfect conditions for growing arabica coffee.
Our Roots
Gibrán Cervantes Covarrubias, CEO and founder of Bios Comunidad Sustentable, started the El Equimite project in 2012. His goal was to treat the coffee ecosystem as a living, connected being—a sanctuary that lives in harmony with the cloud forest, its plants, animals, and the local communities.
The farm has not used chemical products for over 20 years. Thanks to this, it earned organic certification, and in 2017, it also received the prestigious Demeter biodynamic certification. In all of Mexico, only two coffee farms have this certification—and fewer than 10 in all of Latin America.
What Inspired Our Identity?
El Equimite is named after a tree that grows on our coffee farm. This tree, also known as Colorín, is small and can grow between 3 to 10 meters tall. It has thorny branches and bright red, elongated flowers that stand out with their vibrant color.
Our Coffee
At El Equimite, we grow and protect over 20 high-quality varieties of arabica coffee, using carefully selected seeds with strong genetic resistance.
By doing this, we support the natural life in the soil and help the farm stay strong against climate change, pests, and disease. We nourish the land and care for the entire ecosystem—without using toxic chemicals that could harm our health or our coffee plants.
Treasures of El Equimite
Extraordinary gems are born at El Equimite—rare, high-quality coffees with truly unique and delicious flavours. We experiment with innovative fermentation techniques using exotic coffee varieties grown under a rich, biodiverse forest.
We cultivate a wide range of arabica varieties, including some that are at risk of extinction due to climate change. These include Geisha, Caturra, Pink Bourbon, Bourbon SL28, Anacafé 14, Tabi, Garnica, and Typica.
Our coffee gems have been recognized in the Cup of Excellence, speciality auctions, and international barista championships:
2021
12th place in Mexico Cup of Excellence
2021
1st place in a Coffee Auction in Coatepec
2022
1st place in the 20th Mexican Barista Championship
2022
7th place in Mexico Cup of Excellence
Sustainability Certifications
El Equimite is officially certified as a private conservation area by SEDEMA (the Ministry of the Environment in Veracruz).
Our coffee farm holds an Organic Certification from the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and the USDA NOP (National Organic Program).
We follow the biodynamic method in our farming, certified by the International Demeter certification, which ensures we meet global standards for biodynamic agriculture.
Most recently, we earned the Biodiversity Seal for Agro-Biodiverse Farms, granted by Pronatura Veracruz—a recognition of our voluntary commitment to conserving the local ecosystem.
Our Purpose
High-Quality Coffee Production & Biodiversity
At El Equimite, we’re committed to producing exceptional coffee through regenerative farming. It all starts with selecting seeds from sustainably managed coffee farms. From there, we nourish the soil using compost, apply biodynamic preparations, and diversify our growing areas. We protect the native shade trees, maintain pastures for animals, and create a balanced ecosystem that strengthens the integrity and complexity behind every cup of our coffee. By planting selected arabica varieties together with shade trees, we create a diverse ecosystem that adds valuable minerals, nitrogen, and moisture retention, supporting the health of the soil and the rich flavours of our coffee.
Research and Information Sharing
We are a research centre focused on developing tropical regenerative and biodynamic farming technologies to help coffee producers adapt to climate change while producing specialty coffees in a healthy, balanced ecosystem that’s also economically sustainable.
In partnership with the Instituto Bios Terra, we aim to inspire and share this knowledge with small Mexican coffee producers and cooperatives. Our goal is to promote and implement environmentally friendly regenerative farming systems—like biodynamic, organic, permaculture, keyline design, and syntropic farming—as powerful tools for social, environmental, and economic transformation in vulnerable coffee-growing regions.
Our Anatomy
The coffee farm covers a total of 33 hectares, divided as follows:
13
4
3,200
hectares
for coffee cultivation
hectares
for pastures and animal grazing
square meters
for the orchard
1,600
15.7
square meters
for the lake
hectares
dedicated to biodiversity conservation for nearly 90 years
glosary
Organic Agriculture:
This is a way of farming that avoids using chemical products like herbicides, fungicides, and synthetic fertilizers. Instead, it focuses on creating a balanced ecosystem that helps crops grow healthily in a biodiverse environment. This method is more sustainable and dynamic than conventional farming. Today, organic coffee farming faces greater risks from climate change, including more severe outbreaks of diseases like the Coffee Leaf Rust.
Biodynamic Agriculture:
This is a specialised type of organic farming that treats the farm as a living organism. It creates natural cycles that improve the health and fertility of the soil, crops, and animals. A key part of biodynamic farming is the integration of animals, crops, forests, wetlands, and people working together.
The method is based on anthroposophy and the spiritual-scientific teachings of Rudolf Steiner. It goes beyond conventional organic farming by using natural rhythms and special homeopathic preparations (called biodynamic preparations) that influence the whole farm system.
Biodynamic farmers also use carefully controlled composting to create humus, which is added back to the soil to provide minerals, enzymes, microorganisms, and other functions that boost soil fertility.
Regenerative Agriculture:
This farming approach focuses on restoring soil health and the entire ecosystem by using sustainable management practices. The goal is to reverse land degradation, boost biodiversity, increase crop production, and strengthen the resilience of farming systems against climate change—all while helping to mitigate its effects.
Speciality Coffee:
Speciality coffee highlights the unique qualities of the coffee plant and its environment, showcasing them in every cup. Its quality is valued in different ways, and sometimes it follows international standards—giving it a distinct market value.